New Mexico Fires and Gulf Coast Flooding Highlight an Active Disaster Season 

Two out-of-control fires in New Mexico and a tropical event flooding Texas and Mexico have killed at least six people and caused significant displacement, early in what threatens to be an active disaster season. Wildfires are already raging in California, with another large-scale blaze largely contained in Colorado. 
  
In New Mexico, the South Fork Fire and Salt Fire, which have grown over 23,000 acres with 0% containment thus far, have caused two known deaths, destroyed approximately 1,400 structures, and forced more than 8,000 people to evacuate. Compounding the problem, thunderstorms that began Wednesday afternoon led to flash flood warnings for areas that were newly burned. Roads have been closed, and communications systems across the affected area have been down, after public communications towers and essential power lines were destroyed by the blaze. 
 
Direct Relief has offered support to the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, local community health centers, and tribal contacts in the area. The organization received a request for emergency medical backpacks, used by first responders in the field to provide first aid and emergency medical care, and hygiene kits from the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s tribal liaison. 
  
Alberto, the first named weather event of 2024’s Atlantic hurricane season, was downgraded from storm status to a tropical depression, but it has proven deadly nonetheless, killing four people in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. The storm has dumped heavy rain on coastal Texas and northeastern Mexico, leading to severe flooding in several communities, and threatens to cause high storm surges, mudslides, and yet more rain. 
  
In response, Direct Relief reached out to community health centers and clinics along the southern coast of Texas to offer support, and is prepared to fill requests for medical aid in the days and weeks to come.
  
While media reports generally focus on the immediate impacts of natural disasters, the consequences to health are often indirect and emerge in the days and weeks after a wildfire or extreme weather event occurs. People separated from chronic disease medications or unable to power medical devices may experience rapid and severe deterioration. Displacement, which generally forces people to shelter together in facilities or close quarters, can cause outbreaks of infectious disease, which makes hygiene especially important. 
  
In addition, wildfires can cause respiratory and ocular issues, along with complications to existing conditions like heart disease and asthma. Like other disasters, they’re particularly hazardous to young children, older adults, and people with pre-existing medical conditions. Power outages are dangerous for people who use electronic medical devices or store temperature-specific medication. And flooding frequently exposes people to contaminated water, increasing the risk of tetanus or water-borne diseases. 
  
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with various experts, has predicted an “above-normal” hurricane season this year, with between 17 and 25 named storms expected to occur. And the New Mexico fires, which are occurring simultaneously with a nearly contained blaze in Colorado and several wildfires in California, likewise raise the specter of a worryingly active fire season.  
 
Earlier this week, in response to ongoing wildfires throughout California, Direct Relief offered support to the California Office of Emergency Services, state and regional primary care associations, and local health care providers in the areas near the Post, Point, and Sites Fires. On Tuesday, the organization dispatched a shipment of requested N95 masks and emergency hygiene kits to Alliance Medical Center in Sonoma County. As new requests are received, the organization will continue to expedite support. 
  
Direct Relief prepares for storm seasons far in advance, staging caches of medications and supplies throughout disaster-prone areas. The organization keeps its warehouse stocked with the medical aid most requested during and after wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and other extreme, but increasingly common, weather events. 
  
The organization will continue to keep in close contact with healthcare providers on the ground and meet medical needs as they arise.