Hurricanes & Floods

The NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP) and its awardees have been actively involved in hurricane and flood response and cleanup activities, including those related to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The following resources are aimed at protecting the health and safety of those responding to the aftermath of a hurricane or a flood, including emergency responders, skilled support personnel, homeowners, and business owners.

Worker Training Program Resources

Hurricane Training Tool and Companion Booklet

The Safety Awareness for Responders to Hurricanes: Protecting Yourself While Helping Others training tool is a health and safety resource for skilled support personnel who will participate in hurricane response and cleanup activities. This tool will help workers understand at an awareness level how to identify and control hazards pertaining to the response and cleanup activities associated with a hurricane.

Trainers may use this tool to aid in the development of a hurricane response awareness-level course or other awareness-level materials such as fact sheets and tabletop activities. The pocket-sized companion booklet may be distributed with the training and used as a resource when workers are on a disaster site. The training tool and the booklet are available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

• In English
  • Safety Awareness for Responders to Hurricanes: Protecting Yourself While Helping Others(6.4 MB)
  • Safety Awareness for Responders to Hurricanes: Protecting Yourself While Helping Others(3.4 MB)
  • Safety Awareness for Responders to Hurricanes: Protecting Yourself While Helping Others (Booklet)(2.1 MB)
  • Safety Awareness for Responders to Hurricanes: Protecting Yourself While Helping Others (Flyer)(80 KB)
• En Español
  
  • Protección personal y ayuda a los demás: consideraciones de seguridad para participantes en operaciones de auxilio de un huracán(5.6 MB)
  • Protección personal y ayuda a los demás: consideraciones de seguridad para participantes en operaciones de auxilio de un huracán(2.4 MB)
  • La seguridad de los trabajadores tras el paso de un huracán: Protección personal y ayuda a los demás (Panfleto)(1.6 MB)
• In Vietnamese
  • Safety Awareness for Responders to Hurricanes: Protecting Yourself While Helping Others(7.8 MB)
  • Safety Awareness for Responders to Hurricanes: Protecting Yourself While Helping Others (Booklet)(6.3 MB)
• ePub (English)
  Documents in the Electronic Publication (ePub) format can be shared and delivered to all manner of devices, such as smartphones and tablets. 
  • iOS-only version
  • Universal version for all devices

If you would like print layout versions of the above booklets, please contact the National Clearinghouse at (202) 331-7733 or at wetpclear@niehs.nih.gov.

Floods Booklet and Flyer

The Safety Awareness for Responders to Floods: Protecting Yourself While Helping Others booklet and flyer are awareness-level safety and health training resources for people working in flooded areas. These resources are available in English only.

• Safety Awareness for Responders to Floods: Protecting Yourself While Helping Others (Booklet)(5.1MB)
• Safety Awareness for Responders to Floods: Protecting Yourself While Helping Others (Booklet in ePub format)
• Safety Awareness for Responders to Floods: Protecting Yourself While Helping Others (Flyer)(110 KB)

Mold Remediation Training Tool and Guidance

The following resources are intended for workers, volunteers, and homeowners who engage in small-scale mold cleanup and treatment of flooded or water-damaged homes.

• In English
  • NIEHS Mold Remediation Guidance(4.1MB)
  • Mold Cleanup and Treatment Orientation Training Tool(10.7MB)
  • Mold Cleanup and Treatment Orientation Training Tool (ePub format)
  • Guidelines for the Protection and Training of Workers Engaged in Maintenance and Remediation Work Associated with Mold(447 KB)
• En Español
  • Como recuperarse tras un desastre: Guía para la elimiación del moho(2.4MB)
  • Orientación de la limpienza y el tratamiento de moho(11.3MB)

Debris Removal Training Tool and Fact Sheet

The Protecting Yourself While Removing Post-Disaster Debris from Your Home or Business training tool and fact sheet are intended for small business owners, residents, and community or faith-based volunteer groups conducting post-disaster cleanup activities. They provide awareness-level information on post-disaster hazards associated with cleanup activities.

• Protecting Yourself While Removing Post-Disaster Debris from Your Home or Business Training Tool(6.3 MB)
• Protecting Yourself While Removing Post-Disaster Debris from Your Home or Business Training Tool(19.2 MB)
• Protecting Yourself While Removing Post-Disaster Debris From Your Home or Business Fact Sheet(1.5 MB)

Other Hurricane and Flood Training Resources

• Driving Hazards Awareness(5.9 MB)
• Forklift Operator Training Program Instructor Manual(253 KB)
• Forklift Operator Training: OSHA 1910.178 Powered Industrial Trucks(1.7 MB)
• Hurricane Katrina Tree Removal Safety Training Handout(222 KB)
• Katrina Asbestos Awareness Training 2-3 Hour Course Outline(20 KB)
• Katrina Asbestos Awareness Training 8-Hour U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Course Outline(20 KB)
• MetaMedia Hurricane Worker Safety and Health Podcasts
• Tree Debris Removal Safety(33.4 MB)
• University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of Public Health Hurricane Sandy Responder Orientation Webinars:
  • Post-Hurricane Sandy: Mold Exposure and the Health Impacts
  • Hurricane Sandy: Protecting Workers and Volunteers from Mold
  • Safety Issues Associated with Post-Sandy Cleanup
• Waterway Debris General Safety Awareness Training(6.7 MB)
• Work Zone Safety(14.3 MB)

WTP Technical Workshops

The following WTP technical workshops explored lessons learned during the Hurricane Katrina response.

• WTP Fall 2005 Technical Workshop – Katrina Response: Flexible, Focused Training for Disasters
• WTP Spring 2006 Technical Workshop – Learning from Disasters: Health and Safety Training in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
• WTP Fall 2006 Technical Workshop – Disaster Response Training: From the World Trade Center to Katrina – Five Years of Lessons Learned

Federal Hurricane and Flood Resources

• Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
  • ATSDR Managing Hazardous Materials Incidents Series
  • ATSDR National Toxic Substance Incidents Program
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  • CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response Page
  • CDC Mold Home Page
  • CDC Natural Disasters and Severe Weather Page
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
  • FEMA: How to Protect Your Property (Business or Home)
  • National Response Framework Worker Safety and Health Support Annex
  • Ready.gov
• Government Accountability Office (GAO)
  • Disaster Preparedness: Better Planning Would Improve OSHA’s Efforts to Protect Workers)}
  • Hurricane Katrina: GAO’s Preliminary Observations Regarding Preparedness, Response, and Recovery
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • NIOSH Climate Change and Occupational Safety and Health
  • NIOSH Disaster Site Management Page
  • NIOSH Emergency Preparedness and Response Resources
  • NIOSH Storm/Flood and Hurricane/Typhoon Response Page
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
  • National Weather Service: Flood Safety Page
  • National Weather Service: National Hurricane Center
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
  
  •  OSHA Best Practices for Hospital-Based First Receivers from Mass Casualty Incidents Involving the Release of Hazardous Substances
  • OSHA Disaster Site Worker Outreach Training Program
  • OSHA Emergency Preparedness and Response Page
  • OSHA Hazard Exposure and Risk Assessment Matrix for Hurricane Response and Recovery Work
  • OSHA Hazardous Waste Page
  • The Application of HAZWOPER to Worksite Response and Cleanup Activities
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  
  • PHE.gov
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Disaster Recovery App
• U.S. Department of Transportation
  
  • Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Home Page
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  
  • EPA Emergency Response Page
  • EPA Environmental Response Team
  • EPA Natural Disasters Page
  • EPA Water Emergency/Incident Planning, Response, and Recovery Page
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
  • FDA Emergency Preparedness and Response Page
• U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM)
  • NLM Disaster Information Management Research Center: Disaster Information Resources
• U.S. National Response Team (NRT)
  • Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance
  • NRT Technical Assistance Document: Volume I, Guidance for Managing Worker Fatigue during Disaster Operations
• Other
  • DisasterAssistance.gov: Disaster Resources
  • Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5: Management of Domestic Incidents
  • Presidential Policy Directive 8: National Preparedness
  • Presidential Policy Directive 21: Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience
  • Talking about Disaster: Guide for Standard Messages

State and Local Hurricane and Flood Resources 

Please refer to your state or local emergency management agency website for additional guidance on hurricane and flood preparedness and response.

Other Hurricane and Flood Resources

General Hurricane and Flood Resources

• American Red Cross: Recovering after a Disaster or Emergency
• Civil Service Employees Association Flood and Storm Cleanup Information
• eXtension Flood Resources
• International Code Council: Flood Cleanup Safety and Salvaging
• Sciencecorps Report: Chemical Hazards in Floods and Disasters – Fuels

Hurricane Katrina Resources

• Airborne Mold and Endotoxin Concentrations in New Orleans, Louisiana, after Flooding, October through November 2005(204 KB)
• Hurricane Katrina Worker Health and Safety Plan for Federal Employees and Federally Deployed Assets, Including Contractors
• Rebuilding after Katrina: A Population-Based Study of Labor and Human Rights in New Orleans(2.11 MB)
• Solid Waste Association of North America Briefing Report: Hurricane Katrina Disaster Debris Management – Lessons Learned from State and Local Governments

Hurricane Sandy Resources

• NIEHS Hurricane Sandy Response Report(11.2 MB)