A natural disaster can hit anywhere at anytime, and it can ravage any community in a matter of minutes. Once the storm has passes, it is up to community members and outside groups to help clean up the wreckage, and help rebuild the lives of the victims. If housing and public sanitation have been severely damaged, community members may quickly realize how important things like sanitation, running water, and clean living conditions are, and how much they may have taken these things for granted in the past. There are several steps that community groups, local citizens and disaster relief organizations can do to help people feel more normal in the wake of a tragedy.
Sanitation, hot water and general cleanliness are the last thing that people want to worry about when recovering from a natural disaster, but they are often the most in demand resources for victims. People will quickly begin looking for places that they can shower, wash their hands, and use the restroom, but they quickly realize that the structures that usually provided those resources may have been damaged or destroyed. Luckily, there are several portable options to provide these services to large groups of people. Between basic portable restrooms and hot water hand washing stations, to transportable shower facilities and laundry stations, there are ways that local communities can get their basic sanitation needs met almost anywhere.
Portable Restrooms
Renting porta potties is usually the first thing that needs to happen once the cleanup has begun. These facilities need to be readily available for workers and residents alike. Cleanup may take a long time, and restoring hot running water and sewer lines may take even longer for a ravaged community, and these restrooms will most likely be the most readily available and cost affective way to provide adequate facilities to everyone.
Hand Washing Stations
Keeping your hands clean and sanitary are more than likely a big priority for everyone involved in disaster relief. You will have people preparing food, taking care of children, helping clear debris, and trying to salvage any possessions that were spared. These people will all need a convenient place to thoroughly clean their hands. While hot water may be unavailable, portable hot water hand washing stations are perfect for picking up the slack. Hot water sinks simply need be plugged into a power source and filled with clean water. The sink can then heat up the water to be used anywhere that electricity is available. Sinks can be placed at food distribution centers, emergency shelters, or anywhere else that clean, hot water is needed.
Shower Trailers
You will never understand how good a hot shower feels, until they are not readily available to you. In times of disaster, it can be difficult to find a place to shower every day. To help out with this, shower trailers can be a great help in providing basic hygiene care to large groups of people. These trailers can range in size to provide hot water to the masses, or just a few people. Either way, they can be transported anywhere there is power, to give a little dignity back to a struggling community.
Doing the Laundry
In the middle of a crisis, dirty laundry will continue to pile up throughout the process. Luckily Tide has come up with its Tide Loads of Hope program has partnered with the American Red Cross, to supply mobile laundry mats to areas that have been affected by a disaster. The volunteers will wash, dry and fold clothes for local families that have greater things to worry about.
There are several ways to provide sanitary services to the communities that have been affected by a sudden disaster and make life a little more normal during the recovery. Restrooms, hot water, showers and clean clothes are just some of the basic needs that must be address during these times of crisis.
For more information about the Tide Loads of hope program visit their website http://www.tide.com/en-US/loads-of-hope/about.jspx. Also if you would like information about renting restrooms, sinks and shower trailers, please contact On Site Companies for more info about our offerings.
