In The Event A Disaster Strikes Your Community, Here's How You Can Protect Your Health

In The Event A Disaster Strikes Your Community, Here's How You Can Protect Your Health

In The Event A Disaster Strikes Your Community, Here's How You Can Protect Your Health This story was originally published by Grist . Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here . This is part of the Disaster 101 toolkit , a comprehensive guide to extreme weather preparation, response, and recovery. ‍ Jesse Merrick was living in Alabama in 2017 when the Thomas Fire swallowed up his mother’s house in Southern California. Merrick, then a healthy sportscaster in his 20s, was on the next plane to help her salvage what was left of their belongings. Weeks later, back at home, he started feeling weak, tired, and feverish. Then his body started to hurt. It felt like he had been whacked all over with a baseball bat. When he put his feet on the ground, it felt like he was stepping on knives. Merrick’s doctors in Alabama tested him for every disease under the sun and pumped him full of antibiotics, but he just got sicker.   A month into Merrick’s inexplicable illness, his doctors X-rayed his chest an…