A diarrhea outbreak in Catanduanes caused by the aftermath of typhoon Nina has already claimed one victim, and has affected 40 other people, reports say.
The outbreak was caused by Typhoon Nina
The diarrhea outbreak was reportedly caused by the destruction of water sources in the area, which contributed to the lack of clean drinking water for affected residents.
Additionally, officials fear that the heavy rains brought about by Typhoon Nina will contaminate other water sources in the area. They add that decay caused by damage to vegetation adds to the problem of finding clean water for residents who were affected by the typhoon.
According to Liezel Balinas, Catanduanes health officer, one death as well as 40 other cases of gastroenteritis have been reported in the towns of Virac and Bato.
The price of clean drinking water has also gone up
In addition to the lack of access to clean drinking water because of the typhoon, the price of drinking water has already gone up from 25 pesos per gallon up to 40 pesos per gallon because the water refilling stations are forced to use generators in order to function.
A number of humanitarian groups have offered help, including the Humanitarian Response Consortium (HRC) who installed a water bladder that can be used to purify 5,000 liters of water at a time in order to provide clean drinking water for 400 families.
The Department of Health (DOH) has also released 5 million pesos as financial aid in order to address the health concerns of the families affected by the typhoon.
Read on to learn more about keeping your family healthy after a typhoon.
Keeping your family healthy after a typhoon
Living in the Philippines means knowing how to deal with the yearly typhoon season. While some places might not be as devastated as some other regions of the country during a typhoon, it’s still best to know what to do since we can’t really predict whenever a typhoon would be the ‘big one’.
- Make sure to have an emergency kit ready. Having an emergency kit, not just for typhoons is very important as it always pays to be prepared for any type of emergency. Make sure that it’s always stocked up with supplies such as food, medicine, disinfectant, extra batteries, etc.
- Prepare a sufficient amount of food and water supplies. You wouldn’t want to run out of food or clean drinking water during the middle of a typhoon, so be sure to keep your house well stocked with canned goods.
- Keep your valuables and electronics safe. If there’s a flood, your valuables and electronics can get damaged. Keep valuable documents in a waterproof document, and keep all of your electronics in a high place where the flood can’t reach.
- Have a battery operated radio handy. Having a battery operated radio is important since it helps you get updates regarding the status of the typhoon as well as any other information that you might need. Keep in mind that nowadays, there are also hand-operated radios which don’t need batteries in order to function.
- Know any safe areas, especially places nearby where you can evacuate. In case you need to evacuate, make sure to know the nearest location that you and your family can go to. Make sure to know the safest way to get from your home to the evacuation center.
During the typhoon, follow these tips to keep safe:
- Stay indoors. Keep you and your family safe during typhoons by staying indoors. There’s really no reason to go outside during a typhoon, and you’ll be more prone to accidents if you go outdoors.
- Keep everyone calm. Always keep calm, panic really doesn’t do anything to help so it’s best to just sit tight and keep yourselves busy doing other things or preparing for cleanup after the typhoon.
- Listen to radio updates regarding the typhoon. Make sure to have a radio handy so you can know important information such as when the typhoon will come, as well as when it will leave your area.
- Save your mobile phone batteries for emergencies. It can be boring to just sit and wait at home during a typhoon and your family might be tempted to play games on their mobile phones. However, it’s best to save the batteries so that in case of an emergency you still have batteries that you can use. Alternately, you can keep power banks fully charged so that in case you run out of batteries and there’s no power, you have a means of charging your phone.
- Be sure to turn off the main power if it starts to flood. In case of a flood, immediately turn off the main power in your home, and move to an elevated location since the floodwaters might rise. If you see that the floodwaters are too high, then it’s a good idea to just evacuate from your home. It’s better to keep your family safe instead of staying at home where it’s risky.
Sources:rappler.com, gmanetwork.com, modernfilipina.ph
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