Water and Food After a Flood: What to Keep and What to Throw Away
Which food and water are safe after a flood or a long power outage: which packages to discard, how long the fridge and freezer hold, and how to make water safe.
Flood water carries mud, sewage, chemicals and fuel. Everything it touches is contaminated, even if it looks fine. This is a short guide to decide what to keep, based on the CDC.
The golden rule
Do not consume anything the flood water may have touched. And the second rule, repeated in every guide: when in doubt, throw it out. Something that smells, looks and tastes normal can still make you sick.
What to throw away, no exceptions
- Food in containers with screw caps, snap lids, twist caps, flip tops or crimped caps that touched the water, because they cannot be disinfected well.
- Food in plastic, cardboard or cloth or similar wrappers that got wet: juice and milk cartons, infant formula, cereal, crackers.
- Home-canned food in jars that touched the water.
- Dented or swollen cans.
- Medicines and cosmetics that were not in sealed containers and got wet.
What can be saved
Sealed, undamaged cans can be saved if the water touched them: remove the label, wash them and sanitize them following the CDC's instructions. Write the contents on the can with a marker before removing the label so you do not mix things up later.
If the power went out
- The fridge keeps cold for about 4 hours if you do not open it. After that, discard perishables (meat, poultry, fish, dairy, leftovers) that were above 4 °C (40 °F) for 4 hours or more.
- A full, closed freezer holds for about 48 hours; half full, about 24.
- If thawed food still has ice crystals, it can be cooked or refrozen.
Safe water
After a flood the tap water may not be safe. Use bottled, boiled or treated water to drink, cook, wash dishes, brush teeth and prepare formula. If you have no bottled water, the CDC recommends boiling at a rolling boil for one minute (three above about 6,500 feet); here is how to make water safe at home. Wash your hands with safe water and soap before eating and after cleaning up. For babies, use ready-to-feed formula that needs no water, if you can.
What you should do beforehand
- Move food off the floor. High shelves and sealed containers protect far better than low ones.
- Keep a reserve that needs no refrigeration: cans, grains and dry food you can eat without cooking. Here is the food per person guide and what to do with food during a power outage.
- Store enough water for three days at a minimum.
After you throw things out
When you have to throw food away, remove it from your inventory too. In Despendo you can delete the product or adjust the quantity, and your days of autonomy are recalculated so you can see what to replace first.
Sources and further reading
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