Important Recovery tips from the University
of Minnesota Extension Service
Think Safety Cards:
- Assume glass splinters are hiding everywhere. Always wear shoes or heavily soled slippers when walking over carpeted floors.
- Do not let small children crawl or play on carpeting because carpeting and floors may contain small, undetected bits of glass.
- Sit on wooden chairs only. Upholstered chairs and sofas may contain hidden pieces of glass.
- Check inside kitchen and bathroom cupboards for tiny glass splinters. Do not use bath towels, medications or food until you
are sure all are safe from small glass chips.
- Be careful about glass and wooden splinters that may be found inside dresser drawers and even within pages of books.
- Assume that tiny, almost invisible splinters of glass are everywhere.
- Upholstered chairs, sofas, mattresses, pillows, blankets, quilts, carpeting, rugs and draperies may need to be replaced because
deep within they contain dangerous small hidden splinters of glass
- Glass splinters may even be hiding throughout food stored in kitchen cupboards. Check for glass and other debris in spices,
flour, sugar, and breakfast cereal. Discard canned foods with broken seams. When in doubt about food, replace it.
- Glass, including fiberglass insulation, can injure unprotected lungs, hands, and feet. Wear a dust mask, shoes, long sleeves
and pants, and leather gloves for all general clean-up.
- Wear sturdy rubber gloves for cleaning storm-damaged dishes or while scrubbing floors, counter tops, and other areas in
the house.
- Cuts from glass, nails, and other storm-contaminated materials are dangerous. If your last tetanus shot is more than 10 years old,
go to your local health service or clinic for an updated vaccination.
- Tiny splinters of glass may be everywhere. Protect yourself from glass-related cuts with leather gloves, eye wear, heavy
leather work shoes, a long-sleeved shirt, and denim jeans or overalls.
- Protect yourself from glass and fiberglass insulation by wearing a dust mask as well as wearing gloves, long sleeves and pants.
- Thoroughly wash bedding and clothing to remove fiberglass insulation and other debris before wearing or using.
- When the electrical power is out, protect the food in your freezer.
- With the freezer closed, food will usually stay frozen in a fully loaded freezer two days; in a freezer with less than half a load,
not more than one day.
- However, be ready to move frozen food to another freezer at the end of two days.
- You may safely refreeze thawed foods if the food still contains ice crystals or if the food is still colder than 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Do no use foods that are above 40 degrees.
- Meat, fish and poultry become unsafe to eat as soon as they start to spoil. When in doubt, throw them out.
Kitchen items can easily become contaminated. Take apart any item that can be cleaned in pieces. If possible, remove handles from
pots. If you don't have a dishwasher with a hot water cycle of at least 140 ° F, follow these steps:
- Wash all items in a strong detergent solution. Use a brush to remove dirt. Rinse in hot water.
- Immerse glass, porcelain, china, plastic dinnerware and enamelware for 10 minutes in a disinfecting solution of 2 tablespoons
of chlorine bleach per gallon of hot water.
- Disinfect silverware, metal utensils, and pots and pans by boiling in water for 10 minutes. Chlorine bleach should not be used in
this case because it reacts with many metals and causes them to darken.
- Air-dry dishes. Do not use a towel.
- Discard and replace soft, porous plastic or wood items saturated by floodwater, since they cannot be sanitized. These include
baby bottles, nipples, and pacifiers.
- Clean and thoroughly dry wet carpeting, upholstery, clothing, and general household items promptly.
- If you have water in your basement, remove as many items as possible furniture, carpeting, and stored boxes of clothing
and appliances.
- Remove standing water promptly and use a disinfectant or light chlorine bleach solution to scrub walls, paneling, and sheet rock.
- Since mildews grow best in moist, dark, and cool environments, use fans to circulate the basement air, run humidifiers to
remove excess moisture in the air, and, if you have a fireplace, use it or some other means to heat the basement and discourage
mildew growth.
- Spores from molds and mildews may be dangerous to your health so take care when working with items which smell musty or
are filled with mildew.
