Cleanup presents health hazards for residents.
HOUSTON — Bound for their Harvey-soaked home east of Houston, Lakeithia Bankhead and her four children left the mass shelter at the city’s convention center Friday after five nights sleeping on cots among thousands of other evacuees.
They filled a relative’s SUV with trash bags full of donated clothes, food and a baby bed.
But Bankhead, 38, felt ill-equipped to confront health hazards in the form of mold, spoiled food, gas leaks and downed power lines.
She knows she’ll have to pull out the wet carpet of her rented home, but she doesn’t know what to do with other potential problems like mold, which can cause respiratory problems if inhaled.
The danger isn’t over yet for Harvey evacuees.
In Crosby, a chemical plant owned by Arkema was hit by explosions after floods knocked out power supplies needed to refrigerate volatile chemicals. The EPA flew a chemical-sniffing plane in the area and said it didn’t find toxic concentrations away from the facility.
“We will consider using any authority we have to further address the situation to protect human health and the environment,” EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said in an emailed statement.
Texas and U.S. officials have warned residents to stay away from smoke plumes and floodwater.
Leslie Fields, director of environmental justice with the Sierra Club, ticked off a list of hazards, including dead animals in floodwater, gasoline from sunken cars, and potential leaks from a former paper plant that contains cancer-causing dioxin.
“It’s a bad situation,” Fields said. “This water is some of the worst ever.”
Refineries generate extra pollution as they shut down and then turn back on, according to Elena Craft, a senior health scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund. That’s led to 2 million pounds of emissions in Texas since Aug. 23, the equivalent of 40 percent of last year’s total, according to state records, Craft said.
“We don’t really know what communities might have been exposed to,” Craft said. “Their risk is, overall, increased.”
Some evacuees returned home Friday and started to drag sodden debris to the curb. Sharing advice on recommended moldcleaning strategies and other safety tips is now one of the biggest challenges for public health officials.
About 100,000 homes were damaged by the storm, officials say.
Avoiding health threats during flood cleanup requires forethought.
Mildew and mold can start growing in a home a day or two after flooding. It will keep growing unless it’s removed. Inhaling airborne mold spores can cause coughing, wheezing and asthma attacks. People with chronic conditions can develop dangerous infections in their lungs.
Dry out a damaged home as soon as possible. When it’s safe to use electricity, turn on a fan in a window to vent air to the outdoors.
Hard surfaces can be cleaned with soap and water, and then disinfected with a bleach solution — roughly one cup of bleach to one gallon of water.
“We’re posting tips like don’t mix bleach and ammonia” to clean up mold because the two cleaning supplies together produce toxic fumes, said U.S. Health and Human Services Department spokeswoman Joni Geels.
But dry wall, insulation, carpeting, bedding and anything porous, including books, must be destroyed.
“That little spot of mold can grow in the home especially in the heat of the South,” said Dr. Parham Jaberi of the Louisiana Department of Health.
If mold covers more than 100 square feet, a trained mold remover is recommended, he said.
Before entering a flooddamaged home, check for loose power lines or gas leaks. At least one person died in Harvey’s aftermath when he stepped on a live electrical wire in ankledeep water.
Carbon monoxide fumes are a threat as people return to homes without electricity and hook up generators, said Renee Funk of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Any sort of roof over a generator is actually a problem,” Funk said. “When people go in and out to refill the generator they can be overcome.”
If a structure, like a garage or shed, is attached to the house, the house can fill with fumes.
Charcoal grills and camp stoves also produce carbon monoxide, and are hazardous if used indoors.
Texas health officials are urging people with puncture wounds or cuts exposed to floodwaters to get a tetanus shot if they haven’t had one within the last 10 years.
Sagging ceilings, slippery floors and other structural problems can cause injuries. Exhaustion can contribute to accidents.
Food that may have come into contact with floodwaters is unsafe to eat. Cardboard containers for juice, milk or baby formula should be discarded because they can’t be sanitized.