Hurricane Sandy

Branden Chamberlain
Health, Period 2
Mr. McCarthy
March 28, 2013

Hurricane Sandy had many effects on the people on the East Coast. Because of the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy, the loss of jobs has affected people’s mental health, their sanitation, and the availability of urgent medical care. Employment is the central part of a family’s life. It is the main source of income for the family, and it helps to put food on the table. When a job is lost many bad things can happen. The person loses their income which can affect their sanitation and personal hygiene. An individual may experience anxiety and depression, but they can also acquire physical illnesses like hypertension and in major cases heart disease and diabetes. As Hurricane Sandy ripped through the East Coast countless people lost their jobs and had to face these results head on.

Hurricane Sandy put many people out of a job, cutting off their income and killing their food supply. The sanitation of the people in the most affected areas was put at a big risk as there was debris all around. The storm cut many people off from clean drinking water and food because the grocery stores and restaurants were either destroyed or nearly impossible to get to and the power was cut out which spoiled all refrigerated or frozen foods in people’s houses. On top of the food problem there were also rodents that people affected by the storm had to watch out for. The rodents were usually diseased, so the people had to stay away, but they couldn’t always avoid the rodents and some people got sick from wandering rodents. Other people got sick by eating rotten, raw, or molded food. Some people would have to drink spoiled milk which got them sick while others had to eat raw meat in order to fill their stomachs, only to het sick. Mold would also grow on the food, and would spoil the only remaining “good” food. I feel that the sanitation of the people’s food and environment played a very big factor in how affected the people were. The sanitation in the region that was hit the most by Hurricane Sandy is very different to our sanitation here in Minnesota. The storm took out a lot of running water in the peoples’ houses, whereas here in Minnesota we have a stable supply of running water that has not been damaged on become a problem due to a natural disaster. I also think that Minnesota has a better quality of sanitation than the East Coast affected by the hurricane because Minnesota still has refrigeration working, but the places most affected by Sandy don’t have good refrigeration anymore. Rodents were also a problem after Hurricane Sandy hit, but here in Minnesota we are able to keep rodents away because we have clean food and water, however, the people on the East Coast’s food is molded and dirty, which attracts the rodents who eventually will get the people sick. The storm was a very big problem for people on the East Coast to deal with, which set their sanitation way behind those of other states, especially Minnesota.