“Minutes become enemies, and letting two or three pass is too many. So when she forgets to leave her rescue inhaler by her bed, she gropes and crawls down the stairs to find it. It’s the sort of thing that no one would consider ordinary — unless you’ve been living in the industrial suburbs south of downtown Detroit a long time. Then it passes for routine.” Flint is far from Michigan’s only disaster. And it’s not just about water. In many cities in the state, and across the country, breathing is a high risk activity. From Newsweek: Choking To Death In Detroit.