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| Boil for no less than one hour, 61 minutes is fine, just don't boil for less than 1 hour. |
It was immediately after the recent rash of California Wildfires were under control, many of the affected people had water wells at their homes. What sort of dangers are in the water following a catastrophic event? I've listed some below:
1) Waterborne diseases: If Sewage water and potable water come in contact with each other, drinking water is immediately contaminated. Rodents, mice, and rats carry an entire slate of diseases which are easily transmitted to humans, and pets as well. The biggest danger is rodent feces and urine, they also die in the flood water further contaminating the supply. There is a huge die-off of rodents during the flood, however, after the cleanup and life is just beginning to return to "normal" the rats and mice begin to multiply. One of the diseases that is transmitted by the small mammals is Leptospirosis, (Link) an infection caused by bacteria which causes flu-like symptoms, many times developing into illnesses of a much more serious nature, such as Meningitis. Causing the protective covering surrounding the spinal cord and brain to become infected, it is deadly if not treated quickly with antibiotics.
Giardia is a disease often suffered by backpackers and people in isolated areas who rely on groundwater for drinking. Giardia is found on surfaces or in the soil, water or food that has been contaminated by feces from animals or humans. It is a very hardy parasite consisting of an outer shell that protects and preserves the parasite for long periods of time. Chlorine is not effective in controlling Giardia which is found in every geographical area of the world. After ingestion (which causes immediate infection) the parasite does not affect the person for 1-3 weeks and last for a period of 2-6 weeks, medication may shorten its lifecycle. Infants and Pregnant women are the most susceptible to being infected, upon exhibiting symptoms the baby and mother should begin to drink copious amounts of water to avoid dehydration. Diarrhea is the predominant symptom, but exceptions do exist, a child may have all of the symptoms except diarrhea, in such cases it is important to seek medical attention as soon as possible.
As readers of my blog may suspect, yes I have suffered from Giardia, (Link) we refer to it as "Montezuma's revenge", I had it twice. Once after I had been backpacking in the high Sierra's, I did boil my water, I was drinking from a stream, the water was clear and cold, but it was not safe. The second time was after a visit to Mexico, I figure it was contracted after I was wading in a stream up to my waist in what must have been contaminated water, it couldn't possibly have been the watered down Tequila, could it? It is able to contaminate your well after a flood do not drink your well water until it has been tested and cleared, floodwater will get into your potable water. Reverse Osmosis, rapid boiling for longer than one minute and filters of 1 micron or less will eliminate it, chorline like mentioned above does nothing.
2) Airborne diseases: I have for a long period of time thought that if some of the diseases infecting humanity were to go airborne, a pandemic would break out. The illnesses that would be horrible if they did go airborne are the likes of Ebola or the Zika virus, I don't know if they are even capable of becoming so. Some diseases are Airborne, however, Legionnaires disease a pneumonia type sickness that is very dangerous if the victim declines medical attention, it can be contracted by inhaling small drops of water. After flooding, the wind can kick up water droplets, smaller than a spray, hardly noticeable, but when they are inhaled problems can and often do follow.
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| A 1/2 face mask compared to the N95 below. |
People with lung disorders such as Asthma or Chronic respiratory diseases are well advised to wear a respirator, The recommendation is to wear an N95, they are supposed to filter out 95% of particles. I have found they are not to my liking, I have worn a lot of respirators, half mask, full mask, and hoods, I have a half mask made by 3M with an ammonia filter in it, I wore them inside "fireboxes" full of wood ash, coal ash and petroleum coke ash, I never had a problem. I would recommend purchasing a half or full mask, (no I don't sell them) they are available for a nominal amount and are well worth the extra cost. They work well when we are trying to avoid contaminants (like ash) but if we don't know the air is contaminated, we have to be proactive, put the mask on before starting cleanup. The N95 does a fair job filtering out mold and fungus, I still wear my half mask.
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| N95 mask in comparison to the 1/2 face mask above. |
3) Insect/pest problems: Oh man, Mosquito's, the pointed nose fiends carry Zika, Dengue and West Nile viruses to name a few that are capable of infecting human beings. The high winds during a hurricane, tornado or severe thunderstorm will keep the flying pests at bay, they return with a vengeance in the aftermath. Standing water is their savior, it serves as breeding habitat rich with all of the ingredients that encourage a successful egg laying spree. A few things we can do to protect ourselves include wearing long sleeve shirts and pants, use bug spray containing Deet or Picaridin. Remove all pools of standing water, Mosquito's do not need a lot of water for breeding, old tires, pet dishes, or any place standing water is left to gather is a perfect habitat. The State of Virginia has a comprehensive paper on standing water. Link
In the event you have been bitten, if you develop rashes, high fevers, joint, and muscle pain take some Tylenol and see a doctor as rapidly as possible. Do not take Advil (ibuprofen) it's possible when combined with the infectious organism it may cause profuse bleeding.
West Nile Virus has decimated the population of Mudhens, Redwing Blackbirds, and Crows on our island, it is my understanding, Texas is infected with the virus on a par with California.
4) Snakes: My neighbor spotted a snake, she is the sweetest person in the world, the snake sighting scared her terribly. She described it to me, I think it was a California Whip Snake, harmless but long and it is a bit scary. I told her I would look for it in her yard, well then she told me she "heard" a rattle, so now I'm looking for several snakes. they are elusive, I have been looking for two weeks. Two weeks with no sighting, I look around their 1/2 acre about 5 times a week, nothing. It gets below 50 degrees at night and her garden is kept very wet, I don't expect to see one, but all that means is I didn't see one, it doesn't mean they aren't there. That's the problem.
After a Hurricane snakes as well as other creepy crawly's get displaced and find themselves in unfamiliar territory, due to the high water they seek higher dry ground. They are on the move and more likely to come into contact with humans cleaning up debris and the after-effects of the catastrophe.
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| It's generally not like this in the USA. |
There are some things we can do if you are in a snake-infested area, wear high boots, snake chaps, and long pants. Gloves, goggles, hats and leather leggings won't hurt as well, it's different than hunting for snakes. When hunting for snakes a person is dressed to encounter them, the people catching snakes have the expertise, me cleaning up my yard possess no skills in snake handling. People like me are in a defensive mode, every piece of trash or debris moved may expose a snake or other critter. Our best defense is to again, like with the Mosquito's dress and be proactive. If you do encounter a snake and you are not adept at doing anything with it, get the heck away! Men are bit on the hand, let that sink in a bit, I have known several (men) missing fingers from attempting to "pick up" a rattlesnake, I have never met a woman with a missing finger from being bitten by a rattler. Women are bitten on the foot or leg, see what I'm talking about? Don't touch the snake, but if you are bitten wrap it with a dry, clean bandage, remain calm and keep the bitten appendage below the heart. It is possible that shock can be encountered, as the attending person, (you and I) talk calmly, telling the victim everything will be OK, there will be time after the doctor release's (him probably) to tell him what you think of the intelligence of a person that attempts to handle a rattlesnake with not a clue of what (he) is doing. Although I have heard they taste like chicken, I imagine dinosaurs did too. (For a description of poisonous snake bites go to this Link.)
Those are a few harmful (to humans) threats we will encounter after a catastrophic event that causes water to stand, or from pests or animals, there are many more threats than I have listed. The following 4 items can be addressed if you believe you have contracted a disease or other ailment:
1) Wash your hands every time we have contacted flood water, it will still contaminate the clothing, but hand washing will help to keep from ingesting the possibly harmful pathogens. Change your clothing as soon as you possibly are able to.
2) Do not put your hands on your face, head or in your mouth, it is difficult to do and takes self-determination, it's amazing how many times even in one hour we do. Give your self a test and experiment with how long you are able to keep from doing that. Do not touch mucous membranes, nose, mouth, or the south end of the body, wash hands often.
3) If possible wear latex gloves, for the uninitiated they are available in many sizes if a person has extra-large hands, (I do) and wears a large or smaller, the gloves will tear and become ineffective, wear the proper size. I worked with crew members that would cut the fingers off of the gloves, Why wear them then? I also worked with guy's that would drill a hole in their respirators to enable them to smoke as well. Enough said about that.
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| Full Hazardous waste protective clothing. |
I harp on floodwater all the time, it's a dangerous after effect of catastrophic events, it turns normally peaceful safe environments into a petri dish of illnesses. My intent starting off was to talk about purifying contaminated water, the water that has Protozoa's, Bacteria and Viruses, boiling alone is not effective when dealing with all of them, there is no wide brush to deal with them all, instead I became "sidetracked" and went off on a tangent, my next blog I intend to cover that subject.
Thank you for reading and sharing, please +1 on Google+, leave a comment or suggestion, I'd like to hear your experiences and stories. Thank you
jacquesandkate emergencykitsplus.com
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