Hurricane Ike Recovery Resources
Repairs Guidance/Helpful Tips/Tools
Disclaimer: The following information is not all-inclusive, and is not meant as an endorsement of any particular charity or other provider.
Health Risks Following a Hurricane
| What immunizations will I need if I am exposed to flood water? |
No special immunizations are necessary. Experience and studies from previous serious national floods demonstrate that increased risk or incidence of tetanus, typhoid fever or hepatitis A have not occurred. Recommendations for these immunizations are the same as during non-flood conditions. These recommendations are based upon the recommendations of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists.
- Tetanus - A booster for tetanus should be given to anyone sustaining an injury (particularly lacerations and puncture wounds) that has not received a vaccination within the last 10 years, 5 years for particularly major or unclean wounds.
- Hepatitis A - Immune globulin is given only to those persons known to be in direct contact with a confirmed case of hepatitis A. Hepatitis A vaccines are not required.
- Typhoid - Prophylactic Typhoid vaccination is not recommended.
|
|
What disease-causing agents may be present in floodwaters? |
Since county and city water systems may become contaminated and power outages are widespread following severe flooding, increased foodborne and waterborne diarrheal illnesses may occur among the population. A variety of sources, including animal and human waste, can contribute to water pollution. It is important for physicians to test for and identify agents of illnesses so that outbreaks may be prevented and controlled in a timely and effective manner. Reporting of these diseases by physicians and laboratories to local health departments is necessary so cases can be investigated to determine if there is a common source.
- Diarrheal Illness - Most diarrheal illnesses have incubation periods between one and seven days. Bloody diarrhea may occur with certain infections. Testing for illness should be performed prior to treatment with medication because of the large number of causative agents that may require different antibiotics. Stool cultures submitted by your physician can be tested at the State Laboratory for Public Health. Local health departments should be notified of the results so cases can be investigated and appropriate follow up provided.
- Hepatitis A - If hepatitis A is suspected, the doctor should draw blood and test for IgM antibodies for hepatitis A. It is especially important for the local health department to know if a person with this illness is a food handler or participates in a day care setting.
- Parasites - Some waterborne parasites (e.g., giardia, cyclospora, and cryptosporidium) may also cause chronic diarrhea; testing by a physician can identify these diseases. Such diseases can be severe in immunocompromised persons.
- Leptospirosis - During widespread flooding of an area there may be a potential, but small, risk for a disease called leptospirosis, which is caused by exposure to animal urine. It is a bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. Symptoms may range from none to high fever, headache, chills, muscle aches, vomiting, jaundice (yellow eyes and skin), abdominal pain, diarrhea or rash. If the disease is not treated, kidney damage or liver failure may develop as well as respiratory failure or meningitis. Death occurs rarely. Leptospirosis may be confused with other diseases and must be confirmed by laboratory testing, available through the State Laboratory for Public Health. Although most livestock are vaccinated against this disease, they may still excrete bacteria; however, urine from dogs, rodents, and other wild animals may also be infected. Humans can be infected through contact with water, food or soil containing animal urine or tissue. Swallowing floodwater or exposure to mucosal surfaces such as eyes, nose or skin may also produce illness. Person-to-person spread is rare. If infected, a person can become sick between 2 days and 4 weeks. The illness may occur in two phases: the first with symptoms described above followed by a short recovery; if a second phase develops, it is more severe. Treatment is important to prevent more serious illness and a more lengthy recovery. Risk for this disease will be greatly reduced by not swimming or wading in floodwaters. It is also helpful to wear protective clothing or footwear and gloves when possible. All incidence of disease should be reported to the local health department for follow-up.
|
|
| What is the health risk when caskets are unearthed by floodwaters? |
| While this is a sensitive issue, unearthed caskets and embalmed bodies do not pose a public health risk. Caskets should be retrieved and secured until they can be identified. Unearthed caskets must be properly reburied. Any members of the public who find a body should report it immediately to local law enforcement authorities. Persons handling bodies should wear gloves. |
|
Hurricane Internet Scams
When Hurricane Katrina first hit, scams popped up within hours. Hurricane Ike is no different. Since online scams are almost certainly going to pop up in your inbox (if they haven't already), how can you decide what is a scam and what is authentic? Chances are that any email asking for donations is a scam. But the email scammers can get tricky. They have created emails that sound truly authentic, tear at your heartstrings and make you feel compelled to "donate" to disaster relief. So to help you protect yourself from the scams that are almost certain to find you, and insure that any money you decide to donate actually goes to people suffering, Scambusters will help you navigate these "waters."
Phishing Scams: Prior to landfall, the Texas Attorney General's office started seeing bogus emails asking people to "confirm" their bank information before the hurricane hit. These emails sent people to bogus websites that could then be used by scammers for financial fraud and identity theft. Further, as we mentioned, websites that claim to be legitimate Hurricane Ike relief organizations are being created. These websites ask people to donate money by giving your financial information. All the money you donate goes straight into the pockets of the con artists. The scammers can use this information to steal your identity, as well.
Here's an example of what an email could look like...
"Please give your charitable donations to the victims of Hurricane Ike. The chaos and destruction experienced by the region and its victims is unimaginable. But you can help these people regain their lives by giving them some hope. Your donation will go a long way to giving these victims their lives back. Our prayers and compassion go out to them. Make a generous donation to the American Red Cross by (clicking this link)."
[bogus but legitimate sounding domain name listed here]
Sounds legitimate and plays on your emotions. But don't fall for it.
Action: If you want to make a donation through the Red Cross or another disaster relief organization, go to an organization's office itself, or the official website by typing in the domain name, like
RedCross.org. Emails are too risky.
Viruses and Trojans: These emails usually are geared to getting you to open them and click on the attachment, which then infects your computer with a virus or Trojan. For example, the subject line of an email might read something like "80% of city underwater" or "Entire neighborhoods completely washed away." Attached are photos related to the subject line -- either real or bogus. The attachments often contain viruses or Trojans that track everything you do on your computer or give the sender complete access to your PC.
Action: Delete emails such as this. Don't click on the attachments.
Variations of the Nigerian Fee Scam: In this scam, the sender plays on your emotions again. You're supposed to help someone retrieve large amounts of money that are, for some reason, tied up in relation to an area that Hurricane Ike has hit. You can learn more about these scams in our article
The Nigerian Advance Fee Scheme.
Action: As with any other scam email, delete it.
Investment, Energy and Security Scams: Since 10% of the natural gas and 5% of the crude oil that Americans consume is produced off the U.S. Gulf Coast, it's very likely that Hurricane Ike will produce some investment, energy and security scams. After Hurricane Katrina, the SEC reported that emails were circulating that claimed certain penny stocks would sky rocket. Reasons varied. Some were supposed to rise because of "refinery glitches."
Action: Delete all emails promoting stocks, futures, and other investments related to Hurricane Ike.
Emails that relate to a disaster to sell unrelated products: What do weight loss products have to do with Hurricane Ike? Absolutely nothing. But there are some that will try to sell products that have nothing to do with Hurricane Ike relief.
Here's an example of what one of these emails might look like...
Subject: Entire street washed away.
Texas Officials predict that as many as 45 people were washed away when flooding destroyed this Houston Neighborhood.
Hours after Ike struck, entire neighborhoods were no more. Winds in excess of 100 mph uprooted trees and flooding washed away any evidence of civilization.
Read more... [Link to a weight loss product]
Action: Ignore and delete these emails.
Emails asking for individual donations to help a victim's family: These scams are surprisingly simple. They're often just a one or two sentence email asking for a donation. For example...
Subject: My younger sister has only the clothes on her back thanks to Hurricane Ike. Please help her with a donation.
Action: Delete these emails. You can find more about
charity scams on our site.
Hate Websites: These websites claim a disaster is "the wrath of God." They might claim the victims were "wicked" and got what they deserved. Then they ask people to donate to them, either for financial or identity theft purposes.
Action: Delete these emails.
Chain Letters: Here's an example: "Every time this email is forwarded, 25 cents will be donated to Hurricane Ike victims." Completely bogus.
Action: Delete these emails and certainly don't pass them along.
Scammers claiming to be official government agencies, banks, credit card companies, etc.: Scammers who try this out will claim they can help victims by expediting insurance claims or donating money. They often use replicas of well known logos, like MasterCard or Allstate. The real goal of these scams is to steal credit card, bank, Social Security numbers, and other personal information. These scams are common both online and offline.
Action: Follow the advice we give each week in Scambusters on avoiding these types of scams.
Contractor Scams: Contractor scams are more common offline than online. Scammers pose as contractors and ask people for money so they can do some immediate, upfront repair work. Of course, since they aren't real contractors, they will never show up to do any repair work. Some real contractors also take advantage of the disaster by price gouging. Since there is a shortage of legitimate contractors, people are relieved to find someone to do their work.
Action: Be skeptical and follow the advice in
Contractor Scams: How to Avoid "Rent-a-Creep" Schemes.
Fee-based Spam: These emails offer to locate people you know who may have been a hurricane victim.
Action: Delete these emails.
How to Protect Yourself
In summary (and in addition to the advice above), here are four ways you can keep yourself safe from Hurricane Ike scams:
1. Use common sense. And remember, if it is spam, it's a scam.
2. Never donate from an email request. It's almost certainly a scam. Never click on the links in emails.
3. Make sure any charity you do donate to is legitimate. Find out
how to tell if charities are legitimate on our site.
4. Don't open attachments in unknown emails. There is a good chance they contain viruses or Trojans.
