Texans in Harvey's path will face health risks from mold, insects, and bacteria for months to come by Erin Brodwin and Lydia Ramsey on Sep 1, 2017, 11:33 AM Advertisement
 Tropical Storm Harvey may be on the move — but its after-effects are just beginning to be realized. In under a week, the storm unleashed as much as 51 inches of water in some areas, causing catastrophic flooding that displaced 33,000 Texans. At least 41 people have died since the storm began, and officials expect the toll to rise. People in flooded areas quickly found themselves face-to-face with a range of health problems, including contaminated floodwaters and the threat of injury. Although the skies have begun to clear, the problems are far from over. See what people in affected areas are up against for the next several months: SEE ALSO: Health officials are warning Texans to stay out of Harvey floodwaters for a disturbing reason DON'T MISS: Heartbreaking photos show Houston's devastating flooding from the sky Mosquitoes gather near standing floodwaters, spreading infection.  While the storm wiped out mosquitoes from the area for now, the standing water left over from the flooding and the warm temperatures will make parts of Texas particularly prone to mosquitoes and the diseases they can carry in the coming months and year. "As the floodwaters recede, you’re left with pockets of water which are good for breeding both Culex mosquitoes and Aedes mosquitoes," Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told The Atlantic. That could lead to more West Nile infections, and possibly Zika. Texas has seen some local transmission of Zika in Brownsville, Texas near the Mexico border.
Chemical plants sent offline by the storm explode or burn, releasing harmful pollutants.  Explosions rocked the outskirts of Houston on Thursday at the Arkema chemical plant after flooding shut down its power and backup generators, which had been keeping explosive compounds cool via a refrigeration system. When the refrigerators went offline, the compounds got warm and exploded. Officials said they plan to let the fire burn out, meaning more blasts are likely. But Arkema is just one of hundreds of chemical plants in the Houston area, many of which have been flooded and are now at risk of further damage.
Shuttered oil refineries release toxic chemicals as a stop-gap disposal method.  In addition to slamming homes and hospitals, Harvey struck the heart of Texas' refining industry, where roughly a third of America's oil is processed. In anticipation of the storm, dozens of processing facilities were forced to intentionally burn chemicals as a means of disposing them, releasing millions of pounds of pollutants into the air. Chevron Phillips, the company that reported the largest release, burned close to 800,000 pounds of chemicals — nearly 300,000 of which were the colorless, odorless, and potentially deadly gas carbon monoxide — as it shut down its plant to prepare for the storm.
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