Chatham County leaders give guidance on flooding health dangers

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – Chatham County Health Department leaders joined Chairman Chester Ellis and Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) Director Dennis Jones in alerting the public of the dangers that still linger as a result of flood water from Tropical Storm Debby.

First, they are instructing everyone to stay out of pooled water.

“It contains a lot of animal and human waste, and there’s a big risk of infection when you wade in it. There also may be sharp objects in the water that can poke you and injure you that way,” says Dr. Bonzo Reddick, District Health Director for the Coastal Health District.

Also, pooled water is where mosquitoes breed.

“There’s a lot of mosquitoes out there. We noticed there is big nuisance mosquitoes; these are the ones that don’t necessarily transmit disease, but there’s a very large number of them that hatched on Monday, so of course, we only have one response to mosquitoes, we’ll do treatments- space treatments,” says Ture Carlson, director of Chatham County Mosquito Control.

If you do not have a choice in avoiding flood water, all officials are stressing the importance of using insect repellent.

Carlson also says, although these are not the mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus, they can leave painful bites.

Officials are also stressing that if you have an open wound that comes in contact with flood water, get a tetanus vaccine within 48 hours of exposure.

“We are partnering with Compassion Christian at the recovery site on Al Henderson Blvd. to offer on-site tetanus vaccines. Our team will be available on Tuesdays and Thursdays next week from 4 to 8 p.m., and we’ll have nurses on site. You don’t have to have an appointment and there’s no out-of-pocket costs for folks who need to get this vaccine.,” says Dr. Chris Rustin, administrator of the Chatham County Health Department.

Leaders say that despite being in a stage of what they are calling recovery mode, all departments in Chatham County are still on standby for emergency efforts.