http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20090922/NEWS01/709229902/0/ETPZONELT
Floods and flu could collide in Snohomish County
If both crises hit at the same time, public officials hope to be ready.
By Noah Haglund
Herald Writer
EVERETT ? Flood season could wash through Snohomish County this fall and winter just as preparations are under way for a deluge of another kind: swine flu.
That comes on top of the regular seasonal flu.
The possibility of battling two or more crises at once has had emergency-management and health experts preparing for months. They?re asking the public to get ready, too.
?What really concerns me is that we get hit with this (flu pandemic) coinciding with a major flood in November,? county Emergency Management Director John Pennington told the County Council on Monday.
Last year, heavy rains pushed local rivers over their banks in early November. Cleanup from that was still going on in December when a snowstorm socked the region. Then when the snow melted in January it caused more flooding.
This year, winter in the Pacific Northwest is expected to be milder than normal because of a moderate el ni?o effect, said Johnny Burg, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle.
That?s no reason to be complacent, Burg cautioned.
?Just because it?s going to be warmer and drier this winter doesn?t mean there won?t be any flooding,? he said.
Under those conditions, the rain, instead of freezing at high elevations, could drain directly into waterways and eventually inundate the lowlands.
A flu pandemic could keep emergency personnel at home sick, just when they?re needed most.
Anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of the county?s population could come down with the virus and another 8 percent o 20 percent with the seasonal flu.
Nationally, more than 9,000 people have been hospitalized and nearly 600 people have died from the virus, including two men in Snohomish County. The virus sickened several thousand students at Washington State University earlier this month.
In Snohomish County, cases have already started showing up at doctors? offices, said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, Snohomish Health District health officer.
?(We?re) likely to see influenza pretty widespread throughout the county in October,? Goldbaum said. ?We do know that it?s likely to last for several months.?
In the event of a flood, the local American Red Cross chapter has planned to separate out evacuees with flu symptoms from others. Volunteers would screen for people with a fever of 100 degrees who also have a sore throat or a cough.
?The number-one rule is not to make anything worse, and if we get everybody sick, we?re making things worse,? said Chuck Morrison, executive director of the Red Cross? Snohomish County chapter.
About 50 local volunteer leaders also have received pandemic kits, Morrison said.
The county?s Department of Emergency Management is coordinating flu-fighting efforts of more than 20 agencies.
?Everyone is stepping up, the clinics, the pharmacies, the hospitals, the emergency management folks, the tribes the schools,? said Goldbaum. ?Everybody has something at stake here.?
The county has set up separate call centers for flood and flu questions.
Two separate vaccines have been developed for swine flu and seasonal flu.
Seasonal flu shots are available already. The first doses of swine flu vaccine could arrive in the county in early October.
Floods and flu could collide in Snohomish County
If both crises hit at the same time, public officials hope to be ready.
By Noah Haglund
Herald Writer
EVERETT ? Flood season could wash through Snohomish County this fall and winter just as preparations are under way for a deluge of another kind: swine flu.
That comes on top of the regular seasonal flu.
The possibility of battling two or more crises at once has had emergency-management and health experts preparing for months. They?re asking the public to get ready, too.
?What really concerns me is that we get hit with this (flu pandemic) coinciding with a major flood in November,? county Emergency Management Director John Pennington told the County Council on Monday.
Last year, heavy rains pushed local rivers over their banks in early November. Cleanup from that was still going on in December when a snowstorm socked the region. Then when the snow melted in January it caused more flooding.
This year, winter in the Pacific Northwest is expected to be milder than normal because of a moderate el ni?o effect, said Johnny Burg, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle.
That?s no reason to be complacent, Burg cautioned.
?Just because it?s going to be warmer and drier this winter doesn?t mean there won?t be any flooding,? he said.
Under those conditions, the rain, instead of freezing at high elevations, could drain directly into waterways and eventually inundate the lowlands.
A flu pandemic could keep emergency personnel at home sick, just when they?re needed most.
Anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of the county?s population could come down with the virus and another 8 percent o 20 percent with the seasonal flu.
Nationally, more than 9,000 people have been hospitalized and nearly 600 people have died from the virus, including two men in Snohomish County. The virus sickened several thousand students at Washington State University earlier this month.
In Snohomish County, cases have already started showing up at doctors? offices, said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, Snohomish Health District health officer.
?(We?re) likely to see influenza pretty widespread throughout the county in October,? Goldbaum said. ?We do know that it?s likely to last for several months.?
In the event of a flood, the local American Red Cross chapter has planned to separate out evacuees with flu symptoms from others. Volunteers would screen for people with a fever of 100 degrees who also have a sore throat or a cough.
?The number-one rule is not to make anything worse, and if we get everybody sick, we?re making things worse,? said Chuck Morrison, executive director of the Red Cross? Snohomish County chapter.
About 50 local volunteer leaders also have received pandemic kits, Morrison said.
The county?s Department of Emergency Management is coordinating flu-fighting efforts of more than 20 agencies.
?Everyone is stepping up, the clinics, the pharmacies, the hospitals, the emergency management folks, the tribes the schools,? said Goldbaum. ?Everybody has something at stake here.?
The county has set up separate call centers for flood and flu questions.
Two separate vaccines have been developed for swine flu and seasonal flu.
Seasonal flu shots are available already. The first doses of swine flu vaccine could arrive in the county in early October.