Posted on 11/01/2012 8:11:10 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Water is everywhere in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy – in basements, on the streets and in transit systems – but the one place that flood water is most dangerous is in your body.
ABC News chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser collected floodwater and drinking water in some of the areas hit hardest by Sandy and had them tested at The Ambient Group lab. The floodwater collected in Lower Manhattan tested positive for gasoline and two types of bacteria found in sewage: E. coli and coliform.
“Very dangerous,” Besser said. “Make sure you wear protective gear if you are coming into contact with flood water.”
Looking at the testing containers filled with Manhattan floodwater, Besser explained that the yellow glow indicated that coliform bacteria was present at high levels. The purple fluorescence tells us that there are sky-high levels of E. coli from sewage contamination.
Today, he went to Piermont, N.Y., an area hit so hard by the hurricane that it’s under a boil water advisory, meaning residents are instructed not to drink tap water without first boiling it or purifying it with bleach.
When a power outage knocked out one of Piermont’s water pumps, officials were concerned about tap water contamination. The water company tested water from a hydrant, which initially ran brown, but eventually cleared.
Besser tested the hydrant water as well, and smelt chlorine in it, which helps protect it from bacteria.
He also collected tap water from a family’s home faucet and expects to review the lab results tomorrow which will indicate whether the family’s water was contaminated. Several families in the neighborhood are already boiling their water as a precaution.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
I thought gasoline was purple. Is it?
During my flood, the fire dept was looking for a rainbow on the water for fuel.
A neighbor stopped by today. We discussed Sandy's flooding and damage. He was disgusted that there was sewage and gasoline in the flood waters. Sigh... I had to remind him of the ingredients of our 2011 flood: Water, mud, gas, fish, fuel, diesel, sewage, road kill, trees, manure, mud, livestock, asbestos, fertilizer, PVC, lead, asphalt... to sum it up, our water was more abundant with ingredients. At least Sandy brought salt which is a disinfectant.
The salt content of the floodwater must be freaking out Bloomberg.
Oh, we did have to get tetanus shots. I don't know what was in it, it hurt for a week. I was convinced I was chipped. LOL.
How would they know? Heck, every time I’ve been in Nuevo York it smelled just like that.
If you have a home to stay in . . .
Gasoline, light it up and burn out the problem.
Living in Florida during three years with 10+ day power outages, we developed a routine for making gas supplies last when using a generator. Also, we had tons of camping supplies and multiple means of cooking and stuff. We always had cold milk and hot coffee.
OTOH, you bring up a good point because most of these folks have NEVER dealt with anything like this. It's not likely they have access to the supplies we built up in preparation for years. They didn't build up a several day supply of survival goods to see them through an event like this. They are at the mercy of their neighbors or the local government.
And if it's the latter, this will turn very ugly very fast.
“and on that bombshell...Goodnight!”
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