"On the night Superstorm Sandy hit New York in October 2012, seawater from the Atlantic Ocean surged into the emergency room of what was then known as Coney Island Hospital. Staff scrambled to evacuate 28 patients to higher floors, wading through knee-deep water and holding flashlights to navigate dark hallways. "The damage was extensive. The hospital was fully evacuated. We lost all power in the campus. It was multiple months before [the hospital] can be utilized again,""
"Today, the site, now called South Brooklyn Health, is fortified by a four-foot flood wall. A new hospital building, named after the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, features hurricane-resistant glass, and power and water systems designed to withstand future storms that could have once crippled the facility. As climate change accelerates, South Brooklyn Health's transformation reflects a growing recognition of the vulnerability of health care facilities to extreme weather events and the need for resilient infrastructure to maintain essential services."
Seawater inundated the Coney Island Hospital emergency room during Superstorm Sandy in October 2012, forcing staff to evacuate 28 patients and leaving the campus powerless for months. The site reopened as South Brooklyn Health with a four-foot flood wall, a new Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospital building, hurricane-resistant glass, and reinforced power and water systems. Crucial services were moved to higher floors to reduce flood risk. The $923 million facility, funded by FEMA and opened in May 2023, serves nearly 875,000 residents, many low-income and immigrant, and reflects growing efforts to climate-proof health infrastructure.
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