Important information for people affected with floods
Few districts are facing flooding due to excessive rains. Homes of thousands of people are submerged under flood waters and their routine life has been affected severely. These people have been shifted to safe places. As the flood waters are now receding, these people are returning back to their homes.
What precautions should these people take before returning home? How to do disinfection of the homes? How to take care of the health? Important points in relation to these queries have been given below.
1. Things to be done first before going home.
A. Go home only after the government administration declares your place or village being safe for residence again.
B. If the house is a mud house, make sure from the construction experts whether it is safe to move in it.
C. Do not touch the broken electricity wires in the buildings or in your nearby vicinity.
2. Actions to be done after going home
A. Regarding the insurance of damages in regards to homes and other objects
1. Before doing the repair work of the house and before doing the cleaning of the objects in the house, make sure to click the photographs of the damaged house and the objects. They can be useful to get insurance payment or government help.
2. Take the guidance of the insurance representative it is possible to get insurance payment for vehicles, electric equipment as well as the other new objects in the house if they have been covered by an insurance policy and if the policy covers damages due to the water and due to natural calamities.
B. What is to be done in regards to electric current and the electric equipment?
1. It is highly dangerous to switch on the electric current if the walls of the house, electric equipment (fans, washing machines, mixer) and the switch boards are wet. There is a possibility of suffering from an electric shock due to this. Once the house has become dry and after the electrician checks the electric connections, only then switch on the electric current.
2. If the mobile phones and the laptops have become wet, and if they are switched off, then remove their batteries and keep aside.
3. Do not throw the instruments and equipment straightaway in the trash only because they have become wet. Check it from the particular experts whether they can be repaired.
C. Cleaning and disinfection of the house
1. If the water remains stagnant for long time it is bound to be infested with bacteria, viruses and other organisms. Scrub the flooring with soap and clean water or with disinfectant like Lysol, then mop it clean and then dry it.
2. Make a ‘Dhoop’ (Frankincense) of neem leaves and camphor and place it in all the rooms of the house. This will help in cleansing the environment and also in disinfection of the house.
3. Keep the doors and the windows of the house open. This will help in ventilation and will also help in drying up of the wet walls.
D. Precautions to be taken before shifting of the objects and equipment in the house
1. If there is leakage of gas from the gas cylinder, then switch off the main button of the electric current. Keep the cylinder in an open area where it will be exposed to air. Example. in terrace. If the smell of the gas cylinder has spread in the house, then do not switch on the electric buttons and open the doors and the windows of the house.
2. There is a possibility of reptiles and animals like snakes, scorpion and mice entering inside the house due to flood waters. Remove the objects in dark and junk areas carefully. To remove the snakes, scorpions etc from the house take the help of organisations like ‘Prani mitra’ (friends of animals).
3. While cleaning the slime in the house and while shifting the objects and equipment in it, wear thick boots and appropriate hand gloves. This will prevent from getting injured due to sharp objects (scissor, knife) if present in it.
4. The objects which have come in contact with flood water (example. Wooden furniture, clothes, utensils etc) should be washed, cleaned and dried thoroughly before using them again. The iron objects in the house like cupboards, cots, seating etc should be wiped clean and dry with dry cloth so as to prevent them from rusting. The decision to do painting of the house can be taken later on in the summer season.
E. Precautions to be taken in relation to food and water
1. If there is a well in the flood affected area, do not consume water from it, as there is a high possibility of getting infected.
2. Do not consume or use the stored water or water which has become stagnant in the house.
3. The utensils used for storage of drinking water should be thoroughly cleaned and washed with soap and clean water. Then wipe them clean with dry cloth and then use them for storage of water.
4. Use clean and potable water for cooking as well as for rinsing the mouth while brushing the teeth. Drinking water should be boiled daily for 10 minutes.
5. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before eating any food.
6. Do not use the food and the vegetables which have come in contact with the flood water. Confirm whether the food materials stored in the refrigerator are safe for consumption before utilising them.
3. Take care of your and other’s health!
A. There are high chances of outbreak of contagious diseases in the community after the flooding. Due to consumption of infected and impotable water diseases like hepatitis, typhoid, and diarrhea can spread in the community.
B. Diseases like dengue and malaria can spread because of increase in mosquitoes. If there is increase in the breeding of mosquitoes in your area use mosquito nets or mosquito repellents like mosquito coils and incense sticks.
C. do not allow children to play in the stagnant water.
D. Take the advice of the allopathy doctors before using any previously stored medicines in the house.
It is important to take care of their health by each and every one during this period. If there are any queries in relation to the health, immediately contact the the doctors or with the government hospital.
Do the purification of the house after
the flood waters have receded as given below!
Seekers should first clean the house once the flood waters recede. After that cast off the evil eye of the house by standing outside the main door of the house and then cast off the evil eye of the other rooms of the house.
1. Cast off the evil eye with coconut or lemon
if possible, cast off the evil eye of the house for consecutive 3 days with a coconut. Hold the coconut in the palms of both the hands in such a way that the pointed (pony) end of the coconut points on the opposite side of the main door. In each room cast of the evil eye by moving along with the coconut in the room in anticlockwise direction. After that break the coconut outside the house or do its dissolution in the water. If it is not possible to cast off the evil eye with the coconut, then do it with a lemon. Standing outside the door of each room, initially move the lemon three times in the clockwise direction and then three times in the anticlockwise direction and then do its dissolution. While casting off the evil eye with lemon, there is no need to go inside each room. It can be done by standing outside the door of that particular room.
2. After this purify the house by sprinkling the gomutra
(cow urine) and moving the sattvik incense stick around the house.
To know how to get prepared at various levels to face the upcoming adverse times, click here
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