The video has gone viral. On one side of a thin wall, the masses of water from Hurricane Helene have accumulated. On the other side, Dustin Pasteur stands dry and safe, in front of Tampa General Hospital in Florida. Just days later, Hurricane Milton was on its way. The hospital again had to put up the temporary storm walls. A Norwegian company is behind the flood protection. – It has changed the whole way we handle the storm, says Pasteur, vice-president for facilities and construction at the hospital, to news. Fences are being erected in anticipation of Milton, the second hurricane to hit Florida in a short time. Photo: Octavio Jones / Reuters The hospital at the water’s edge On a sunny day, you can say that the hospital is very well located, right down by the water on Davis Island in Tampa. But when hurricanes Helene and Milton announced their arrival, things looked different for the nearly 100-year-old hospital. The hospital is located right by the water’s edge. It was built almost 100 years ago. Photo: Tampa General Hospital / Steven P. Widoff Tampa General is located in a high-risk flood zone. This week there was a mandatory evacuation. – But we work directly with our local authorities. They know we can’t move, says Pasteur. For many of the patients, it is more dangerous to be moved, he says. This is the only hospital in Tampa that can treat the most serious injuries. The authorities also approve many of the systems they use to stay in business. – But since this hurricane was extra powerful, they asked if we were safe. – And we said, yes. We have been planning for this for several decades. Here you can see where the hospital is located. Trust in a Norwegian invention At the hospital, they have several flood protection measures, such as water pumps. The floodwalls are the first line, explains Pasteur. At their highest, they tower 2.4 and 2.7 metres. They believed the walls would protect both the buildings and the patients. – It is unfortunate that we have had to test it twice in a week and a half, but in both cases it went very well. During hurricane Helene, they were able to test the fences against the water. Milton ended up passing just south of the hospital, but the fence stood against winds of nearly 130 km per hour. Photo: Octavio Jones / Reuters The hospital would not have collapsed without the walls, says Pasteur. But it would not be able to have normal operation. Helene would have flooded the basement, he explains. As part of the flood protection, the basement is designed so that it can be “disconnected” from the rest of the hospital. But that would have been an unfortunate incident, which they now avoided, he says. – It would also have affected some of our support functions, which we could start up again the very next morning, says Pasteur. – Participating in securing values and perhaps also lives is the main motivation for our work. That’s what Michael Stensrød Juuhl, general manager of AquaFence, which has delivered the walls, says. He says that at the same time that hurricanes Helene and Milton were wreaking havoc, children were being admitted to the hospital. A company that grows with climate change It all started in Norway in 1999. Today, they supply flood protection solutions in large parts of the world, to both commercial, municipal and industrial properties. The hospital in Tampa isn’t the only place the fences have stood up to Hurricane Milton, either. The feedback has poured in and Juuhl says he is touched by all the gratitude. He talks about how the hurricanes have become stronger and do more damage than before. The insurance payouts are sky high. – The driving force in the market is global climate change, which leads to larger and more frequent natural disasters, says Juuhl. In addition, urbanization, in both Florida and California, has led to the water having fewer and fewer places to use. – We hope that people will open their eyes to the fact that it is actually possible to secure themselves against this enormous destruction. Powerful hurricanes Global warming will most likely cause tropical hurricanes to become more powerful, according to the UN climate panel. The reason is that the ocean is warmer than before. New areas may be exposed to remnants of tropical hurricanes. Whether the total number of hurricanes changes is uncertain. Probably there will be the same number or fewer. Swipe to see how a hurricane forms. AFP A hurricane forms Imagine a sea temperature of over 26-27 degrees. The water evaporates and the warm air rises. The air contains a lot of moisture. High up, the air becomes colder, the moisture becomes difficult to retain and a lot of energy is released. If the wind strength is more than 32.6 m/s, we call it a hurricane. AFP Great destruction In a tropical hurricane, the strong wind and the enormous amounts of rainfall lead to great destruction. Storm surges and storm waves are also a feared consequence of the hurricane. Already now, increased sea levels cause both waves and tides to reach further inland. Stronger and more intense hurricanes will lead to more extensive damage. AP Framtiden The American Meteorological Institute (NOAA) believes that an extra number of powerful hurricanes may occur in the Atlantic Ocean this year. Residents in hurricane-prone areas will probably have to get used to both earlier and more powerful hurricanes, according to climate scientists. Hurricanes are also known as cyclones and typhoons in other waters. AP A scale Hurricanes are categorized according to wind strength, where the numbers 1-5 are used. The scale is called Saffir-Simpson. It is category 4 and 5 that we will see more of in the future. Some researchers have suggested that the scale should go to 6, to give more room for hurricanes that grow in size and strength. Wouldn’t build a hospital here today. Now you may be wondering why there is a hospital here at all. In that case, you are not the first, says Pasteur. The answer is that that decision was taken 97 years ago, he explains. – So no, you wouldn’t want to build a run-of-the-mill new hospital here. – I think it is estimated today that it will cost around 3 billion dollars to build a hospital of this size, which is non-commercial, like ours. So it’s just not possible to do something like that. So far, the security measures have held. But if the storm surge from Milton had hit the hospital, calculations showed that the water could have reached the top of the fence, says Pasteur. He believes that hurricane seasons will continue and will become more violent. They have learned a lot this year. Now they are already looking for ways to improve security. Autumn’s hurricanes have brought enormous destruction to Florida. Here is the Tropicana Field stadium after Milton. Photo: Marco Bello / Reuters Published 12.10.2024, at 17.45
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Norwegian “fence” protects the hospital from hurricanes – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
