Crawford County Health Department. Donna Milam, BS, LEHP Director of Environmental Health and Emergency Preparedness

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1 Crawford County Health Department Donna Milam, BS, LEHP Director of Environmental Health and Emergency Preparedness

2 Flash Flooding and River Flooding in June Rivers: Wabash on East and Embarras on the South West Corner of the County. County Received 9-11 Inches of Rainfall on June 6-7 th. 1 st Few days: Flash Flooding 4-5 Days Later: River Flooding and Levee Breaks

3 June 6-7, 2008 Crawford County has no interstates, 2 Major Highways: Route 1 (N-S), Route 33 (E-W) Raccoon Bridge washed out on Route 1 North of Hutsonville This meant no access from Clark County to Crawford County North Fork Creek on West Edge of Oblong flooded out Route 33, closed from the West. Indiana Route 154 from Hutsonville Bridge at Wabash River - road closed due to flash flooding.

4 Hutsonville, Illinois June 7 th, 4:00am Village storm drains could not handle the large amounts of rain water runoff. Downtown Hutsonville had flash flooding (1-5ft). Water over major road to Hutsonville bridge going into Indiana. Hutsonville was cut off. Many secondary roads impassible due to flash flooding. River at Hutsonville causing only minor flooding at this time.

5 Palestine: River Flooding 4-5 Days Later Leaverton Park closed due to flooding All activities scheduled there - cancelled Several homes along river had to be evacuated Residents had to find other places to live Roads closed due to river flooding Major agricultural damage to crops in county. Thousands of acres County wide damages: ~ $21 Million

6 I live in downtown Hutsonville This is my yard a week before!

7 This is my house at 9AM on Saturday, June 7 th!

8 Village was inaccessible for ~ 4 hours

9 My Backyard Patio Area

10 8 hours later: My Family Room

11 Hutsonville: At that time, No cell phone coverage The only convenience/gas store closed due to flash flooding 7 houses with flooding on main floor Numerous basements flooded 1 Church with major flooding Downtown baseball diamond flooded City Sewer plant ran over into flood waters Chemicals in water: diesel, gasoline, etc

12 Crawford County Many secondary roads washed out Several small bridges damaged Raccoon Bridge, closed due to major damage First Responders could not get to people Several families in rural areas of Old York (North of Hutsonville) and South of Oblong needed evacuated from their homes.

13 Role 1: My Experiences As a VICTIM of a Disaster! Home unfit to live in Moved in temporarily with daughter 3 Weeks later, Moved into rental house for 5 months 4 Vehicles totaled: No car to drive Unable to get rental car until following Tuesday (4 days with vehicle) 1 Dog and 3 cats needed place to live Temporarily with daughter and her family and pets Find rental house that allowed pets Water remained up around house for 5 days making it hard to access

14 Role 1 - VICTIM: Insurance and Assistance Homeowners Insurance does not cover Floods! Flood Insurance! Structure Contents FEMA: Forms, Forms, Assistance? American Red Cross: Forms Help? Salvation Army

15 Role 1 - Victim: Gutting the House Moved out what we could salvage Waded thigh high water to get possessions out No storage units available Find other storage alternatives Gutted the House 4 Very large dumpsters ($1600 Not covered by Insurance) 1 Month of work in hot weather SMELLY MOLD EVERYWHERE!

16 My Kitchen!

17 Rest of House!

18 Raised the House: $20,000 and 2 Months Later!

19 Finally, Remodeling Sept-Nov Moved Back in Thanksgiving Weekend with 4 Rooms Finished and 4 Rooms to Go!

20 Role 2: Emergency Preparedness Coordinator PSAs and newspaper articles out to radio/newspaper about flooding hazards Trash/food garbage from homes affected Dumpster in downtown Hutsonville Tetanus shots made available to anyone having contact with flood waters ~ 90 shots provided free at CCHD

21 Role 3: Director of Environmental Health Water Wells contaminated Contacted Lab to get more water testing bottles PSAs to get people to flush their wells, chlorinate them, then come in and get water kits to test their water for biological agents over the next few months Offered it free of charge to private water well residents in flooded areas Set up time each week for samples of water to be brought in to send to State Lab

22 Role 3: Environmental Health Director Septic Systems needing maintenance Provided PSAs and articles in newspaper about septic system failure to due flooding Mosquito Issues: Free Larvicide's made available to flooded areas Fogging increased for several months Calls about removing Mold Questions Monitoring on-going tomato/pepper Recall - Alerts

23 Next to Impossible to Do It All! Learned to Prioritize 3 Roles: No Time Away From the Disaster Victim (Displaced) Ongoing for 6 months Emotionally, Physically, and Financially Stressful CCHD Emergency Preparedness Coordinator No one else at health department knew what to do Meetings with local agencies Environmental Health Director Required extra time at work to deal with issues New assistant training on-going