Flood Barrier USA

Lourdes Hospital saved by Automatic Flood Barriers

Author: Flood Expert Donna Conneely

Imagine the anxiety of the administrators at Lourdes Hospital as the Susquehanna River began to rise. It had been only three months since flood barriers had been installed at the hospital, and now it appeared the ultimate test had already arrived.

In the past the hospital had been severely flooded, limiting its ability to treat flood victims from the community. At that time the facility itself had been in need of rescue and assistance, instead of being able to offer emergency care. The decision was made to do something about that.

In June of 2011 the hospital completed the installation of a passive flood barrier system that would automatically spring into place during a flood emergency. For the system to work, there was no need to have any workers at hand to implement the flood barriers. The arrival of the very first flood waters would lift the flood barriers perfectly into place with no human intervention required.

But would the system work? David Scribner was worried as the Susquehanna began to rise ominously just three months after the barriers were installed. As Facilities Management Director for the hospital, it was his job to do everything humanly possible to protect the medical center and its patients. Now, as the river approached, he no doubt wondered what, if anything, he should be doing to prepare for the imminent flood.

It turned out that he had nothing to worry about. Although the flood surrounded the facility with an amazing eight feet of water, the 11-foot flood barriers held back the water completely. The hospital was able to remain fully functional — an island of dryness in the middle of a flood that devastated the rest of the community.

Flood barriers made all the difference for Lourdes Hospital; turning the hospital from victim to savior. David Scribner is now a firm believer in the efficiency and strength of automatic flood barriers. But he is not alone. FEMA  officials were also very impressed by the performance of this amazing flood barrier system and have expressed an interest in using this event as a case study for other facilities.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 at 7:13 pm and is filed under Flood Protection. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.