Residents break out in rashes after Ohio train derailment

(NewsNation) — A woman who was forced to evacuate her home due to the train derailment in Ohio now has a rash on her body.

It’s been two weeks since the train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, and toxins were released into the air.

After being evacuated, Katlyn Schwarzwaelder and her boyfriend Chris went back home. Schwarzwaelder told NewsNation she broke out in a rash almost instantly.

“I undressed to get into the shower, and I had a rash all over the side of my face on both sides and all over my chest,” Schwarzwaelder said. The rash is all over her face, neck and chest. 

“My boyfriend Chris also had a rash on his left side, and I mean to this moment, right now, I have just a really low-grade constant headache,” Schwarzwaelder added.

The couple live nearly a mile from the train derailment site, where Norfolk Southern released the toxins into the air two weeks ago. Their issues clearly persist.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Friday evening that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will deploy federal resources to the site of the derailment after the agency said earlier this week that the it had deemed the state ineligible.

However, some people in the surrounding area, who live just over the state line in Pennsylvania, say they’re forgotten.

“My wife is 37 weeks pregnant this Friday, and she’s going to be induced,” said Sam Wenger, a Pennsylvania resident forced to evacuate. “It’s all a little scary, because we can’t drink the water. Unable to get our water tested because we’re not a priority as of now. I don’t know what my newborn son is going to come home to.”

John and Julie Kent fear the future of their horse sanctuary could be in jeopardy as well.

“There were flames, roughly a couple hundred feet into the sky. There was a black smoke cloud, and it was going over the horses. … It was probably like no more than 10 feet above their heads,” John Kent said.

Julie Kent added that this entire experience has led her to feel “that money matters more than humanity.”

While DeWine and other officials have said repeatedly that the air and water is safe, it’s clear that some of the toxins have taken hold. 

NewsNation has asked Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw for an interview repeatedly, and the network has sent a producer to their headquarters. NewsNation has yet to hear back.