Evacuation!

With Hurricane Rita reaching category five status then suddenly veering North, many of the Parishes of Louisiana south of interstate 10 declared either voluntary or mandatory evacuations.

New Iberia and Vermillion parishes had been under voluntary evacuation since early morning, so we called off the clinics that day at the Iberia Inn, the New Iberia public health department, and Sacred Heart. As a result, the entire UofM team (along with some of our Mayo colleagues) went to staff the Lafayette Public Health primary care clinic.

We called in at noon as requested from a busy clinic and were told that the decision had been made that we would evacuate immediately. I must say, I've never seen a clinic emptied that quickly. I practically turned around with my last patient, and suddenly the entire building was empty.