This aerial photo shows destroyed houses left in the wake of superstorm Sandy on Oct. 31, 2012, in Seaside Heights, N.J.

There have been 110 confirmed deaths in the U.S. directly related to Hurricane Sandy, a figure that has increased daily as recovery efforts continue.
 

Public health officials throughout the country are in the process of multiple efforts to keep that number as low as possible, while aiding the millions who are suffering as a result of the super-storm that came ashore last week.

 

Bruce Jeffries, acting deputy director of the Georgia Department of Public Health's Division of Health Protection, said if requested, Georgia health officials could be assisting residents in the 15 affected states. Jeffries said it's great for workers to help other parts of the country.

 

"Even though they're gone, they're learning stuff you can't learn in a book. A lot of stuff that we do here in Georgia is applicable to events such as this in New York," Jeffries said.

 

Georgia emergency preparedness coordinators met last week to discuss the latest in emergency planning during their annual conference. Such collaboration is vital to the jobs being done throughout the year according to Scott Minarcine, state director of public health emergency preparedness.

 

"Workshops like these pay for themselves over and over again as they provide a rare opportunity for preparedness staff from federal, state and local public health agencies across the state to sit face to face and work on extremely complex challenges and begin to formulate collaborative solutions."

 

In the Northeast region, obtaining fuel to transport medications and other supplies is a concern, along with caring for the many evacuated patients from hospitals and nursing homes.

 

Making sure shelters and temporary food providers are operating safely is a task for environmental health officials. That's just where a long list of responsibilities begins according to Scott Uhlich, environmental health director for the Georgia Department of Public Health.

 

"People on well water will need to disinfect their wells. Restaurants and hotels will have to be sanitized before they can be reopened. Then you're still going to have a lot of temporary food service going on for a long period of time," said Uhlich.

 

For many, the recovery period can be as painful and potentially dangerous as the storm itself. Uhlich said there are many issues not always the first to come to mind.

 

"When homes are flooded, typically you have to get rid of the carpeting and furnishings because you are going to have a mold and mildew problem."

 

Most clothing and fabrics in the home are also unsalvageable, he said.

While Hurricane Sandy is not expected to result in significant mosquito or insect problems because of the temperatures in the affected area, that doesn't end the threat of unwanted intruders.

 

"I guarantee they're going to have rodent issues, and we'll be involved in rodent control and trying to advise people on how to do that," said Uhlich.

 

Disease control is also part of the recovery focus.

 

"People have been wading in dirty, nasty water and they need to be aware of that. If they get cut or something there can be infection," Uhlich said.

 

-Story by Eric Jens, DPH Communications