As for the river water and mud being "toxic" that's only part true.
There was and is harmful bacteria in the soil, but there is always harmful bacteria in soil, specifically the bacterium that causes Tetanus. There would have been e. coli in the soil but it doesn't live in dry soil for long so once it dries out and especially once the winter comes and goes, the threat from the soil contamination will plummet back to the same baseline threat that's always present in normal soil.
People have fertilized their fields with e. coli since the dawn of agriculture and live in houses surrounded by those fields.
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