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Thousands without clean water across U.S. Southeast, 1 week on from hurricane hitting Florida

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Thursday, October 3, 2024

Hurricane Helene's abating floodwaters have enabled residents across storm-hit Southeastern states to return home, but health officials warn survivors now face threats including contaminated water and mold.The big picture: More than 180 storm-related deaths have been confirmed as teams search for missing people, thousands of people still have no power and are without clean water access one week on from the hurricane making landfall in Florida and dumping flooding rains across the Southeast.Critical materials like new water pipes continue to arrive in Asheville and are in the process of being connected to our water service system. We are grateful to our state, federal and private sector partners for their critical assistance. pic.twitter.com/myR19mHbbD— City of Asheville (@CityofAsheville) October 2, 2024 "Access to safe and potable water remains a top concern in Western North Carolina," per a Tuesday statement from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services that noted about 160 boil water advisories were in effect and 27 water plants closed and not producing water due to the storm. Asheville's nearly 100,000 residents may have to wait "weeks" for clean water, city officials said. Meanwhile, boil water and conservation notices were also in effect in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. Thousands of people were estimated Threat level: "Access to clean water is one of the most urgent health concerns after a flood. People need water for drinking, preparing food, cleaning, bathing, even flushing toilets. Contact with contaminated water can cause serious illnesses," wrote disaster epidemiologist Jennifer Horney in The Conversation on Wednesday."Floodwater with sewage or other harmful contaminants in it can lead to infectious diseases, particularly among people who are already ill, immunocompromised or have open wounds," added Horney, who's originally from N.C. and now works as an epidemiology professor at the University of Delaware.Symptoms from infection with waterborne pathogens "can include gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever, and headache," according to a statement from Alasdair Cohen, an assistant professor of environmental epidemiology with the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.Floodwaters pose risks like gastrointestinal illness, dehydration, and carbon monoxide poisoning from improper generator use, per a statement from Julia Gohlke an associate professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. "Pregnant women face an increased risk of premature labor or preterm birth, and long-term mold exposure can exacerbate asthma."The bottom line: "Flooded regions will need long-term help," Horney notes.More from Axios:Hurricane Helene damages could hit $35 billionStudy reveals thousands of long-term deaths from hurricanesView from space shows path of power outages from Hurricane Helene

The big picture: More than 180 storm-related deaths have been confirmed as teams search for missing people, thousands of people still have no power and are without clean water access one week on from the hurricane making landfall in Florida and dumping flooding rains across the Southeast.

Critical materials like new water pipes continue to arrive in Asheville and are in the process of being connected to our water service system. We are grateful to our state, federal and private sector partners for their critical assistance. pic.twitter.com/myR19mHbbD
— City of Asheville (@CityofAsheville) October 2, 2024

"Access to safe and potable water remains a top concern in Western North Carolina," per a Tuesday statement from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services that noted about 160 boil water advisories were in effect and 27 water plants closed and not producing water due to the storm.
Asheville's nearly 100,000 residents may have to wait "weeks" for clean water, city officials said.

Meanwhile, boil water and conservation notices were also in effect in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. Thousands of people were estimated

Threat level: "Access to clean water is one of the most urgent health concerns after a flood. People need water for drinking, preparing food, cleaning, bathing, even flushing toilets. Contact with contaminated water can cause serious illnesses," wrote disaster epidemiologist Jennifer Horney in The Conversation on Wednesday.

"Floodwater with sewage or other harmful contaminants in it can lead to infectious diseases, particularly among people who are already ill, immunocompromised or have open wounds," added Horney, who's originally from N.C. and now works as an epidemiology professor at the University of Delaware.
Symptoms from infection with waterborne pathogens "can include gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever, and headache," according to a statement from Alasdair Cohen, an assistant professor of environmental epidemiology with the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.

Floodwaters pose risks like gastrointestinal illness, dehydration, and carbon monoxide poisoning from improper generator use, per a statement from Julia Gohlke an associate professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.

"Pregnant women face an increased risk of premature labor or preterm birth, and long-term mold exposure can exacerbate asthma."

The bottom line: "Flooded regions will need long-term help," Horney notes.

More from Axios:

Read the full story here.

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Helene’s health risks include contaminated water and mold: Doctors

Floodwater with sewage or other harmful contaminants in it can lead to infectious diseases, according to an epidemiologist.

(NewsNation) — As authorities in the path of Hurricane Helene continue to hunt for missing people, the dangers for those who survived the wind and flooding are many, including contaminated water and mold. “Symptoms from infection with waterborne pathogens can include gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever, and headache,” said Alasdair Cohen, an assistant professor of environmental epidemiology with the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. The danger is worse for anyone with any sort of skin break, even a small scrape or a condition like eczema. “Floodwater with sewage or other harmful contaminants in it can lead to infectious diseases, particularly among people who are already ill, immunocompromised or have open wounds,” epidemiology professor Jennifer Horney at the University of Delaware wrote on the nonprofit news website The Conversation. In some regions, damaged water treatment plants may not be operational for weeks. A lack of power means that private wells, which require electricity to pump and filter the water, are not a reliable source of safe water. Another dangerous legacy of Helene’s rain and flooding is mold, which may be especially dangerous to people who rush to clean their homes of storm damage. “There are multiple health effects from mold exposure,” said Dr. Colin Swenson of Atlanta’s Emory University. “Probably the best known are those with asthma and other sorts of airway-based diseases,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Mold can enter your home through open doorways, windows, vents, and heating and air conditioning systems,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Mold in the air outside can also attach itself to clothing, shoes, and pets (and) can and be carried indoors." The site offers several tips on how to clean mold but stresses that “if you see or smell mold, you should remove it. You do not need to know the type of mold. If mold is growing in your home, you need to clean up the mold and fix the moisture problem.” Swenson adds that while you might not see any mold, your sense of smell will tell the story. “The best single way to determine if you have mold in the home is ‘the nose knows’ that sort of musty odor that the mold gives off. These are volatile, organic compounds that can oftentimes predate the development of any visual signs,” he said.

Water

Health

Energy

Hurricane Helene leaves thousands without clean water in its wake

Damage to sewage systems and pipes means widespread boil water notices and conservation orders could last weeksHurricane Helene left a path of devastation behind, with storm-ravaged areas struggling to access safe water for days because flooding damaged sewage systems, wastewater treatment plants, and pipes that deliver drinking water to residents in the affected areas.Boiling water advisories and water conservation orders are in place in counties in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. Continue reading...

Hurricane Helene left a path of devastation behind, with storm-ravaged areas struggling to access safe water for days because flooding damaged sewage systems, wastewater treatment plants, and pipes that deliver drinking water to residents in the affected areas.Boiling water advisories and water conservation orders are in place in counties in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.More than 160 boil water advisories were in effect in North Carolina as of Tuesday. On Sunday, officials in Asheville said that nearly 100,000 residents may not get access to water for weeks.“Extensive repairs are required to treatment facilities, underground and aboveground water pipes, and to roads that have washed away which are preventing water personnel from accessing parts of the system,” the city’s press release read.Some residents have resorted to bathing in creeks, and relying on water from streams to flush toilets, according to the Washington Post.Sydney Evans, senior science analyst at Environmental Working Group, said that “after catastrophic storms like Hurricane Helene, many water systems and private wells are compromised by dangerous contamination like bacteria and other pathogens, industrial pollutants and animal waste that pose an immediate threat to people’s health”.Many in the affected areas, particularly in the Appalachian region, rely on wells that require electricity to access drinking water. But in the aftermath of Helene, which made landfall last Thursday, more than 1 million people remain without power.“Now there are so many additional potential contaminants that may be present in water sources, especially water systems that use surface water,” Elin Betanzo, drinking water expert and president of Safe Water Engineering, said.“Boiling water is effective for addressing acute microbial contaminants, but this might be very difficult with the lack of power in many locations.”Betanzo added that camping drinking water filters and treatments may be another option in the short term.

Water

Conservation

Waste

Honeywell will fund cleanup of contaminated groundwater in San Fernando Valley, EPA says

The EPA said the facilities will treat groundwater in a part of the San Fernando Valley Superfund site, enabling the LADWP to use the water as part of its supplies.

Decades ago, chemicals from manufacturing plants seeped into the groundwater in the San Fernando Valley, contaminating the aquifer. As part of ongoing cleanup efforts, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has announced that the company Honeywell International Inc. has agreed to pay for building water treatment facilities in North Hollywood.The EPA said the facilities will treat groundwater in a portion of the San Fernando Valley Superfund site, enabling the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to use the water as part of its supplies.The agency said in its announcement Tuesday that the agreement was reached after more than a decade of negotiations and that it “resulted from a cooperative process” involving the company, the EPA and LADWP.LADWP had previously announced in 2021 that Honeywell was funding and building treatment facilities to clean up groundwater in the San Fernando Valley.According to the EPA, Honeywell’s predecessors manufactured aircraft parts and other industrial equipment starting in the 1940s at a facility in North Hollywood known as the Bendix site. Regulators determined that operations at several industrial plants, including that site, caused the contamination of groundwater in a part of the Superfund site called the North Hollywood Operable Unit.The groundwater in the area is contaminated with harmful chemicals including trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene.Under the agreement, contaminated groundwater will be pumped, treated and delivered to LADWP. The purified water will be enough to meet the needs of about 144,000 L.A. residents, restoring a local source that will help boost local supplies, the EPA said.Martha Guzman, the EPA’s Pacific Southwest regional administrator, said the announcement “marks major progress on the cleanup of groundwater in the San Fernando Valley.”“This is a key step towards returning the aquifer to use as a drinking water source for the people of Los Angeles,” Guzman said.

Water

Chemicals

Hillsboro voters will advise city whether to add fluoride to water supply

Fluoride is widely used to strengthen tooth enamel, but opponents say it can hurt children’s neurological development.

Hillsboro voters this fall will advise the city whether to add fluoride to the public water supply, weighing in on a mineral that’s widely used to strengthen tooth enamel but that opponents say can hurt children’s neurological development.Hillsboro pediatrician Beth Mossman spearheaded the effort to have city residents vote on the addition of fluoride. In June, the City Council approved placing non-binding advisory Measure 34-338 on the November ballot to ask for the community’s opinion on fluoridation.The measure has brought the fight over fluoride’s health impacts to the forefront. Arguments largely mirror those that erupted in Portland 11 years ago when a similar, highly controversial proposal appeared on the ballot. Voters ultimately rejected it 61% to 39%.Fluoride is added to drinking water in most U.S. water systems to help protect people’s teeth from decay. About 15,000 Hillsboro residents already receive fluoridated water from the Tualatin Valley Water District, which supplies areas east of Cornelius Pass Road and north of U.S. 26. But the remaining 92,000 city residents receive their water from the Hillsboro Water Department, which does not fluoridate the water.Should Measure 34-338 pass, Hillsboro Water Department Director Niki Iverson said her agency would follow the non-binding guidance and fluoridate the rest of the city’s water supply, unless regulations change or costs skyrocket. The department would spread the anticipated costs of around $4 million over at least four to five years and delay non-urgent projects to avoid raising rates, Iverson said.In addition to providing water to most Hillsboro residents, the department also serves the communities of Gaston and Cornelius.Organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider fluoride safe at low concentrations, and in most of the U.S., it’s added to drinking water at a concentration of 0.7 milligrams per liter. A notable exception is the city of Portland, the largest city in the U.S. without fluoridated water.Opponents of fluoridation point to a growing body of research showing that fluoride can have adverse effects on children’s IQ. And the Hillsboro vote is coming just as anti-fluoridation advocates notched a major win: A federal judge in San Francisco ruled Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency must further regulate fluoride in drinking water out of concerns about intellectual development.In Mossman’s eyes, adding fluoride to Hillsboro’s water is crucial for the tooth health of local children, including her patients. Her advocacy group, Healthy Teeth Hillsboro, has raised about $6,500 to support the measure, campaign finance records show.Last summer, Mossman saw two young children whose teeth had deteriorated to the point that their parents had to sell their car to pay for dental care. They lived less than a mile from homes that receive fluoridated water, she said. And if they’d lived across that border, she thinks their teeth wouldn’t have deteriorated so much.“So I got fired up,” Mossman said. “I went to the City Council, and I said, ‘Please help me with this. There’s no reason Hillsboro should not be fluoridated.’”To Mossman, opposing fluoridation is akin to embracing the anti-vaccine movement. Opponents of the measure, however, argue that fluoride poses too great a health risk to countenance.“What level of hazardous material do we want to put into any water supply?” asked Hillsboro resident Matthew Sztelle, the director of advocacy group Clean Water Hillsboro, which has raised about $5,500 to oppose the measure.Staci Whitman, a pediatric dentist in Portland who works with Hillsboro patients, agreed. She used to support fluoridation, but more than 10 years ago, she dove into the research and changed her mind. She no longer prescribes fluoride supplements for kids drinking non-fluoridated water, she said, because she doesn’t think the benefits of fluoride for teeth outweigh concerns that it could reduce children’s IQ.“Brain health trumps teeth,” Whitman said.No one disputes that at high concentrations, fluoride can have adverse health effects. High, sustained exposure can lead to skeletal fluorosis, a serious bone disease. And a recent meta-analysis by the federal government’s National Toxicology Program found an association between higher fluoride levels of 1.5 milligrams per liter or above and lower IQ. It noted, however, that it had insufficient data to draw conclusions about the impacts of drinking fluoridated water at 0.7 milligrams per liter.Jessica Steier, a Massachusetts-based public health scientist and founder of the podcast Unbiased Science, pointed out that the government report looked at fluoride levels significantly higher than what’s added to the water in the U.S. She said she does not consider standard fluoridated water a cause for concern: “There is absolutely no reason to panic.”But Ashley Malin, who researches the effect of fluoride exposure on neurodevelopmental outcomes at the University of Florida, said adverse effects can occur even at 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter. In particular, studies in areas with typical levels of water fluoridation have found associations between higher fluoride levels in pregnant women and lower IQ for their children, she said.“There are growing concerns now, particularly about the impacts on child development,” Malin said. “People are becoming more cautious.”Moreover, Malin said research generally shows that fluoride is best at preventing tooth decay when applied topically — for example, via a fluoridated toothpaste. She described the evidence for benefits from ingesting fluoride as weaker, though the American Dental Association supports the use of both topically applied and ingested fluoride. Steier said the data are mixed, but pointed to research, including a 2018 federal government-funded study, that showed ingesting fluoride does provide benefits for children.Opponents of fluoridation in Hillsboro argue that taking fluoride should be a question of choice. If individual people want to use fluoride for tooth health, they should take supplements or use fluoride toothpaste rather than putting it in the entire city’s drinking water, said Sztelle of Clean Water Hillsboro.But to Mossman, leaving fluoride out of the water supply poses an equity issue. Wealthy parents might be able to take their children to the dentist regularly and provide them with fluoride supplements, but lower-income parents working multiple jobs can’t always afford preventative dental care or ensure their kids have access to fluoride.Fluoridation has a long history of contention in the Portland area. Portland voted to fluoridate in 1978 but overturned that vote two years later. In Washington County, Beaverton, Forest Grove and the Tualatin Valley Water District — minus the Metzger Water District — fluoridate their water.Hillsboro, meanwhile, hasn’t voted on fluoridation since the 1950s. In 1952, residents voted in favor of adding fluoride before rejecting that decision in another vote just one year later. A community group pushed for fluoridation in 2002, but faced opposition. No vote took place then, Iverson said, and she’s not sure how public sentiment has shifted over the past 70 years.“We don’t want to make a shift without really getting that information back from the community,” Iverson said.— Aviva Bechky covers politics and education for The Oregonian/OregonLive. They can be reached at abechky@oregonian.com or on X at @avivabechky.Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.

Water

Education

Government

N.Y.C. Tap Water May Taste Different During Upcoming Tunnel Shutdown

The city has famously delicious drinking water. Forced repairs to the Delaware Aqueduct may lessen its quality.

New York City’s tap water — a source of pride for residents — might taste a bit different for a while.This week, a pristine watershed in the Catskill Mountains that provides about 90 percent of the city’s drinking water will be reduced by about half, temporarily, and a lesser-used supply will make up the difference.A chunk of the Delaware Aqueduct, which is responsible for delivering about half of the city’s water, is closing down for critical repairs for eight months, resulting in the loss of a core water source: the Delaware portion of the Catskill-Delaware watershed, which encompasses five rural counties in New York State. The watershed represents the largest unfiltered water supply in the United States.But there is a contingency plan: Another watershed, which supplies the city with about 10 percent of its water but is typically reserved for backup, will make up some of the shortfall. Officials said this means that New York’s water, though still safe, might deviate from the taste residents are accustomed to, while the city completes the crucial repairs to its water infrastructure.“Just like different brands of bottled water taste a bit different, so do our different reservoirs,” said Rohit T. Aggarwala, the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the city’s water supply, in a statement.The nearly century-old Delaware Aqueduct is 85 miles long and extends from the Catskills region north of New York City to the city’s main reservoir in Yonkers.

Water

Mountains

Suggested Viewing

Vanishing Springs

The Florida you know is a lie. In contrast to what Americans have been told, Florida’s magic is not found in the giant mouse, the rolling green golf courses, or in the beachside palaces. The beauty and uniqueness of Florida is under our feet - the aquifer. This pure, crystal clear water is the life blood of our state and without it, life as we know it in the sunshine state would not exist. This life sustaining force is only seen where it bubbles up to the surface through Florida’s collection of 1,000 springs. These springs were originally what drew society to this land. Wealthy tourists in the 1900’s flooded the Florida springs seeking medicinal cures from its pristine waters. As springs became a popular tourist destination, spring houses were built around these pools of water. When this development began, the springs began flowing less and some eventually stopped altogether. People assumed this was the natural order of this wonder and moved on. Theme parks, golf courses and resorts were erected to entice tourists to visit Florida, the natural beauty of the state soon faded out of our memory. The springs of Florida now silently suffer from the effects of continued development in Florida. The current strain we are placing on the fragile ecosystem is choking the life out of our state. Overdevelopment is one of the leading forces that is damaging the springs. The once pure sources of water no longer boil up like a fountain the way they have for centuries. The water that the springs do produce is polluted by nitrates. This pollution fuels the growth of toxic algae blooms, which are taking over springs and the rivers they feed, thus putting our health at risk. Over 90% of our drinking water gushes out of these sapphire pools. These glorious reservoirs have begun to shrink. If something is not done soon, the springs will simply become part of Florida history. In southern Florida they already have. Springs once bubbled up all across the state. They were wiped out in South Florida decades ago by the ditching and draining of the landscape as well as over-pumping of the aquifer. This water was then sprayed on suburban lawns and farmers' fields, run through showers and flushed down toilets, turned into steam to crank turbines for electricity, or siphoned into plastic bottles for sale around the country. Because of poor use and neglect of our greatest resource, we will soon be without this supply of fresh water. Floridians regard their water supply as abundant and cheap, when the fact is it's neither. Until this attitude changes, the springs will not be rescued.

Water

Conservation

Health

SeaMonster II

SeaMonster II is a single channel video with sound, duration 14:19. All the objects used in this performance were collected at the sea shore near the artist's studio on the island of Aegina. This work is part of the "SeaMonster" series. The first iteration "SeaMonster Monk" a live performance took place at the Athens Art Fair 2019 and was featured at the WhiteBox NYC in 2023.

Water

Pollution

Nature

Lake Victoria: An Ecosystem in Turmoil

Decades of mismanagement, environmental changes and a burgeoning population have created tensions for the 40 million people living on the shores of the world's second largest freshwater lake, Lake Victoria. Desperate fishermen use illegal nets and overfish the East African lake's dwindling stocks, while many fishermen have had to turn to other forms of work - much of which has a detrimental impact on the health of the lake and its residents. Lake Victoria: An Ecosystem in Turmoil follows some of those trying to eek out a living on the lake: a Kenyan fisherman who illegally crosses the border into Uganda in the search for fish; a Ugandan who gave up fishing to become a palm oil farmer; and a Tanzanian gold miner using mercury with his bare hands to extract the precious mineral from unregulated mines on the lake's shores. But how well do they comprehend the pressure that they’re putting on the lake, and can the regional governments and communities take action before irreversible damage happens?

Land Use

Water

Government

THE WATER WILL TAKE US

This film tells the story of the victims of the flood of 2019 in Iran, which happened in the three provinces of North, Central and South of the country and left a lot of damages. The main narrators are three women who reveal the causes of this incident and mismanagements and tell the story of the people who were left to fend for themselves during the flood and after.

Water

Social Justice

Climate

The Great Divide

Twenty minutes outside of Visalia, amidst the seemingly endless rows of citrus trees, Yolanda Cuevas packs enchiladas with shredded chicken for her husband Benjamin, their adult daughters and two teenaged grandchildren in her modest single-story home. Their house is the first one off the main drag, one of 83 lining the two crumbling roads that comprise the tiny town of Tooleville. Yolanda must wash the tomatoes for the salsa first in the sink and then again with a splash of clean water from a 5-gallon jug. The process is arduous, and though she’s resigned to do it, she’s not happy about it. Along with Tooleville’s several hundred other residents, Yolanda’s family has survived on bi-weekly delivery of water to their homes for the past 12 years. It’s an annoyance for the family, and it’s expensive for the State of California, which has been paying for the replacement water since the discovery of Chromium-6 (the same chemical featured in Erin Brokovich) in the water. The simpler solution would be to consolidate the town’s water system with that of its larger, affluent neighbor to the west, Exeter. And for this purpose, Yolanda has become a reluctant activist, attending community meetings in Tooleville and lobbying for consolidation at Exeter’s city council meetings under the expert guidance of Pedro Hernandez, an organizer with the Leadership Counsel. While Exeter has resisted the consolidation since it was first proposed, organizers like Pedro feel that this could be the year Exeter finally succumbs to the growing community pressure and brings Tooleville into the fold. The decision will echo around the Central Valley and across the state, as hundreds of similar community water systems find themselves in a nearly identical predicament.

Water

Activism

Documentary

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GoGreenNation news

Thousands without clean water across U.S. Southeast, 1 week on from hurricane hitting Florida

Related News

Helene’s health risks include contaminated water and mold: Doctors

Hurricane Helene leaves thousands without clean water in its wake

Honeywell will fund cleanup of contaminated groundwater in San Fernando Valley, EPA says

Hillsboro voters will advise city whether to add fluoride to water supply

N.Y.C. Tap Water May Taste Different During Upcoming Tunnel Shutdown

Suggested Viewing

Vanishing Springs

SeaMonster II

Lake Victoria: An Ecosystem in Turmoil

THE WATER WILL TAKE US

The Great Divide

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sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Cookies help us run our site more efficiently.

Thousands without clean water across U.S. Southeast, 1 week on from hurricane hitting Florida

Related News

Helene’s health risks include contaminated water and mold: Doctors

Hurricane Helene leaves thousands without clean water in its wake

Honeywell will fund cleanup of contaminated groundwater in San Fernando Valley, EPA says

Hillsboro voters will advise city whether to add fluoride to water supply

N.Y.C. Tap Water May Taste Different During Upcoming Tunnel Shutdown

Suggested Viewing

Vanishing Springs

SeaMonster II

Lake Victoria: An Ecosystem in Turmoil

THE WATER WILL TAKE US

The Great Divide

Join us to forgea sustainable future

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Join us to forge
a sustainable future