Floodwaters pose health risk
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By Thomas Geyer | Saturday, May 03, 2008 | 4 comment(s)
It may be fun to splash around in the Mississippi River floodwaters along city streets, but there are a number of dangers people should be aware of, said Davenport Police Capt. David Struckman.
“When the water is this high, there is a lot of debris that cannot be seen,” he said. “There are broken bottles, gunk of unknown origins and you don’t know even what else.
“There’s raw sewage, raw garbage and raw body waste,” he said. “You have to think about the bacteria in the water, particularly if you have an open cut. The Mississippi River itself is never known for its cleanliness.”
According to the Iowa Department of Public Health Web site, tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is one of the dangers of floodwaters. Any wound that breaks the surface of the skin, particularly puncture wounds or deep cuts, can result in tetanus.
Anyone with an open wound who goes into the floodwaters, or anyone who is injured in the floodwaters, may need a tetanus booster to ensure their immunization is current.
There also is a danger of Hepatitis A, which is transmitted by water or food that has been contaminated by feces. There also are dangers of dysentery.
Struckman said there is always the danger of injury when people wade into murky water that shields what is hidden below the surface.
Another real danger is the fact that floods often displace manhole covers and drainage grates, he said.
Anyone could be walking along and fall into one of those uncovered manholes or sewer drains, he said.
“They’d get sucked down and we’d never see them again,” Struckman said.
“You don’t drive on a roadway you can’t see the bottom of,” he said. The same goes for walking along a flooded roadway.
“It’s just not a healthy atmosphere,” Struckman said.
Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.
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