Publication Date:
2016-08-01
Description:
Floods occurred in the Ndlambe Local Municipality in South Africa in October 2012. During various stages of the post-disaster recovery, bacterial concentrations were measured in water and soil samples from the flood zone. All drinking water concentrations ofE. coliwere below 1–3 colony forming units per 100 millilitres (CFUs/100 mL). The flood waters contained between 46500 to more than 100000 CFUs/100 mL ofE. coli. {The concentrations ofSalmonellaspp. in the flood waters varied from 5000 to 250000 CFUs/100 mL. The presumptiveVibriospp. concentrations in flood waters ranged from 1000 to over 150000 CFUs/100 mL. {The soil concentrations forE. coliranged from 1 to above 330 colony-forming units per 1 g of soil dry weight (CFUs/g). The soil concentrations ofSalmonellaspp. varied from below 1 to 22 CFUs/g. The estimated airborne fungal concentrations ranged from 16820 to 28540 colony-forming units per 1 cubic meter. An outbreak of an infectious disease was recorded among the volunteers who assisted with the post-disaster recovery. The likely bacterial causative agents included strains ofAeromonasspp. andVibrio cholerae. Any human contact with either the contaminated flood waters or of flooded dwellings should only occur, if the individuals in questions are equipped with the full-body personal protective gear. Non-governmental stakeholders performed majority of the post-disaster recovery operations, as the local government could only cover 11% of the required costs. Applying sanitation funds to disaster recovery and increased use of the low-cost flood defence products in high risk areas could provide a solution for the future.
Print ISSN:
1881-2473
Electronic ISSN:
1883-8030
Topics:
Technology
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