Case Studies and Lessons Learned in Chemical Emergencies Related to Hurricanes

The 2005 hurricane season in the United States was one of the most active seasons documented. Hurricane Dennis, the first major hurricane of the season, weakened to Category 3 strength before making landfall over the western Florida Panhandle on July 10, 2005. Hurricane Dennis caused considerable damage across the western Florida Panhandle, including widespread utility and communications outages and storm surge-related damage far to the east of the landfall location (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2005a). Hurricane Katrina entered southern Florida on August 25, 2005 as a Category 1 hurricane before rapidly gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm made its second landfall in south eastern Louisiana on August 29, 2005, as a Category 3 hurricane (Knabb et al., 2005a). Due to levy failures in the New Orleans area, Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst natural disasters to ever strike the United States. Katrina resulted in an estimated 1,464 deaths in Louisiana, numerous illnesses and injuries, and substantial infrastructure damage (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005e; Knabb et al., 2005a; Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals 2006). Hurricane Rita was also classified as a Category 3 hurricane when it struck the Louisiana-Texas border on September 24, 2005 (Knabb et al., 2005b). Although the impact from Hurricane Rita was not as severe as that from Hurricane Katrina, the approach of Hurricane Rita generated one of the largest evacuations in United States history; estimates exceed 2 million evacuees in Texas (Knabb et al., 2005b). Hurricane Wilma, another Category 3 hurricane, struck the southwest coast of Florida on October 24, 2005 (Taylor et al., 2007). Hurricane Wilma caused extensive damage to homes and power lines and also temporarily displaced thousands of residents (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006b). Much of the public health response to the hurricanes was focused on assessing health-related needs and surveillance of injuries, infectious diseases, and other illnesses (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005b; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005c; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005e; Knabb et al., 2005a; Knabb et al., 2005b; Tayor et al., 2007; Todd, 2006). However, the hurricanes also resulted in unintended