When a flood comes, you only think about protecting yourself and your family and minimizing floodwater damage to your property. Your first intention will probably be to evacuate as soon and far as possible or barricade yourself in the house using your flood barriers for home.
After the floodwater retreats, you will want to start cleaning the mess it leaves behind, make insurance claims and do everything possible to leave the disaster behind and go on with your life.
However, floodwater is not only about drowning or damaging your property. There are lots of dangers people may not know about, becoming collateral victims of the flood.
Floods are different. Their severity and danger depend on many factors, from the geographic position to the objects of infrastructure affected by it. Therefore, although there are general safety rules and guidance during a flood, you won`t find a universal instruction that will guarantee to keep you safe wherever in the world you are now.
In this article, we shall talk about the 5 essential questions you should ask your local authorities during and after flooding to make sure that you and your family won`t get affected by some unobvious dangers of floodwater you may not know about.
How safe is drinking water?
To answer this question, it is important to understand whether your drinking water supply comes from private wells or municipal sources.
Most municipal water supplies are complicated networks with several stages of filtering, which are constantly monitored. If there is a problem in one or more legs of your municipal water supplies, your local authorities will issue a warning measure immediately and will probably recommend boiling any water that comes from your fossil before using it either for food and drinks or hygiene purposes. Make sure to follow those recommendations carefully.
If your water supplies come from private wells and there is a chance they have been affected by the floodwater, the information about any risk or hazard will immediately appear in your local health control or emergency centers. It is nearly impossible for authorities to monitor and update information about such wells 24/7.
That is why before using water that comes from a private well, make sure to contact your local authorities and ask about its safety, even if you have not received any warning message.
To remain 100% sure about the safety of the water that you and your family use, it is best to stock enough bottled water before the flooding and use it until your fossil water supplies get full clearance.
Do I, my kids, or pets need any additional vaccinations/immunizations because of flooding?
In most cases, neither people nor animals will need any advance immunization due to flooding. However, even if you have protected your house with water gates and therefore it remains safe and free from floodwater, there is a possibility that you may get in touch with contaminated water when you have to clear your property after the floodwater retreats.
Therefore, it is always best to check everyone`s immunization records carefully, paying special attention to tetanus for humans and rabis for animals. People who are not fully immunized by the day of a flood event should be particularly cautious around floodwater as it carries tremendous amounts of bacteria, viruses, and diseases, which are also being spread by rodents and wild animals, who will be forced by floodwater out of their normal shelters.
There are dead animals in floodwater. What should I do?
Many people get particularly scared when they see dead animals in floodwater. Indeed, dead flesh instantly becomes an incubator of bacteria and pathogens that can be very dangerous for humans and other animals. However, if you see such an animal floating in the water, there is no risk for you, your pet, or your livestock unless no one gets into direct physical contact with the carcass. The floodwater streams are washing the dead body thoroughly ad constantly leaving no chance for bacteria to colonize it while it is floating.
If you find a dead animal on your property after the flooding, it is a whole different story. Make sure to wear protective gloves and rubber shoes before approaching the dead body. Don`t touch it with your hands, and better use a shovel and other garden instruments to move the dead animal and place it into a plastic bag. Then tie a plastic bag tightly and place it into another plastic bag. After that, put the bag into the closes garbage container or truck. Don`t try to bury a dead animal on your property as, in this case, it may become dangerous for the soil and groundwaters in your own yard.
If the dead animal is too big to deal with it yourself, or you have farms and other objects that contain livestock and have been affected by floodwater, contact your local authorities for assistance and instructions on how to act further.
Is my house safe if the basement was flooded?
Many people use flood barriers at home to protect their ground floor but tend to forget about basement and garage units. If your basement gets flooded, the stale water may cause a lot of damage to the foundation, provoke the growth of mold and become an incubator for insects. It is essential to clear the floodwater from your basement as soon as possible to avoid those costly and dangerous consequences.
Also, make sure to contact local authorities and consult on floodwater affecting the sewage system. Sewage contamination may be particularly dangerous and cause multiple health hazards on top of severe water damage.
It is best to purchase flood barriers with extension poles to ensure that your basement and garage remain as safe and dry as the ground floor in case of another flooding.
Is it safe to swim in local lakes and rivers after a flood?
You should never try to swim or even go through a stream of floodwater due to all the contaminants, debris, and hidden hazards that it may bring.
However, after the floodwater retreats, your local rivers and lakes should be perfectly safe for recreational swimming soon after. Natural water circulation and UV light from the sun will clear the water of any contaminants and foreign bacteria almost instantly after the water streams normalize.
Do you want to know more about flood safety and ways to protect your house or business from floodwater?
Contact Dam Easy today and follow us on social media to stay updated about the latest flood control solutions and safety tips from our team!
Learn more about our flood barriers and extension poles to make sure that your house or business is perfectly safe and protected from any impact of floodwater in case of disaster.
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