Accidents, mold pose biggest health problems in hurricane areas

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Accidents, mold pose biggest health problems in hurricane areas

http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=4107348

NEW ORLEANS Senior was prying off molding from a wall

in his hurricane-ravaged home when a piece broke loose and hit him,

embedding a nail in his arm.

He pulled out the nail and headed to a temporary emergency hospital

downtown for a checkup and a tetanus shot, just in case.

Health officials say accidents like ' and the explosion of

mold in homes and buildings pose the biggest health risks in Gulf

Coast areas hit by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The disease

outbreaks feared earlier didn't materialize in the weeks after the

storms.

says his one-story home was filled with 8 feet of water

after Katrina and needs to be gutted. While waiting for his

insurance payments, he's ripping out the walls himself.

In the days after Katrina hit, there were dire predictions of

disease outbreaks from contaminated floodwaters, unsanitary living

conditions and mosquitoes breeding in the hot and humid coastal

climate.

Doctor Pierre Buekens, dean of Tulane's School of Public Health and

Tropical Medicine, says the infectious disease risk was blown out of

proportion, but the mental health risks and accidents were

understated.