ROCKPORT, Texas – After Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas Coastal Bend, local medical clinics were without electricity and forced to close for days.
While some clinics in the area are still recovering one month after Harvey, MCCI Medical Group in Rockport, Texas, was one of the lucky ones with its building still intact having only suffered minor damage.
The clinic suffered flooding, no electricity for weeks, and no real large scale way to inform its patients it was open.
“It was devastating to see all the destruction (and) I just felt horrible because I knew the community lost a lot,” Dr. Yvette Alvarez said.
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Alvarez said it was a slow process to get the clinic to reopen its doors and still without Internet, employees and herself are making due with what they have because of the steady line of new patients.
“The after-effects of picking up trees and glass. We have some injuries to the feet and the hands from that. I have had patients come in with a lot of anxiety because they stayed during the storm so that's something we're trying to cope with as well,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez said the people who chose not to take part in the mandatory evacuation are now seeing doctors and heading for clinics for injuries sustained during the storm.
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“I had a patient actually come in who can't stop shaking. She can't sleep. She has nightmares. So it may develop into PTSD,” Alvarez said.
“It can become very overwhelming so I do urge them to get medical attention if it's something they can't deal with on their own,” Alvarez said.
The regional director of MCCI Medical Clinic said when they were finally able to reach their patients, the clinic felt it was a sigh of relief for the community to know they can finally receive the medical treatment they have been needing for weeks.
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