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Flooding Information:
When flood conditions occur, the Lafayette County Health Department urges citizens to use caution to avoid illness and injury from unsafe or unsanitary conditions found in flooded areas.

In order to keep you and your family safe during a flood, the following precautions should be taken:

  • Drivers need to pay close attention to signs placed in areas where water covers the road.  Slow down and proceed cautiously unless the road is barricaded or water is rushing over the road.  High water can cause your car to hydroplane
    or to stall out.
  • Never drive past barricaded road signs or where there is water over the road ��� driving through rushing water is the number one cause of loss of life during floods.  If your car stalls in a flooded area, abandon it as soon as possible and walk to safety in the direction you came from.
  • Stay away from power lines and electrical wires.  Electrical current can travel through water.  Report downed power lines to your utility company or your local emergency manager as soon as possible.
  • Do not allow children to play in floodwater.  Children do not belong in or around areas that are flooded or have recently been flooded.  Both children and adults can drown in flood water and be carried away by floodwaters that look calm on top, but have rushing water beneath the surface.  According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), ���six inches of moving water can knock you off your feet.���
  • Flood waters have unseen hazards such as debris, chemical and sewage contamination and strong current.
  • Both children and adults can become ill from coming in contact with contaminated water.  Keep your children safe by:
    • Washing your child���s hands frequently, especially before meals.
    • Disinfecting toys that may be contaminated, using a solution of eight ounces (one cup) of bleach in one gallon of water.
    • Discarding any soft toys that may be contaminated by floodwater since young children may put these items in their mouths.
  • Children and adults can become injured or entangled in areas where hidden obstacles are in the yard or have floated into the yard and are covered by floodwater.
  • Children and adults can slip on wet mud and grass causing them to fall and become injured or causing them to fall into dangerous flowing water
  • Flooding can cause the ground to shift and sink.  Unknown drop-offs and sinkholes can put people in danger.
  • Children and adults in city streets have drowned by being sucked into floodwaters draining into storm sewers.

Information About Flooding in Your Home
Here are some important tips for homeowners when cleaning and repairing their flood-damaged homes.

  • If your home has been flooded, you need to take precautions to protect yourself and your family from harm.  Wet basements can pose health and safety hazards.
  • Storm water flooding can occur when sump pumps go out
  • Sewage backup can occur due to heavy rains and flooding
  • Do not use appliances or motors that have gotten wet unless they have been taken apart, cleaned and dried.
  • Use caution to avoid electrical shock in wet basements
  • Carpeting, drywall, and other building materials affected by flood waters will in most instances need to be removed and discarded.  ANY POROUS MATERIAL THAT CAN NOT BE DRIED IN 48 HOURS SHOULD BE DISCARDED.
  • Do not rush to replace drywall and carpeting.  The home must be thoroughly dried before installing new materials
    • Using dehumidifiers and fans can hasten this process.  Weather permitting, open windows to further assist with ventilation nd drying of basements, crawl spaces and living areas.
    • Walls typically need several days to dry and floors may take several weeks.  It may make sense to remove wet sub flooring.
  • If using a portable generator, keep it outside far away from the building.  The exhaust or fumes from a portable generator could kill you in minutes if you breathe it in.
  • Remember to protect yourself while cleaning.  Wear work boots, eye and hand protection, and if working with mold, respiratory protection.
    • If you are not sure when you had your last tetanus immunization, please contact the health department or your doctor.

Before Entering a Flooded Basement:

  • Turn off the electricity, preferably at the meter.
  • Check outside cellar walls for possible cave-ins, evidence of structural damage or other hazards
  • Turn off gas or fuel service valves
  • Open doors and windows or use blowers to force fresh air into the basement

Pumping Water out of Your Basement

  • Do not use an electric pump powered by your own electrical system.  Use a gas-powered pump (outside for ventilation) or one connect to an outside line.
  • Avoid pumping water out of basements too soon or too quickly.  The water in the basement helps brace the walls against extra pressure of waterlogged soil outside.
    • Remove about a third of the water each day.  Watch for signs of structural failing.
    • If the outside water level rises again after the day���s pumping, start at the new water line.
    • Don���t rush the pumping; the soil may be slow to drain.  Whatever is submerged in the basement will not be damaged further by delaying the pumping.

Cleaning Your Basement

  • Remember to protect yourself while cleaning.  Wear work boots, eye and hand protection, and if you���re working with mold, respiratory protection.
  • Wet basement stairs and flooring may be slippery.  Use caution when walking down the stairs or walking on wet basement stairs.
  • Keep children out of the basement until the basement has been made safe and clean.
  • If mud and debris have washed into your basement, shovel it out while still moist.
  • Hose down walls to remove as much silt as possible before it dries.
  • Floors and walls may need sanitizing, particularly if sewage has entered the basement.  Scrub walls and floors with a disinfecting solution of 1-cup chlorine bleach per gallon of water.  (wear gloves and keep the area well ventilated)

Use of Generators and Other Energy Sources

  • If using a portable generator, keep it outside and far away from the building.  The exhaust of fumes from a portable generator could kill you in minutes if you breathe it in.
  • The same goes for camp stoves.  Fumes from charcoal are especially deadly, cook with charcoal only outdoors.
  • Don not use a gas stove to heat your house.

Unsafe Private Wells
If your well has been covered by floodwaters or has been surrounded by water-soaked ground, your drinking water may be unsafe.  Only use water from a known safe source.  Test your water for bacteria before consuming.  You may need to chlorinate your well before using.  Sample water test kits may be obtained from the Lafayette County Health Department at 719 Clay Street in Darlington.  If samples come back as having unsafe levels of bacteria present, it is recommended that the well be disinfected and then re-sampled.  Information on how to perform sampling and well sanitizing can be obtained from the health department or on the Department of Natural Resources website at:  http://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/dwg/flood.htm 

Food Safety
If you have a refrigerator or freezer in a flooded area or if you have other food stored in a flooded area, food safety becomes a concern.

  • Any foods that are not sealed in a can and that have come in contact with floodwater should be discarded.  This includes bottled water and food stored in plastic containers.  Remember, ���if in doubt, throw it out!���
  • Be sure to wash your hands prior to eating or handling food.  Floodwaters can contaminate your hands and you may become ill if you handle food without properly washing your hands.

Mosquitoes
With the arrival of flooding rains come mosquitoes.  West Nile Virus and Lacrosse Encephalitis are a concern related to mosquitoes.  Methods for preventing mosquito bites are:

  • Limit outdoor activity during the peak hours for mosquito activity (around dusk and dawn)
  • Wear protective clothing such as long sleeves on shirts, pants, socks and shoes.
  • Use an insect repellant containing DEET.  When using repellants make sure to follow the instructions on the label.  For children 2-12 years use a product with less than 10% DEET and apply the product to the child from your own hands like a lotion.  A higher DEET value does not mean that the product is more effective at repelling mosquitoes.  It relates to the length of time that you are protected.

The most effective way to limit your exposure to the virus is to eliminate mosquito breeding habitat on your property and encourage neighbors to do the same.  Flooding rains can provide perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes as there are many sources of stagnant water in which to lay their eggs and complete their life cycle.  The best way to destroy breeding habitat is to eliminate these sources of standing water.  Some items to focus on are: used tires, plastic wading pools, bird baths, roof gutters, and other things that hold water for an extended period of time.

For More Information Visit:
Department and Health and Family Services: http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/eh/

WI Emergency Management website: http://emergencymanagement.wi.gov
has great info with links to the DOT, DHFS and DNR websites

Or Download:
Disaster Brochure