October 3, 2002 - A fifth of Louisiana's population was under evacuation orders as powerful Hurricane Lili barreled toward the state's coastline, expected to be one of the worst storms to hit the state in decades. Story from CNN.

October 2, 2002 - It appears certain that Louisiana will be hit Thursday by a category 2 or 3 hurricane. Here is the projected path of Hurricane Lili.

When flooding occurs, municipal water treatment officials may add large doses of chlorine and/or chloramines to their water supplies to prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases.

This practice may present a danger to hemodialysis patients. When chlorine/chloramines are present in high enough concentrations in dialysate, they can cause hemolysis (red blood cell destruction). Carbon filters in dialysis unit water treatment systems, which usually are designed to remove normal levels of chlorine/chloramines from city water, may be overwhelmed in these situations. Additional carbon filters, frequent changing of carbon filters, or frequent backwashing of the carbon beds may be required.

Here are some on-line resources:

• Medicare has a 34-page guide with useful information entitiled, "Preparing for Emergencies: A Guide for People on Dialysis" (Adobe PDF).
  
  
  
• How dialysis patients can plan for weather emergencies by Stephen Fadem, MD
  
  
  
• The Weather Channel on-line.
  
  
  
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Tropical Storm Watch Center web page.

If alternative dialysis centers are needed, here are listings of:

• dialysis units in Texas
  
  
• dialysis units in Louisiana
  
  
• dialysis units in Mississippi

September 26, 2002 - The majority of hurricane-related deaths in the United States are due to inland fresh-water flooding. Information from the National Hurricane Center.

At least 23% of U.S. tropical storm deaths occur to people who drown in, or attempting to abandon, their cars.

September 24, 2002 - The projected paths of two tropical storms, Isidore and Lili, appear headed for the U.S. mainland in the coming week.

If alternative dialysis centers are needed, here are listings of:

• dialysis units in Alabama
  
  
• dialysis units in Mississippi
  
  
• dialysis units in Louisiana
  
  
  
  
• dialysis units in Florida
  
  
• dialysis units in Georgia
  
  
• dialysis units in South Carolina

[This message has been edited by Gary Peterson (edited 10-03-2002).]