ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital in St. Petersburg wants to protect the facility’s water supply from hurricanes by installing wells on the property after Milton shut down the city’s system last October. 

The storm caused a water line break which forced the city to turn off the supply around midnight on Oct. 9, 2024.

Bayfront Hospital staff scrambled to find alternative sources as the facility’s air conditioning system needs water to operate, according to Facilities Manager Tony Muglia.

What You Need To Know

  • Hurricane Milton caused a water line break on Oct. 9, which forced the city to shut down the water supply 

  • Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital needs water to run its air conditioning 

  • Tanker trucks and firefighters supplied water to the chillers on the roof 

  • Bayfront Hospital wants to install two wells for use as an emergency water supply

“We rely on that very heavily to keep the right temperatures, pressures and everything we need inside the hospital,” he said. “We knew we were going to run out eventually.”

The outage lasted for about 11 hours, according to Muglia. He said tanker trucks delivered water to the hospital and it was pumped into the chillers on the roof by firefighters from St. Petersburg and Lealman.

“We had no way to keep water in there. So, we had the fire truck down here pumping water up to all four of the towers,” he said. “They had a bathtub that they used that they'd put water in.”

Firetrucks were used to send water to the hospital's air conditioning units to keep them running. (Photo courtesy of Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital)

On Jan. 9, during his annual update to the St. Petersburg City Commission, Bayfront Hospital President John Moore said the water need was critical at the time because the hospital was completely full. Moore said Bayfront has since begun planning to secure its own emergency water supply.

“We’re working now … to installing two wells on our property. So that we don’t have to obviously depend on outside water,” he said. “I was a bit jealous of my friends across the street at All Children’s (Hospital). They had a well.”

Bayfront’s Chief Operating Officer Sarah Gilbert said even though the facility sits on high ground they’re also looking at elevating some low-lying electrical equipment.

“We do have some switchgear that's located in our basement. We knew that pre-storm,” she said. “We did everything to protect that area of the building so that there was no impact. Thankfully, there was none.”

Gilbert said before Hurricane Milton came ashore the city staged two employees from the Parks and Rec Department to help clear the roads around the hospital after the storm.

“That's great because it helps people to be able to get to our emergency department a little bit easier,” she said. “That was a great partnership.”

However, more than 125 team members and physicians lost their homes in the back-to-back storms, according to Gilbert.