(Photo: AP)
Floodwaters have not yet receded from many parts of the Northeast after Sandy's inundation. Those waters are often quite polluted, and people's health will depend on public understanding of the threat. Here are some resources for journalists to use in covering it.
"Federal regulators have announced the results of a September inspection blitz targeting 13 coal mines in seven states 'previously cited for violations regarding respirable dust sampling ... inadequate dust control ... and hazard complaints' involving excessive coal dust."
"The images of a paralysed New York City at the mercy of Hurricane Sandy's wall of water have forced climate change on to the political agenda in the final week of the 2012 presidential election campaign."
"Scores of supporters turned up to Mitt Romney's rally-turned-storm relief event in Ohio Monday with supplies to donate to survivors of Superstorm Sandy, but the candidate's campaign was prepared with supplies of their own in case people arrived empty handed."
"BRIGANTINE, N.J. — President Barack Obama inspected the devastation from Sandy on Wednesday, flying high over flooded neighborhoods, sand-strewn streets and a burning fire that charred homes along the New Jersey coastline."
"PARIS — The hammer blow dealt to New York by superstorm Sandy should raise the alarm for coastal mega-cities in Asia which are more exposed but less equipped to deal with such threats, experts said on Tuesday."
"SANTA TERESA, N.M. -- An unknown hazardous material sickened about 200 people Tuesday just northwest of El Paso, Texas, as some workers in the industrial area where the substance released described feeling a burning sensation on their skin, according to New Mexico authorities."
"TEXAS CITY — A fire at BP's Texas City refinery sent a large plume of black smoke over the industrial sector of the city. The fire broke out at about 1:30 p.m. and was out by 3:05 p.m., BP officials said."
"A couple of weeks ago, Munich Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance firms, issued a study titled 'Severe Weather in North America.' According to the press release that accompanied the report, 'Nowhere in the world is the rising number of natural catastrophes more evident than in North America.' The number of what Munich Re refers to as 'weather-related loss events,' and what the rest of us would probably call weather-related disasters, has quintupled over the last three decades."
