Raw sewage swirls into Florida flood waters in Hurricane Milton’s wake
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Millions of gallons of sewage have flowed into streets and rivers as flood water swamped infrastructure.
PHOTO: AFP
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ST PETERSBURG, Florida – Storm-racked Floridians dealing with power outages and destroyed homes left in Hurricane Milton’s wake
Millions of gallons of raw and partially treated sewage have flowed into streets and rivers as flood waters swamped infrastructure, power failures knocked pumps offline and manholes overflowed due to the storm, which made landfall on Oct 9 night.
The city of Leesburg’s waste water treatment plant spilled nearly two million gallons of untreated sewage early Oct 10 after flooding from Hurricane Milton caused a backup generator to short, according to a filing with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Other releases were reported in Bradenton on Oct 9 as heavy rains from the approaching storm caused a waste water facility to release into the Manatee River.
And in St Augustine, Florida, the Anastasia Island waste water treatment facility had a spill after heavy rains severed a sewer main.
The sewage spills underscore why the flood waters will continue to pose a danger to human health even as the storm dissipated over the Atlantic Ocean.
Flood waters often mix with “with raw human sewage, septic tanks, waste water”, and more, according to Ms Seema Wadhwa, executive director for environmental stewardship for Kaiser Permanente.
Mr John Rumpler, clean water director for Environment America, said raw sewage can contain pathogens and viruses that can make people sick, and the nitrogen in human waste can also contribute to toxic red tides and algae in places like Florida.
Vehicles drive through flood waters in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton in Lake Maggiore, Florida, on Oct 10.
PHOTO: AFP
The situation has been made worse because Hurricane Milton’s flooding comes just two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit the state.
Hundreds of spills in Florida were reported following Helene, including an 8.5 million gallon sewage release into the Tampa Bay.
“We know that our waters were pretty much already saturated with waste water, sewage and toxics from Helene,” said Ms Mia McCormick, an official with Environment Florida Research and Policy Centre. “When you add to that more, it’s like adding gasoline to the fire.” BLOOMBERG
