Emergency responders to Hurricane Helene face dangers from toxic pollutants spilled from hundreds of industrial facilities along the storm's path. This problem is made worse by limited information about what they could be encountering.
What's happening?
Hurricane Helene left a path of destruction in late September, stretching more than 500 miles from the Florida Panhandle through the Southern Appalachians and into the Tennessee Valley region.
Search and rescue operations continued nearly a week after the Category 4 storm made landfall in Florida's Big Bend. Five days after striking the Sunshine State's coast, the death toll from Helene had climbed to more than 150 people.
More than 3,500 federal government personnel were responding to areas hit hard by Helene.
Emergency responders' jobs are made even more challenging by the toxic pollutants they might encounter. Those pollutants can come from fertilizer factories, paper mills, and oil and gas storage facilities in Georgia after flooding releases these chemicals into the environment.
According to an article published in Bioresource Technology Reports, paper mills are one of the most polluting industries on Earth.
Why are toxic pollutants spilled after storms important?
"The statistics are disconcerting, yet they get little attention," concluded Rice University professors James R. Elliott and Dominic Boyer, along with Rice University research scientist Phylicia Lee Brown, per an article they authored in The Conversation. "That is because hazardous releases remain largely invisible due to limited disclosure requirements and scant public information. Even emergency responders often don't know exactly which hazardous chemicals they are facing in emergency situations."
The authors of the article also point out that pollution releases are common and industrial damage can unfold over days. They say it is a "silent and growing threat" because residents might not hear about the release of toxic chemicals that could impact them for weeks — if they ever hear about it at all.
What's being done about the dangers of toxic industrial pollutants?
Rice University is mapping the nationwide risks to help raise awareness for communities that could be affected. Their interactive map displays areas where major polluters run the risk of releasing toxic pollutants because of elevated future flood risks.
The scientists from Rice University recommend vulnerable communities take it upon themselves to raise concerns and "demand strategies for mitigating the health, economic and environmental risks that industrial sites at risk of flooding and other damage can pose."
Hurricane Helene's wrath was made worse by our overheating planet. An attribution study was released less than a week after landfall that showed the storm's rainfall rates were increased because of climate change.
Reducing planet-warming gases released into our atmosphere by using renewable energy sources such as solar panels can help. We can also lower the amount of harmful chemicals in our environment by ditching fabric softeners.
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