Hurricane Helene left a path of devastation behind, with storm-ravaged areas struggling to access safe water for days because flooding damaged sewage systems, wastewater treatment plants and pipes that deliver drinking water to residents in the affected areas.
Boiling water advisories and water conservation orders are in place in counties in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.
More than 160 boil water advisories were in effect in North Carolina as of Tuesday. On Sunday, officials in Asheville said that nearly 100,000 residents may not get access to water for weeks.
“Extensive repairs are required to treatment facilities, underground and aboveground water pipes, and to roads that have washed away which are preventing water personnel from accessing parts of the system,” the city’s press release read.
Some residents have resorted to bathing in creeks, and relying on water from streams to flush toilets, according to the Washington Post.
Sydney Evans, senior science analyst at Environmental Working Group, said that “after catastrophic storms like Hurricane Helene, many water systems and private wells are compromised by dangerous contamination like bacteria and other pathogens, industrial pollutants and animal waste that pose an immediate threat to people’s health”.
Many in the affected areas, particularly in the Appalachian region, rely on wells that require electricity to access drinking water. But in the aftermath of Helene, which made landfall last Thursday, more than 1 million people remain without power.
“Now there are so many additional potential contaminants that may be present in water sources, especially water systems that use surface water,” Elin Betanzo, drinking water expert and president of Safe Water Engineering, said.
“Boiling water is effective for addressing acute microbial contaminants, but this might be very difficult with the lack of power in many locations.”
Betanzo added that camping drinking water filters and treatments may be another option in the short term.
