Torrential rain from a fierce electric storm on Wednesday 2 February caused water to pour into Eden Private Hospital at Cooroy, flooding both floors and leading to the hospital’s evacuation.
SES Noosa local controller Warren Kuskopf said their volunteers raced to the hospital about 6pm to assist but with the roof seemingly intact were unable to work out what was causing the water to pour in.
“Water was coming from the roof somewhere. The amount of water was phenomenal,” he said.
Mr Kuskopf praised hospital staff for their quick response to the storm.
He said staff moved patients to one end of the building then called in ambulances and buses to evacuate them.
“It was an amazing operation how quickly they got the people out of there,” he said.
Eden Private Hospital CEO Ashley Baker said the cameraderie and support the staff have for each other showed in the way they worked together to care for their patients.
There were 31 patients at the hospital at the time. QAS transported 17 patients from the private hospital to nearby facilities after the building was deemed structurally unsafe and the rest were taken home by bus or car.
QAS incident controller Tony Hucker said three ambulance units arrived at the facility about 5.30pm and worked till about 1am transferring patients from the facility.
“There was water everywhere on the floor. You could see it coming through the ceilings,” he said.
He said four patients were taken by QAS to Noosa Hospital, six to Sunshine Coast University Hospital, two to Buderim Private Hospital and four to Nambour hospital. The hospital had its own bus and cars and moved patients as well.
“Eden staff did a wonderful job. It was a good liaison between the services. It was good patient transfer. No one was hurt or injured,” he said.
Mr Hucker said the patients had been at the hospital for recovery, mental health and rehabilitation, with none in an acute phase of illness and none with Covid. Some with mobility issues needed to be stretchered from the hospital.
“The patients were fine. They were all in great spirits,” he said.
An Eden Private Hospital spokeswoman said the weather event caused water inundation to some parts of the hospital.
“In accordance with its hospital emergency response plan, Eden Private Hospital management acted swiftly to assess the situation and mitigate any risk, working in partnership with other services including the Queensland Health Service and Queensland Ambulance Service to safely transfer all patients to alternate nearby hospitals,” she said.
“Management is actively working to rectify damage caused by the supercell and expects the hospital to reopen and resume operations this week.
“Eden Private Hospital will continue to work with public and private healthcare providers, for the transfer of patients back to Eden Private once repairs to areas impacted are assessed and repairs are complete. The safety and care of all patients is paramount, and has not been compromised.”
Cooroy recorded more than 110mm of rain on Wednesday evening in a supercell that the Bureau of Meteorology reported causing severe thunderstorms, heavy rain and power outages to more than 11,000 homes overnight.
