Katrina and the Thai Tsunami: Public Health Water Quality Aspects

摘要

The South East Asian Tsunami in Thailand and Hurricane Katrina in the United States werenatural disasters of different origin but of similar destruction and response. Both disastersexhibited synonymous health outcomes and similar structural damage from large surges of water,waves, and flooding. A systematic discussion and comparison of the disasters in Thailand andthe Gulf Coast considers both calamities to be similar types of disaster in different coastallocations. Thus valuable comparisons can be made for improvements in response, preparednessand mitigation. Pre-storm conditions, disaster impacts and response, and lessons learned for bothcases are discussed. Assessments are made regarding health, environmental impacts,water andwastewater issues and data availability/evaluation. Based on the experiences gainedopportunities to enhance disaster preparedness through research are presented.