HURRICANE IRMA VIS A VIS CLIMATE CHANGE EEFECTS IN AFRICA.
Now hurricane Irma is threatening for America with possible after-effects that could reach far beyond Harvey and most other hurricanes. While residents in Florida, and even South Carolina, are preparing for the immediate storm damage, people should get prepared for major health effects afterward too.
After the immediate landfall of a hurricane, people affected by the storm are simply thinking of survival and the recovery of important possessions. Once the storm subsides, however, they must turn to fighting the many unexpected after-effects during the days, months and even years ahead.
In Hurricane Irma’s case, Floridians, Dominican and the rest of Caribbean's should get prepared for anything. Once the hurricane’s initial storm subsides, the real fight for many will begin.
Drowning; one of the biggest dangers that many residents risk during a hurricane is waiting out the storm, but people need to take Hurricane Irma seriously. If officials have issued voluntary or mandatory evacuations, they shouldn’t linger.
If people do choose to wait through the storm, however, they should get as far above the waterline as is possible and avoid the floodwaters at all costs. The risk of drowning is great during these storms, especially with heavy and sharp debris floating around.
Parasites and Bacteria
Immediately following the risk of drowning, people should also beware of wading in or drinking the floodwater. At this point, the hurricane will have done much damage, likely contaminating the water with sewage, soil, food, and debris.
As a result, many will suffer parasitic or bacterial infections from E. coli, salmonella, the Norovirus and the Rotavirus. In addition, some may get infected with Cryptosporidium, a parasite that can live in water for up to 10 days.
It also easily travels from person to person in contaminated water. Interestingly, even public pools see outbreaks of crypto infections, but the problem amplifies in untreated floodwater. While many of these infections are easily treatable, the young or old and those suffering with dehydration will have a harder time fighting them off.
Wound Infections
Wounds are another unavoidable result of a hurricane. Many will get hurt by the storm’s damage, whether big or small, and they will need to treat those wounds as soon as possible.
Of particular concern for wounds is the deadly disease tetanus. While normal everyday activity in the US doesn’t warrant much concern for tetanus, spoiled flooding and hurricane devastation make the disease a huge possibility for residents who bunker down.
Tell-tale signs of tetanus include a tightening of jaw muscles, muscle spasms, headache, fever and changes in heart rate or blood pressure. This condition needs treatment immediately.
At the same time, people may also notice other infections due to standing in water or wet clothing for lengthy periods of time. Fungal and skin infections may arise, or even gangrene in some cases.
Mosquitoes
Next, in the aftermath of the hurricane, both standing water and floating debris make the affected areas ideal spots for breeding mosquitoes. Those in storm-damaged areas will likely see a rise in mosquito-borne illnesses like Zika, West Nile or dengue fever and should stay aware of any problematic symptoms.
Mental Health
Last, those who have suffered through a hurricane’s disaster may experience mental health disruptions due to stress. They may face a general anxiety, guilt, depression or grief, and some may develop post-traumatic stress disorder as well.
Hurricane Irma poses direct threats for anyone in its path as it heads for landfall in the US and other countries. Still, the danger for those affected will not be over as soon as the storm has passed. People will need to be cautious of different health effects, seeking medical attention as soon as possible. Overall, residents should stay safe with a proper food and water supply and evacuate as soon as authorities advise for an area.
Climate Change and Human health in Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is the least urbanized region in the world. Only 39.1% of the region’s population lives in cities. However, the region’s urban population is projected to more than double to 760 million by 2030 the rate of urbanization makes it very challenging to manage. A recent paper in the New England Journal of Medicine argued that urbanization is a “health hazard for certain vulnerable populations, and this demographic shift threatens to create a humanitarian disaster.”
Urbanization in Africa is linked to poverty. Globally, nearly 1 billion people live in slums, and this number is projected to double to 2 billion in the next 30 years. The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT) defines a slum as an urban area with a lack of basic services (sanitation, potable water, and electricity), substandard housing, overcrowding, unhealthy and hazardous locations, insecure tenure and social exclusion. In sub-Saharan Africa, 71.8% of urban dwellers live in slums, the highest proportion in the world.
Over the coming decades, the effects of climate change will also be progressively felt across the African continent. Climate change and urbanization will interact, with unpredictable effects.
A significant share of ill health in slums stems from poor access to sanitation and clean drinking water. In 2000, 30–50% of African urban dwellers lacked a safe water supply. Even where it is available, access to safe water is often unaffordable for the urban poor. Slum dwellers in cities in east Africa pay 5–7 times more for a litre of water than the average North American.
Across Africa, 45% of the urban population lacked access to improved sanitation in 2000. In eastern Africa in 2006, open defecation was the only sanitation practice available to 33% of the population. This contributes to the contamination of water and land within cities as well as too many of the waterborne diseases prevalent in slums.
Flooded areas and ditches, latrines and septic tanks are key reservoirs that perpetuate cholera, malaria, dengue and yellow fever in urban areas. Infectious disease outbreaks are also precipitated by the high population density found in these areas, with overcrowding triggering epidemic-prone infections like pertussis and influenza.
Children bear a disproportionate burden of disease in slums. In Ethiopia and the Niger, rates of child malnutrition in both urban slums and rural areas are around 40%. Immunization coverage in slums in the Niger is 35% compared with 86% in non-slum urban areas. In Nairobi, where 60% of the city’s populations live in slums, child mortality in the slums is 2.5 times greater than in other areas of the city.
Droughts are associated with a lack of access to water supplies for consumption and sanitation, as well as with poor agricultural productivity. Water scarcity will increase for both urban and rural populations in Africa over the next century. Climate change is expected to bring more frequent and longer droughts to the region. Drought in rural areas may be a major trigger for in-migration to urban areas, further stressing urban infrastructure. Falling agricultural productivity in the region could place increased strain on local food markets, thus increasing rates of malnutrition in slums.
Because climate change is associated with more extreme precipitation events and rising sea-levels, African cities will also experience more severe and more frequent flooding. Urbanization creates flood-prone conditions by covering the ground with pavement and buildings, and by building urban drains, causing runoff water to move more rapidly into rivers than under natural conditions. Here Tanzania too we not left aside as our beautiful Island of Zanzibar is highly at risk to face this effects. The urban poor build houses of weak, inadequate materials, often against hillsides that are subject to landslides during heavy rains. More than 70% of flood deaths in the Mozambique floods of 2000 occurred in urban areas. The Luis Cabral slum neighborhood in the capital city of Maputo was completely destroyed and water and sanitation services were disrupted causing outbreaks of dysentery and cholera.
Urban outdoor pollution in Africa is responsible for an estimated 49 000 premature deaths annually. Slums are often located near factories and busy roadways thus rendering their inhabitants vulnerable to a high burden of respiratory disease. Exposure to elevated concentrations of ozone is associated with increased hospital admissions for pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma as well as with premature mortality. As summer temperatures rise, the concentration of ground-level ozone is increasing in most regions of the world.
African slum dwellers are particularly vulnerable to the negative health effects of rapid urbanization and global climate change. Further research is required to understand the impacts of climate change on the health of slum dwellers as well as to design appropriate adaptation policies. When planning public health interventions in Africa one must consider the dynamic relationship between climate change and urbanization and their impact on vulnerable urban populations.
My main point to this discussion is to see what happening in America due the course of hurricanes including this Irma one looking its effects –health one of course- and compare with situation happen here in Africa. The difference is one of course time, the hurricane is happening is very short period of time with quick move and left the disasters/effects for long time but here in Africa the weather changes occur slowly that take long time to see its effects which is exactly the same to hurricane one in America and the rest of the world. Of course the happening of weather changes in Africa start long time ago as for now we are observing its effects and start planning to overcome them. So I made a call to the International institutions other stakeholders and partners concern to see and take quick action for African situation as they did to Hurricane victims in America as we are observed now. O course this action can't be quick and faster as to Hurricanes victims as U K, The Netherlands, and others did to serve them but we need to see the long and short term projects and programme here in Africa taking place to rescue the situations.
Prepared by
Issa Isihaka
Climate Tracker
East and Southern African Youth
Climate Change Alliance
(ESAY CCA Tanzania)
DAR ES SALAAM
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