These Areas in Florida Should Boil Their Water After Irma

Hurricane Irma began its rampage across Florida on Sunday, causing widespread destruction, floods, and power outages. The storm has now weakened to a Category 1, five days after it hit the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda at a Category 5, but hit areas are still not safe. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has warned that home fires, electrocution, gas explosions, and carbon monoxide are four deadly hazards that residents should be aware of. But a number of counties across Florida have also warned that water supplies could be infected. Here are those that have been issued mandatory boiling notices: Brevard County Residents served by the Cocoa Utilities Department were issued a boil water notice on Monday due to “multiple breaks within the system.” It affects the entire Cocoa Utility Water System including Patrick Air Force Base, Kennedy Space Center, Port Canaveral, Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island, Cocoa, Port St. John, Rockledge and Viera. The company advised that the water is safe for bathing and laundering but that all water for consumption should be boiled for at least one minute or that people should use bottled water. They added that if power is unavailable, residents can disinfect tap water by adding eight drops of unscented household bleach to each gallon of water and leaving it to stand for 30 minutes; 16 drops should be added to cloudy water. The order will be in place for at least two days. Cocoa Utilities are also asking r...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized brevard county broward county collier county Florida Hollywood hurricane irma lee county onetime Source Type: news