Hurricane storm surge making Flood water toxic and dangerous, it's nasty stuff as described here:

Storm surge is the most damaging of the components of a Hurricane, it causes most of the human casualties, as well as damage. Making landfall before the main event and lingering after the Hurricane passes, the flooding and rain continue sometimes for weeks afterward. Leaving flooded areas as a calling card, that water is toxic as well, one worry is the diseases contracted from it may not appear in a human for many decades, by that time the source is not relatable to the flooding event. Instead of keeping track of the Category of the storm and it's wind velocity, it may be better to pay more attention to the size, and intensity of the Storm Surge.



Stagnant water, chemically compromised water, bacteria infected water, and many other threats occur to human health after the Hurricane has left and we set about cleaning up the mess. The Utilities have been interrupted, we are without electricity, water, and an internet connection. We are able to survive longer without food than we are water, when it is no longer available we must take precautionary measures to be certain it is safe to drink, wash, and prepare meals.

When in dought, boil that water for one full minute while it is
rolling, let it cool before drinking it.

1)  Waterborne diseases: When Sewage water and potable water come in contact with each other, drinking water is immediately contaminated. Wildfires, Tornadoes', Heavy Rains, Spring runoff, and Hurricanes are accompanied by a loss of basic services. We lose our electricity which in turn causes the loss of water, communications, and refrigeration. Usually, along with flooding, it has a habit of partnering up with catastrophic events adding another layer of misery on the survivors and victims. There are plenty of reasons to exercise caution when dealing with flood water, and a contaminated well. All wells are toxic when the wellhead is submerged in the water. As the water runs it course across farms, golf courses, factories, homes, and parks it carries with it all of the chemicals in use to keep the landscaping green and lush. Leaking into the well the toxins and contaminants make their way to the water table shaping it into a toxic stew. Chemicals are merely a part of the ingredients, animals expire during the storms.


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, dying in the flood water further contaminate the supply. There is a huge die-off of rodents during a flood, causing a real concern of well water contamination from a rotting corpse. After the cleanup and lives are just beginning to return to "normal" the rats and mice begin to multiply, on a biblical scale. One of the diseases carried and 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.

It appears to be OK, but boil that water before you use it.

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 never 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, chlorine 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.

We are well advised to keep some on hand.

People with lung disorders such as Asthma or Chronic respiratory diseases are well advised to wear a respirator while near the floodwater. 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. When working on overhead objects wear a pair of goggles, or use a full face mask to keep debris and water from entering your eyes.

A 3M 1/2 mask respirator, the pink filters are for ammonia.

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 a 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) 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, the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey last year caused the Mosquito population to explode. 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.

During the age of the Dinosaurs, the Mosquitoes attained the size of Hummingbirds, thousands of them. Swarming in the thousands they would attack the ancient beasts driving them into a full run, the huge animals were not able to outrun them. In their panic, they would go over cliffs, drown, and often die from exhaustion. Let's hope they never return.

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 thought 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.

I wrote the preceding paragraph a year ago, this is a post I am updating and posting again. Hurricane season is upon us and this information is still relevant. It ends up my neighbor lady may have seen a California Skink, it's a snake-like animal with very short legs. I describe it in this blog I wrote a few months ago. (Link)

After a Hurricane snake 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.

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 us 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 bitten 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.)

Snakes are able to swim, Rattlesnakes can and will bite while swimming, they will attempt to enter a boat, and they will be disoriented during a flood after being deposited in a  place that is unfamiliar to them. Cottonmouths (Water Moccasins) are notoriously nasty, they attack in the water and are deadly. It is advisable to keep a distance between yourself and any Snake that is encountered at any time, not only during a catastrophe.

A Photo of a Water Moccasin, or Cottonmouth, notice the
shape of the head, this is a nasty mean animal, give it plenty
of space.

Those are a few harmful (to humans) threats we will encounter after an event that causes water to stand or flood. The following 4 items should be addressed if you believe you have contracted a disease or other ailment from the floodwater, insects, or animals:

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, teaching ourselves break that habit takes self-determination and discipline, it's amazing how many times even in one hour we do it. Give your self a test and experiment with how long you are able to keep from rubbing your hands on your face. Do not touch mucous membranes, nose, mouth, or the south end of the body, wash hands often.

Handle dead animals, and there may be many, carefully always wearing leather or latex gloves. Washing of the hands with warm soap and water takes care of many of the germs. Dispose of the latex gloves, leather gloves may be washed as we wash our hands, however, hand cleaner works much better.

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, avoid compromising the integrity of any safety equipment. If we do Why wear protection? 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.

4)  Flu or pneumonia-like symptoms, when realized the sufferer must seek medical help as soon as possible. Unfortunately, during an emergency situation Hospitals, Doctors, Nurses, and Medications are at a premium. Have as much information that you can gather prior to meeting with the medical people, the chances of seeing your personal physician will most likely be nil, in fact, many times patients must seek help far away from their homes after being involved in one of these events.

Flood water dangers Link.

I harp on floodwater all the time, it is dangerous at any time, especially so after 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 easy to follow directions or a one size fits all solution when it comes to contaminated water. Keep a seven day supply for each member of the household in reserve. One week drinking water is the equivalent to a 24 case of pint water bottles, more is needed for hygienic purposes and preparing meals. Preparation to be self-reliant for a one week period is the course of action I recommend for building an emergency kit. Commercially available 72-hour kits are recommended by FEMA and most first responder organizations. It is a good recommendation, I suggest a 7-day kit instead.

My reasoning is if a 72-hour kit is purchased to build it into a 7-day takes a small number of additional supplies, more water, a few dehydrated food packs, and additional clothing items. In the 72-hour pack flashlights, fire starting materials, emergency radio, and some tools are provided so to enlarge it to a one week supply is a minimal task.

Being an advocate of having supplies to satisfy our immediate household members, and extra to help friends and neighbors the realization is most people are not prepared, 30% have supplies set up, 30% feel as if they should but never get around to it, and the last 30% simply don't see the need. I feel as if preparing to help them is a much better controllable situation than to be taken off guard by their request. I'm simply not the kind of person that would be able to tell someone "No, I will not help you.)


Thank you for reading and sharing my blog, leave a comment or suggestion, I'd like to hear your experiences and stories. This is being written while I watch the coverage of Hurricane Micheal, Florida gets hit with their share of Hurricanes for sure. The elected officials have for the last few years taken on a new tone leading up to the monsters making landfall, it comes in the form of a warning. Several of them are now saying things to the effect of, "If you have not evacuated stay where you are and do the best you can, this storm surge will probably kill you."  Wow, that's a powerful statement, but as one leader stated: "I hesitate to send the first responders in to rescue people that did not evacuate due to false bravery." He has a point when a mandatory evacuation is posted, we are all better off leaving, no matter what we feel may be a more important reason to stay and watch our homes and families be destroyed.

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