Flooding may harm your respiratory health in many ways: These steps can help

After big storms, mold and other things that are left behind might be bad for your health.

One effect of climate change is that heavy rainfall and rising sea levels cause severe floods. When water rises quickly and rushes inside structures, it can cause instant injury, such as people drowning, suffering injuries while trying to find refuge or escape, or getting hypothermia after being in cold water without shelter or heat.

Flooding continues to damage communities in both obvious and less obvious ways long after news trucks leave and the public goes on. One of the less obvious dangers is that people are more likely to have breathing difficulties, including asthma and allergic responses. You can take efforts to lower the chance of flooding or the health hazards to your lungs once flooding happens, which is a good thing.

How does flooding cause problems with breathing?

Flooding can transport water that is polluted with heavy metals, pesticides, biotoxins, sewage, and diseases that live in water into structures. Some harmful substances stay in the dried sediments that are left behind. When you move or clean, this becomes minute airborne dust. The harmful compounds, metals, and biotoxins in that dried flood sediment are now in the air you breathe, which could be bad for your lungs.

Flooding doesn't have to completely cover buildings to cause respiratory complications. They looked at a lot of properties after Hurricane Ida and found that water got in through roofs, windows, and ventilation ducts. Some of these homes were more than 100 miles from the shore, where the storm hit hardest.

Mold development can also be bad for your health.

Mold is another widespread danger. It is a type of fungus that grows and spreads on wet or rotting organic materials. Indoor mold usually forms when there is a lot of moisture, which means there is an issue with water or moisture. After a flood, wet things inside buildings are the perfect place for mold to grow quickly.

Mold may grow in any climate, both indoors and outdoors. It spreads by generating tiny spores that float through the air and land in other places. There are no indoor spaces that are completely devoid of mold spores, but being around a lot of them can cause breathing problems like asthma, allergic rhinitis, and sinusitis. So, flooding makes breathing problems worse by making it more likely that people will be exposed to higher levels of mold spores both inside and outside.

For instance, in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the average number of mold spores outside in flooded areas was about twice as much as in non-flooded areas. The highest numbers of mold spores were found inside. A study of the effects of Hurricane Katrina and the flooding in the UK in 2007 found that water damage made mold grow faster and caused more respiratory allergies.

Mold can cause health concerns in kids more than in adults. A study of the respiratory health of young children in 30 Canadian areas found that homes with mold or dampness had greater cases of all respiratory symptoms, such as asthma, bronchitis, eye irritation, and cough. Other studies show that mold can contribute to the development of asthma in kids.

What steps can you take to protect your health from flooding?

After Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans, LA in 2021, it was discovered that there were similar characteristics in both housing and flooding catastrophes that had a big effect on respiratory health. The first results show that the age of a building's roof and how many safety measures residents took after the hurricane flooded their homes were two important determinants in whether or not there was a lot of mold inside. The effect on respiratory health also changed depending on the height of the flood water, how many days a week people were home, and how many safety measures were done when Ida hit.

Based on this and other research, we have some advice for you. Some of them are things you should do before floods or severe rain, and some are things you should do after. You might not be able to stop hurricanes or big storms from flooding your area completely, but following actions can help.

Before storms, flooding, or severe rains that happen every year: Keep water from getting in:

• To stop leaks, fix the roof, clean the gutters, and seal the areas surrounding skylights, vent pipes, and chimneys. During storms and hurricanes, these parts of a building are some of the most likely to be damaged.
• Get rid of trash in the drains and empty the septic tanks.
• To keep heavy rain and floodwater from getting in, build barriers and plug up breaches in the outside walls and around the windows
• Put in a sump pump to get rid of water in the basement and backflow valves on sewer lines to keep water from coming back into the house.

After a flood or a big rainstorm: Act fast to stop mold and humidity from spreading.

The Environmental Protection Agency says that you should stay away from flood water as much as possible since it may carry dangerous chemicals and electrical risks, such raw sewage. Also:

• Stay away from flooded areas (especially after hurricanes) or buildings as much as possible until they are dry and safe.
• Right after the flood, look for signs of water getting in, dampness, and mold growth in the building.
• Get rid of the sediment that is left over after the floodwaters have drained.
• Take out porous materials that are affected. If you can, dry them outside in the sun.
• Open all the windows and doors to let in more air, or use a big exhaust fan to dry out the building as quickly as possible.
• In areas that are wet, like basements, use dehumidifiers.
• To cut down on your exposure to mold spores in the air, either upgrade the air filters in your HVAC system to at least MERV 13 or utilize portable air cleaners with HEPA filters.

What to do if you see mold growing

• Put on gloves, a well-fitting N95 face mask, and rubber boots to clean.
• Use soap, detergents, and/or antibacterial cleaning agents to clean and disinfect anything that has come into touch with water.
• Put moldy things in heavy-duty plastic bags that are sealed.

Doing things like these before and after a big storm can help keep your lungs healthy.

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