The aftermath of two hurricanes

Toxic Water Has Flooded Homes in Houston After Harvey

Tests run by the New York Times find evidence of an E. Coli outbreak in Texas.

MotherJones,

12 September, 2017

Last month, Hurricane Harvey dropped an unprecedented 50 inches of rain in Houston and across southeast Texas causing deadly floods and environmental disasters, such as chemical plant explosions and flooded toxic sites. Now, residents have another problem to worry about.

According to tests organized by the New York Times and conducted by a team from Baylor Medical College and Rice University, the floodwaters in two Houston neighborhoods have been contaminated with toxins and bacteria that can make people sick. It’s unclear where else these toxins might have spread, but 40 of 1,219 waste treatment plants are not functioning:

The results of The Times’s testing were troubling. Water flowing down Briarhills Parkway in the Houston Energy Corridor contained Escherichia coli, a measure of fecal contamination, at a level more than four times that considered safe.

In the Clayton Homes public housing development downtown, along the Buffalo Bayou, scientists found what they considered astonishingly high levels of E. coli in standing water in one family’s living room—levels 135 times those considered safe—as well as elevated levels of lead, arsenic and other heavy metals in sediment from the floodwaters in the kitchen.

“There’s pretty clearly sewage contamination, and it’s more concentrated inside the home than outside the home,” said Lauren Stadler, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University who participated in The Times’s research.

Houston residents who have returned to survey their homes and salvage belongings reported a stench in the air and feeling sick afterwards:

Brad Greer, 49, developed two scabby infections on each of his legs where rain boots had irritated his skin. He took antibiotics, but on Saturday, he said, he started feeling lightheaded and weak as he and his brother-in-law tried to move possessions from Mr. Greer’s flooded home.

He went to the emergency room at Houston Methodist, where he was put on an intravenous drip and given another antibiotic prescription. Mr. Greer said swimming pools around his neighborhood are rank.

“All the pools are just giant toilets you’re unable to flush,” he said.

The medical team that tested the water is concerned about residents wading through the toxic waters. “If people have bad headaches, respiratory problems, swelling of a limb or a bad rash, go see a doctor right away,” Winifred Hamilton, the environmental health service director at Baylor College of Medicine, told the New York Times. “Don’t assume it will go away on its own.”

U.S. Air Force Is Spraying 6 Million Acres With Chemicals in Response to Harvey

Amid statewide efforts to clean up the aftermath left by the historic flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, the Pentagon announced last week that it had dispatched C-130H Sprayers from the Air Force Reserve's 910th Airlift Wing in order to "assist with recovery efforts in eastern Texas." However, these "recovery efforts" have little to do with rebuilding damaged structures or with the resettlement of evacuees. Instead, they are set to spray chemicals in order to help "control pest insect populations," which they allege pose a "health risk to rescue workers and residents of Houston."

The Pentagon has requested that the planes treat more than 6 million acres throughout the Houston area. The Air Force noted that the current effort is "expected to significantly surpass previous [spraying] missions in scope," specifically the spraying campaigns that followed Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

“EitherYou Go There or You Leave…This is For The General Public” –Homeless Bused to Separate Shelter Ahead of Irma

As people throughout the state of Florida fled to shelters ahead of Hurricane Irma over the weekend, Volusia County was redirecting the homeless to separate shelters than those housing everyone else.

Video from The Daytona Beach News-Journal showed a group of homeless people being turned away after being dropped off at David C. Hinson Sr. Middle School, which was turned into a shelter. In the video, the group was told by two men, dressed in what appear to be police or security uniforms, that they couldn’t stay, and were directed to a bus that would transport them to a shelter specifically intended for the homeless. When one of the men in the group pointed out that they had signed up to stay at the shelter at the middle school, he was told by one of the men that, “Right now, you do not have somewhere to currently reside, so either you go there or leave. It’s plain and simple.”....