Army Veteran Sets Fire Outside NYC's ICE Building, FBI Says He Was Willing to Kill

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After a flash flood near my town, the county issued a boil water advisory that lasted nine days. Nine days of boiling every drop of water before drinking, cooking, or brushing teeth. The flood itself was over in hours. The water contamination lingered for over a week. Flood water doesn't just damage property. It contaminates the systems that make your tap water safe.

Here's what I've got today:

Safe Water After a Flood

We've covered water purification (Issue 22), storage (Issues 3, 39), and sourcing (Issue 57). This week addresses the specific scenario when floodwater contaminates your water supply, whether that's a municipal system, a private well, or your stored water.

Floodwater is among the most contaminated water you'll encounter. It carries sewage, agricultural runoff, industrial chemicals, fuel, pesticides, and biological pathogens. When it enters your well, your pipes, or contacts your water storage containers, everything it touches becomes suspect.

Municipal water during a flood advisory: follow your utility's instructions exactly. Boil water advisories mean bringing water to a rolling boil for 1 minute (3 minutes above 6,500 feet). "Do not use" advisories mean the water contains chemicals that boiling won't remove. Use stored water or bottled water only.

Private wells after flooding require testing before the water is considered safe. Floodwater can enter the wellhead and contaminate the entire system. After the flood recedes: do not drink the water until tested. Disinfect the well using the "shock chlorination" method (your county Extension office has specific instructions for your well type). Pump the well until you no longer smell chlorine. Test for bacteria, nitrates, and any contaminants common to your area. Only resume drinking when the test returns clean.

Stored water that contacted floodwater is compromised. Inspect all containers. If floodwater reached the seals, discard the water and sanitize the containers with a bleach solution (1 tablespoon bleach per gallon of clean water, let stand 30 minutes, rinse). Refill with clean water.

Your water filter handles biological contaminants but may not handle chemical contamination from flood runoff. Activated carbon filters (like a Berkey) remove many chemicals. Standard hollow-fiber filters (Sawyer, LifeStraw) do not. Know what your filter removes and what it doesn't.

The practical takeaway: after any flood event, treat all water as suspect until verified. Your stored clean water is your first source. Your filter is your second. Testing and verification is required before returning to tap or well water.

Verify that you know how to issue a boil water procedure in your home.

Can you bring water to a rolling boil using your backup cooking method? Do you have enough stored water for 3 days without tap water? If the answer to either is no, address the gap.

EPA Releases $2.9 Billion for Lead Pipe Replacement Nationwide

On May 20, the EPA distributed nearly $2.9 billion through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to states for finding, planning, and replacing lead service lines, the pipes that carry water into homes. Roughly 4 million lead service lines remain in use nationwide, down from an earlier estimate of 9 million. Municipal water systems, especially older ones, aren't just vulnerable to flood contamination. Aging lead pipe still delivers a share of America's daily tap water, and lead exposure has no safe threshold, especially for children. If your home was built before 1986, check with your utility on whether your service line has been tested or replaced.

Source: EPA, WaterWorld

Mykel Hawke's Hawke's Green Beret Survival Manual (about $20, paperback) covers water safety in contaminated environments extensively. His military experience included operating in regions where all water sources were assumed contaminated until verified. The principle: never drink water you haven't treated or tested, regardless of how clear it looks. Pathogens, chemicals, and heavy metals are invisible.

Hawke's post-flood protocol: assume contamination. Use stored water first. Filter and treat any environmental water through multiple methods (filter plus chemical treatment or boiling). Test well water before resuming use. The discipline of assuming contamination prevents the illness that comes from assuming safety.

Army Veteran Charged in Incendiary Attack on Manhattan's Federal Building

On July 20, Army veteran Andrew Arrabaca, 43, detonated fireworks, fired a BB rifle, and set fire to an entrance of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, which houses ICE offices, immigration courts, and thousands of federal employees. He carried axes, a machete, knives, and additional incendiary devices. FBI Assistant Director James Barnacle said Arrabaca "was targeting the building and he was okay if he hurt or killed people going in and out." Three people were injured, including a civilian attending an immigration hearing. He faces a mandatory minimum of 7 years, up to 40, on federal arson charges.

The takeaway is situational awareness: notice who's carrying unusual gear near a building entrance, and know your exit routes in public buildings you visit regularly.

Source: Department of Justice

Well Water Shock Chlorination Kit

After researching post-flood well disinfection, we assembled a kit: 1 gallon of unscented household bleach (5.25% to 8.25% sodium hypochlorite), a measuring cup, a garden hose for circulating chlorinated water through the system, and printed instructions specific to our well depth and casing diameter (calculated using our county Extension office's formula).

We haven't needed to use it for a real flood event, but we did a practice run during routine well maintenance. The process took about 2 hours of active work plus 12 hours of contact time. The well tested clean afterward. About $10 for the kit materials. If you'd rather not measure bleach by hand, a pre-made option like the WELL SAFE Well Sanitizer Kit bundles USDA food-grade sanitizer in pre-measured doses for the same job.

Budget alternative: Household bleach ($4) and the shock chlorination instructions from your county Extension office (free). That's all you technically need.

Overrated: Assuming your tap water is safe after a flood without verification. Municipal systems can be compromised for days after floodwaters recede. Boil water advisories are sometimes issued late. When in doubt, treat.

Underrated: Your county Extension office as a water safety resource. They provide free well testing guidance, shock chlorination instructions specific to your well, and local water quality information. One of the most useful free resources available.

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EPA: Private Drinking Water Wells: Federal guidance on well water safety, including after floods.

UGA Extension: Safe Well Water After a Flood: Step-by-step well recovery and shock chlorination guide.

CDC: Well Water Safety: Health guidance on private well contamination and testing.

USGS: Flood Information: Real-time flood data and historical comparisons.

Grokipedia: Flood: Background on flood types, effects, and recovery.

Noise and light discipline during disruptions. The operational security of keeping your preparedness invisible to the outside world.

PS: That nine-day boil water advisory affected about 12,000 households. The ones with stored water barely noticed. The ones without stored water boiled water for every glass, every meal, every tooth brushing for over a week. The difference was a few cases of bottled water and a filled bathtub. Simple preparation for a common post-flood reality.