FloodA
Prevention Guide to Promote Your Personal Health and Safety
After a flood, the
physical devastation to a community is obvious. But during the flood and
its aftermath, there are some basic facts to remember that will help
protect your personal health and safety. This pamphlet provides
information that will help you and other flood victims prevent diseases
and injury and maintain good health in the days and weeks following a
flood.
This information is
provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through
state and local health departments. It includes general disease and
injury prevention guidelines that may vary slightly from state to state.
If in doubt, contact your local or state health departments, which will
issue health advisories or recommendations particular to local
conditions. |
Water Quality
Listen for public
announcements on the safety of the municipal water supply. Flooded,
private water wells will need to be tested and disinfected after flood
waters recede. Questions about testing should be directed to your local
or state health departments.
Water for
Drinking and Cooking
Safe drinking water
includes bottled, boiled, or treated water. Your state or local health
department can make specific recommendations for boiling or treating
drinking water in your area. Here are some general rules concerning
water for drinking and cooking. Remember:
-
Do not
use contaminated water to wash dishes, brush your teeth, wash and
prepare food, or make ice.
-
If you
use bottled water know where it came from. Otherwise, water should be
boiled or treated before use. Drink only bottled, boiled, or treated
water until your supply is tested and found safe.
-
Boiling water kills harmful bacteria and parasites. Bringing water to
a rolling boil for 1 minute will kill most organisms.
-
Water
may be treated with chlorine or iodine tablets, or by mixing six drops
(1/8 teaspoon) of unscented, ordinary household chlorine bleach (5.25
percent sodium hypochlorite) per gallon of water. Mix the solution
thoroughly, and let stand for about thirty minutes. However, this
treatment will not kill parasitic organisms.
Containers for water
should be rinsed with a bleach solution before reusing them. Use water
storage tanks and other types of containers with caution. For example,
fire truck storage tanks, as well as previously used cans or bottles may
be contaminated with microbes or chemicals. Do not rely on untested
devices for decontaminating water.
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