Eye Opener: Photo Essay

Water, it is something that we use everyday, without even thinking. It keeps us alive, and allows us to bathe and shower. But what happens when the water that we use turns against us... and creates massive flooding which can ruin our homes and environments, and hurt our health. The first few photos shown here, are pictures of puddles after a rainfall. Rain is obviously good for the environment and actually makes a lot of things grow better and look brighter and healthier With the spring thaw upon us, it is important to be aware of floods, once the snow starts melting and rain may start coming. My roommate is from Fargo, ND and went home last weekend during the recent flooding and was nice enough to take some pictures for me, for the purpose of this eye opener. The pictures of the flood in Fargo, were taken by Ashley Penrod.

There are many effects that flooding has on both our environment, and our overall health.
- Destroys all of the Nutrients in our soil.
- Drowning is a possibility.
- Serious injuries can be caused by falling into deep waters
- The stress of sandbagging and after flood clean up can take and impact on both your mental and physical health.
- Carbon monoxide fumes can be let out and effect people.
- Infections can arise from molecules let out by flooding and bacteria building up.




-Service damaged septic tanks, cesspools, pits, and leaching systems as soon as possible. (Damaged sewage systems are serious health hazards.)
- Everything that got wet in the flood will need to be cleaned and disinfected when the water is gone.
- Flood water can bring up a lot of random objects and once the water has gone down, the objects will stay on the land and pollute it.
- Disease can be transmitted if the water is polluted, and not clean.







For more information:
FEMA
HPA
USGS
WLSSD