New York: Living post-Sandy

-->

Here are some stories that illustrate the challenges of life post-hurricane Sandy.

Jenna Orkin, who lives in New York will be appearing on the Lifeboat Hour with Mike Ruppert. I will post this as soon as possible.

"With each disaster, the knowledge sinks in deeper that help will not come from government agencies but rather, from volunteers.

"Between its sign reading, "Closed due to inclement weather" and the recommendation to stranded residents to call 911, FEMA has given the bureaucratic finger to evacuees. 

Enter Occupy Sandy which has sprung into action with the sort of organizational prowess that was also in evidence at GOLES and was described in this morning's Times in the Rockaways "

-- Jenna Orkin

Katrina Victims Step Up to Help Those Hit by Sandy

NBC News,

10 November, 2012

An Amtrak train from New Orleans carrying tons of donations for victims of Sandy has arrived in New Jersey.

The relief supplies come mostly from residents who were hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

 

The "Train of Hope" pulled into Newark's Penn Station on Saturday afternoon. Volunteers are working with officials in Bayonne and Hoboken to deliver donations including baby formula, school supplies and clothing.

Many relief items came from St. Tammany Parish and Slidell, which suffered extensive flooding during Katrina. "Train of Hope'' co-organizer Donna O'Daniels says those Louisiana residents feel a kinship with Sandy victims, who are going through similar hardships. 

 

O'Daniels says the donations that arrived Saturday filled an 85-foot-long box car. She says five more pallets will travel up on another train Sunday.

Comments from Jenna Orkin in NY - 

 If it is possible for ordinary people with no budget or materials to get things done, what's wrong, you may ask, with the multi-billion dollar Federal agencies?

At least this time around, they're not actively lying, telling victims, "Good news! The sewage in your basements is actually harmless." Knowing they'd be jeered off the podium, the relevant agencies are simply lying low. 

This time, it's an actual medical doctor who's arrived on the scene to assure people that mold is not so bad to inhale, unless your immune system is compromised or you're like one of those unfortunate souls who had meningitis injected into their spinal cords where the blood supply was inadequate to fight off infection

Hurricane Sandy Won’t Bring a Mold Epidemic

by Kent Sepkowitz

The paranoia about mold being left behind by the floods is unwarranted. Dr. Kent Sepkowitz on why you should sleep easy on your sopping wet mattress (LOL)

The Daily Beast,

4 November, 2012

In the resource-challenged world, the response to natural disasters progresses in predictable stages. First is the horror of the event—the earthquake, hurricane, or tsunami. Next comes a genuine outpouring of generosity worldwide. Third is the televisionization of the event with cameras galore, inside stories about small acts of bravery, harrowing rescues, heartbreaking loss; it is without question the best reality TV around (and unlike reality TV, it’s real). Then finally comes the sudden shivering neglect as people change the channel, even while locals die of dehydration or diarrhea or crush injuries. The public (not the victims) somehow determines it has reached “closure” and moves on to the next big event.

Here in the land of adequate resources, we go through the same first three steps of horror, help, and TV, but we have a different fourth act—one that hews to the sanctity of the American free-enterprise system. Our final step is not neglect—we can afford to fix things, as Sandy once again attests. No, our last act consists of a familiar parade of characters seemingly just loosed from the circus. Hawkers and hucksters, mountebanks and sleazeballs, each looking to spin the fresh tragedy into spools of gold (reserved for personal use). They are ready to show us how to slice and dice without tears, to julienne without bloody knuckles, to drill holes without a drill, to glue without slippage.

The lead example in the Sandy saga is the predictable appearance of teams of mold abaters: here and here for starters. Yes, mold—that slimy, amorphous crud that shows up when things get damp. You have some in your shower right now, I promise. The mediation experts already know the territory because of a controversial condition referred to as sick-house syndrome, purported to be the result of molds hidden in the house that elaborate dangerous toxins for those living there. The post-Sandy pros have arrived in their trucks with their cards and grim expressions, convincing, as best they can, the still-staggering locals to believe they have a problem they didn’t even know about. A problem that just might be worse than Sandy itself.

And right now they don’t have to push particularly hard. After all, before Sandy dominated the headlines, there were already headlines about fungal meningitis due to a mold called Exserohilum. In fact, when the FDA went into the infamous New England Compounding Center, the pharmacy linked to contaminated steroids that have killed more than two dozen people, and cultured the equipment, they found several different types of mold and other fungi. It was everywhere. The place was grossly contaminated by lots of living things—including the mold that ended up in the many patients tragically harmed by the outbreak.

But there is a substantial difference between the mold found in the spines of the 404 poor souls affected thus far and the mold that many people have in their walls, books, and carpets, the type that thrives in moisture and post-Sandy conditions. And it’s not the species of mold, either—that doesn’t matter at all, really. It’s where the mold is, anatomically. You could inhale Exserohilum all day long (in fact you may well be doing this), you could drink it, you could rub it onto your skin, and not be harmed. Consider this: people at NECC didn’t get sick, though we now know the place was crawling with mold. Nor did the doctor injecting the stuff or the other people in the room as the medical procedure was taking place.

No, to get sick, you had to have a large amount of the fungus injected directly into a small area of the back with a poor blood supply—the poor blood supply, which is advantageous to provide a depot for medications that won’t wash away quickly, is a disaster if an infectious microbe enters the space. Without a blood supply, there is an extremely limited capacity for the body to respond with a healing inflammatory response. Beyond those with anatomic inoculation, the only other persons at risk are those with immune systems severely compromised by such medical interventions as bone-marrow transplants. For completeness, one must also consider the large group of people—the hay-fever crowd—who are allergic to mold. Some are so reactive to mold that they develop asthma, though it’s cockroaches, not molds, that are driving the current epidemic of inner-city asthma in children.

You could inhale Exserohilum all day long, you could drink it, you could rub it onto your skin, and not be harmed.

In a fact-based society, the lessons of the fungal-meningitis outbreak would be used to quiet concern about any health risks due to the moldiness sure to follow Sandy. But as Ronald Reagan’s most famous Freudian slip has it, facts are stupid things. I suspect that rather than assurance, we will enter the Mold Wars era, where these slimy, villainous-looking microbes will take over for the more general “germ” as the object of public fascination and censure. In this role, however, they surely are miscast—now there’s a problem the Gipper could understand.

Kent Sepkowitz is an infectious-disease specialist in New York City. He has contributed to The New York Times, Slate, and, oh-so-briefly, O magazine. He also writes academic medical articles that are at times pretty tough sledding.

Superstorm Sandy Mold

Mold Reporter,

8 November, 2012

“Superstorm” Sandy’s torrential rains and hurtling winds will be leaving something behind. Mold.

If water is standing from 48 to 72 hours after a flood, the likelihood of mold is greatly increased.

Mold can grow between walls, in crawlspaces, attics and basements.

The elderly, infants, the chronically ill, and the immunocompromised are at highest risk. Waterlogged buildings will harbor toxins from water pollution, and the dampness in buildings will provide an environment for mold to grow.

Mold is not the only problem storm waters carry; toxic chemicals and sewage mingle with storm sludge, carrying poisons and communicable illnesses (gonorrhea, E. coli or salmonella exposure to carcinogenic mixtures that may not show their consequences for years).

Low temperatures will help deter mold growth.

When electricity is restored, it should be easier to dry up affected areas.

The storm may lead to a lot of renovation, maybe even an architectural renaissance. Either the quality of life of many areas is headed downhill or there will be a lot of remediation going on

Mold News: Sandy Leaves Toxic Trouble

Observer,

November, 2012

Not long after Hurricane Sandy had picked up a good part of the East River and dumped it on Greenpoint, Reuters photographer Gary He stood on the Pulaski Bridge, snapping photos of the partially blacked-out skyline of Manhattan. He was on his way back to his car to transmit the pictures when he ended up taking one of the most comically iconic images of the storm’s aftermath: the Brooklyn Snorkelers.

“I saw a few people wading around below,” he told The Observer. ”The water was three or four feet deep, so I figured I’d get what I could from the bridge, since I’m not too keen on swimming in Newton Creek overflow. When I looked through the viewfinder, I saw that one of the guys was wearing a snorkeling mask, so I went down the stairs get a closer shot. I asked them why they were out, and they just responded that they were going to rescue a friend.”

The snorkelers were Mike Lee, James Maher and Lennon Bergland, who was outside the frame. Mr. Lee explained that the three friends were going in search of a friend who was stranded on top of her building. The water was cold and smelled like gasoline, he said, adding, “I’d like to emphasize that at no point did we put our heads underwater.”

Good move.

“They were incredible lucky,” said Ashley Mortenson, M.D., an emergency room physician formerly with New York Beth Israel. “People with Hep A and other communicable illnesses defecate into the sewer system, not to mention the toxic chemicals that get mixed in during a flood.”

“Even if that water just gets on your mouth or a musocal membrane, you may be in for a rough few days,” said Leonard Bielory, M.D., of Rutgers University.

Happily, Mr. Lee reports that he and his friends are feeling fine.

Here’s the thing about hurricanes: even after the immediate risks subside and the floodwaters recede, secondary hazards remain for weeks and months, most notably contaminated water, infectious diseases and toxic mold. Without electricity, pumps and wastewater treatment plants can’t function,” said Matt DaRin, principal of BluePoint Environmental. As a result, affected areas of New York and New Jersey have been facing the same water issues grappled with throughout the third world.

Storm water from the hurricane overloaded the sewage system, flooding parts of New York City and New Jersey to a depth of 13 feet above sea level with a sludge of river water, human feces and contaminated industrial sediment. Floodwaters can also contain a wide range of other toxins, including chemicals from cars, dry cleaners and gas stations, and household chemicals such as paints, pesticides and solvents that had been stored in basements. For people exposed to floodwaters—including hundreds if not thousands of good samaritans currently hip-deep in muck—these industrial chemicals can also be absorbed through the skin and increase a person’s future risk of cancer.

Eleven years ago, New Yorkers rushed to “the pile” to dig through the rubble of the World Trade Center, and many are now experiencing the after-effects of exposure to a stew of toxins. Indeed, the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund has allocated nearly $4.3 billion to the 40,000 to 90,000 people who have experienced serious medical issues linked to their participation in the recovery efforts. It’s altogether possible that some of Sandy’s cost won’t be felt for years to come.

Exposure to floodwater is dangerous, and doctors are already seeing repercussions “There is a serious risk of diarrheal illnesses such as E. coli or salmonella, as well as hepatitis A. If you get a laceration while in the floodwaters, you run the risk of sepsis from raw sewage,” said Dr. Mortenson, “It’s the perfect setup for skin infections.”

The storm overflow from the Hurricane Sandy caused the polluted Gowanus Canal to spill over its banks, and it is difficult to trace where the contaminated water went from there. In addition to industrial chemicals and high levels of lead in the canal sediment, the Gowanus Canal water is perhaps best known for harboring active strains of gonorrhea.

The floodwaters that overwhelmed the Gowanus and other formerly industrial locations have also stirred up contaminated sediment—containing arsenic and carcinogens such as PAHs and PCBs—mixing it with raw sewage and disperse it across residential areas.

Particularly in New Jersey, home to numerous industrial brownfields or Superfund sites, floodwaters may have breached some of the asphalt barriers meant to seal in the toxins, mixing contaminated soil into the waters that spread farther into adjacent neighborhoods and even playgrounds and dog runs.

Now’s probably a good time to get a flu shot. “When you have hundreds of thousands of people throughout New York and New Jersey sleeping in unheated apartments for several days—along with limited access to fresh food and potable water—you’ve got conditions that can lead to a cold or flu outbreak,” Dr. Mortenson pointed out. “Whenever you crowd sick people together with a large population that has compromised immunity, you’ve got a giant incubator for communicable disease.”

Sandy’s timing was probably a blessing—and not only because the proximity to the election likely helped turn on the spigot of federal assistance.

“The cold weather has worked in our favor in a few ways,” Dr. Bielory added. Critical medicines, including insulin, “would go bad much faster without refrigeration if this had happened in the summer,” he said. And it’s also too cold for mosquitoes and flies to breed in the standing water throughout New York and New Jersey, so there is less risk of a West Nile virus breakout.”

Another bit of good news: low temperatures are inhibiting mold growth, though buildings that harbored standing water for any period of time are susceptible.

“The first 48 to 72 hours after a flood situation are the most critical. If water is allowed to stand after that, the probability of mold grows exponentially,” said Mr. DaRin of BluePoint Environmental. “Right now, the cold weather is working in our favor, but as power is restored and heat comes back on, it’s a different story.

Any standing water can lead to mold, but problems can become more severe when stormwater runoff contains raw sewage, biological contaminants (such as bacteria, viruses, pathogens, and mold) and toxic chemicals (such as fuel oil, herbicides and pesticides). “As the floodwaters dry, some of the contaminants will become airborne particles,” said Mr. DaRin. “In the buildings with standing water, these mold particles can get into the HVAC systems and cause widespread issues.”

People have different sensitivity to molds. Those with allergies, asthma or compromised immunity (such as those going through chemotherapy) are considerably more susceptible to complications from indoor mold exposure. “This has the potential to be a serious issue for Hurricane Sandy, since New York City has some of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the United States, with some neighborhoods up to 12 times the national average,” Dr. Mortenson pointed out.

“Mold isn’t always visible,” Mr. DaRin noted. “It can grow between walls.”

New Yorkers, ever an ingenious bunch, devised their own ways of dealing with potential toxins during the immediate aftermath.

A hedge fund put up several of its traders at a downtown hotel to allow them to remain close to the office to monitor their trading positions. “The water coming out of the hotel taps was brown,” one of the traders told The Observer. “I had no way of knowing if this was rust or sewage. We tried to remember if you could make the water drinkable by putting iodine pills into it, or chlorine, or something else entirely. But no internet, so no Wikipedia. We compromised by pretending we were in a foreign country and just drank lots of gin. Quinine, right?”

Staten Island Nov, 10, 2012