Laura Antillon Health Problems in Schoharie and How Hurrican Irene Affected Health

I’m from a very small town in upstate New York. A neighboring town called Schoharie on August 28, 2011 was hit by Hurricane Irene. I attended church in Schoharie and knew many people that lived there. As some more insight into how big of a deal this was for everyone, Schoharie is a valley, and the town consists of about 3,300 people. Not a lot happens in this little town. The day of the Hurricane, even though I lived on top of a large hill in the next town over, we were stuck inside all day with strong winds and a LOT of water outside. I spoke to both Valerie Manchester, a public health nurse working at the county department of public health and to Pete Cappellano, a public health sanitarian of the county’s environmental staff about both Schoharie health in general and how Hurricane Irene affected everyone in the town.

1-2. Two problems in Schoharie County that are not new are obesity and poverty. I put these in the same paragraph because in Schoharie, the two are interconnected. Valerie told me, “there are a lot of people that cannot afford to buy all the fruits and vegetables they should be buying.” I have met many people who, as a result of not having enough money to support a healthy lifestyle, have resorted to the cheaper options and as a result, have gained weight and/or not being able to keep it off. I used to work at a grocery store and I would see firsthand how some people just could not afford to be living the life they deserved. Many people would come through with just the bare minimum and would tell me they wanted to buy some produce, but it is just too expensive for them and they can't be buying it every day. Many times if someone was coming through with produce, it was because their WIC checks would cover it or it was paid for by some other means not from their pocket such as food stamps. In a local newspaper called the Daily Star, on October 20,2011 they reported the food stamp usage for Schoharie County had gone from 1,885 in 2006 to 3,738 in 2011. This is the entire town of Schoharie and then some. Which just goes to show how much of a widespread problem it is.

3. After Hurricane Irene, Valerie said there was a surge in lead levels in young children. Schoharie had not previously been known to have serious lead problems but while they try to keep the levels under 4, they have found some children with levels of 9-15. This is due to the flooding and all the rennovations to the houses that followed. If these children cannot be more protected by this element, they will very likely develop attention disorders, have problems learning as well as other kids, hearing loss, and delayed growth. Fortunately there are medications and measures to take to remove the lead from them.

4. I remember going to the youth service after all this happened. We had to go into the houses and completely strip the framing of some houses to get rid of the mold and keep it from getting too bad. And oh, how it smelled. Some houses had to be completely torn down because of damage to the foundation.  Pete told me that the major problem with all this was the control of moisture. Anything wet had to be thrown out (couches, other furniture, etc), all sheetrock from 48 inches above the floodline had to be stripped and thrown out because even though it was above the flood line, the water still would seep up into the sheetrock. The main problem that came up initially after the flood was the fact that there was no electricity so electric heaters and fans could not be used to dry it up. For the most part, because of the moisture detectives that were sent to inspect the houses before people could live in them again, mold has not been a huge issue anymore, but there are still cases of asthma and allergies due to some leftover mold in the house.

5. After Hurricane Irene there was also a movement to make sure everyone had safe water. The people who live closer in town all run on the town’s water supply, but if you live further out, you have a well. And if there was just a flood that brought contaminated water to your well, you’re in trouble. Any well that flooded had to be disinfected with bleach. The Schoharie County Health Department offered free testingto people with this problem. In the village, there were many pipes that burst, so that had to be taken care of. Due to this, there was no water in the village for a week, so people were using bottled water and going to friends’ houses to shower. We had some members of our ward stay at our house as well. Pete told me that people are actually still recovering from this and there are still many vacant wells and houses due to the effects of Hurricane Irene.