Riverwatch 2011: An Environmental Public Health Response to a Major Flood Event.

In April 2011, Shelby County, TN and the City of Memphis were faced with potential for Mississippi River flooding due to increased seasonal rains combined with an elevated spring snow melt.  It was anticipated the River would crest at levels not seen in over 70 years.  Pre-planning mitigation was enacted by the Shelby County Emergency Operations Center to prepare for myriad issues inherent in community flooding.  Among the public health concerns addressed were effective and extended sheltering of displaced residents, environmental sanitation, vector control, and pollution control issues.  Once the flooded Mississippi River crested on May 12, 2011, the environmental public health response was activated. The following presentation will highlight the environmental public health mitigation, response, and recovery to a flood event by discussing the medical sheltering issues, the emergency public information sharing, and responder safety issues implemented during the response. Additionally, this presentation will further discuss the environmental public health components of mitigation, response, and recovery from flood activities. Novel environmental sheltering practices will be highlighted along with processes identified and executed in the remediation of vectors, sanitation, and pollution post flood event.