Hurricane Helen brought record rainfall to parts of Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee, making it one of the deadliest hurricanes of modern times, with affected areas suffering for years. I have been facing health issues for a long time.
Some impacts will affect the entire country, such as the flooding of a manufacturing plant that produces 60% of the country’s IV supplies.
Mountains melted in western North Carolina. Rain fell on the already soaked clay soil, scraping away mud, rocks and houses, sending buildings, cars, roads and water pipes all into the raging river, which swelled beyond residents’ imaginations.
Jerry McNeely’s home in Swannanoa, North Carolina, miraculously remained standing after a 75-yard landslide washed away five nearby homes.
“Something had to be done,” he said. He rushed to help. After 45 minutes of digging through the mud and rubble of a collapsed house in his neighborhood, McNeely found a toe painted purple, glowing like a lighthouse. Other neighbors arrived and heroically rescued the woman who was trapped under the beam.
McNealy said it took 18 hours for the neighbor to be evacuated due to leg injuries and head trauma, but he is now in stable condition. Another neighbor slipped and was thrown from his mobile home, broke his back, and died from his injuries before medical help arrived. His wife died instantly.
Immediate health concerns in the immediate aftermath of a disaster include complications from injuries, lack of clean water and safe food, and limited access to medical supplies and treatments such as insulin, oxygen, and dialysis, especially in light of power outages and road closures. These include difficulties in access.
Melody Gardner, a retired nurse who lives with her mother in Black Mountain, N.C., and manages rental housing in Swannanoa, said in a crisis like this, “you can’t separate yourself from people,” increasing the risk of infection. he said.
“I’m very concerned about the flu and COVID-19,” she said. The novel coronavirus continues to circulate at high levels across the country, and while flu season approaches and another surge is expected in the winter, both outbreaks typically occur early in this respiratory period. Few people are also getting the vaccine, he said.
Asthma flare-ups and breathing difficulties can also be increased by mold and standing water. Additionally, in Conyers, Georgia, residents were told to evacuate after a fire broke out at a biotech facility.
Rescuers have delivered truckloads of drinking water, but McNeely said it could be months before water is flowing again in areas where water mains were washed away, such as in western North Carolina.
Vehicles and buildings damaged by Hurricane Helen on Oct. 3 in Swannanoa, North Carolina. Photo: Eric S. Lesser/EPA
This raises hygiene concerns, including the spread of viruses such as hepatitis A and gastroenteritis, especially when people do not have enough water to wash their hands regularly or access to functioning toilets.
“We’re used to power outages in the mountains, but losing water service is unusual. It’s truly unprecedented,” McNeely said.
Where Helen’s worst wrath is spared, there is another threat. That’s an online rumor. City officials in Columbia, South Carolina, have repeatedly debunked rumors about the safety of drinking water after rumors spread that the water utility would soon be shut down due to contamination.
Pharmaceutical company Baxter, the nation’s largest manufacturer of intravenous fluids and dialysis fluids, has closed its plant in Marion, North Carolina, after flooding and infrastructure damage led to a national shortage of IV fluids.
In the long term, this region will likely have the worst access to health care and suffer the long-term effects of stress and trauma, according to a new study published Wednesday in Nature.
“We now know that the mortality effects of hurricanes extend far beyond the immediate aftermath of the storm and can actually last up to 15 years,” said John C., an environmental economist at the University of California, Berkeley. says Rachel Young, an environmental economist and one of the authors of “Hurricane.” the study.
Hurricanes and tropical cyclones are a much bigger public health concern than previously thought Rachel Young, University of California
Researchers looked at 500 hurricanes and tropical storms in the United States over the past 60 years and found that between 7,000 and 11,000 excess deaths occurred after such storms, compared to official statistics of about 300. It was estimated that the mortality rate was twice as high.
“Hurricanes and tropical cyclones are a much bigger public health concern than previously thought,” Young said. These impacts extend to the health of babies born after the crisis, and it has been pointed out that there is a need to expand prenatal and postnatal support.
And the aftermath of these tragedies is often unequal.
“The black population is much more likely to die, about three times as many as the white population,” Young said.
She said rebuilding people’s lives and homes takes away whatever savings they had to begin with, so if they develop a medical problem years later, they may not be able to afford treatment. Ta. States and local governments may also be cash-strapped after rebuilding, meaning they won’t be able to invest as much in public health and medical infrastructure. Pollution can also have long-term health effects.
Everyone responding to the crisis has done a “heroic job,” Young said. “We don’t want these efforts to go to waste and we can’t forget these communities. Repairs and recovery will be much longer than anyone previously thought.”
There is also the immense stress of living through such an event and rebuilding afterward. Stress can cause heart attacks and other long-term health problems.
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Samantha Montano, author of Disaster Studies and assistant professor of emergency management at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, says, “During the recovery period, we often see an increase in things like stress and depression, and an increase in suicides. ” he said. But mental health providers themselves may be forced out of work, making it difficult to provide services, she said.
“There is already a need for expanded mental health services in Western North Carolina, and this will only further burden an already struggling system,” McNealy said, adding that the need for long-term health counseling He pointed out that there is.
Access to health care is also difficult for people, and the situation is exacerbated in rural areas where health care is already difficult to access.
October 3rd, Swannanoa, North Carolina. Photo: Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters
“It appears that there were also hospitals and other medical facilities that sustained significant damage,” Montano said. Fifty patients and staff have been rescued from a flooded hospital in Tennessee. All hospitals in Western North Carolina have managed to stay open, but staff are struggling to get to work with washed out roads.
Few people in the area had flood insurance.
“One of the main causes of increased stress during recovery is the inability to find resources to rebuild lives. Based on flood insurance numbers alone, stress rates are particularly high in many of these communities. It’s not surprising to see that,”’ Montano said. “We’re easily looking at 10, 15, 20 years of recovery here for the hardest-hit communities.”
Montano said keeping attention and resources flowing into these communities is critical to the recovery of the region and the people who call it home.
As soon as it was safe to do so, McNeely’s wife and son left Swannanoa to be with family, but McNeely was forced to stay. He formed a band of “door knockers” and went around the mountains checking on his neighbors. He brought in generators for elderly neighbors who were using oxygen machines, and carried cases of water, food and supplies to everyone he could.
Now, first responders have taken over the job, leaving McNeely to ponder the future. “You really don’t know what’s going to happen next,” he said.
If you think a little flooding won’t rebuild this community, you don’t know much about it.Jerry McNeely, Swannanoa, North Carolina
He is a professional fly-fishing guide, but says, “Our rivers, our ecosystems, are an absolute disaster.” They are contaminated with chemicals and debris and could take years to recover. The region’s biggest industry is tourism, and many people will be out of work until it is rebuilt.
“I think we’re going to go from a time where people need food because grocery stores aren’t open to a time where people need food because they don’t have an income,” McNeely said.
“It’s a difficult situation, but I’m looking forward to it. You don’t know – what’s your path now? And a lot of people feel that way,” McNeely said.
“If I had to send a message to all of you, it would be this: Please do not give a short but passionate outpouring of love to our community. Please know that these needs will continue to exist in the future. .”
A few days ago, McNeely said he found himself staring at the debris flow and “all these broken homes and broken lives.” “They’ll never rebuild this place,” said a woman from out of state who was standing next to him.
He looked at her and smiled.
“The people of Western North Carolina are resilient, and we have clung to these mountains like a flea on a dog’s back for more than 200 years,” McNeely said. “If you think a little flooding is not enough to rebuild this community, you don’t know much about this community.”
