Six days after Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc in southwestern Florida, a team of mold remediators walked through a house in Naples. Even though the walls were painted in bright yellows and palm greens, there was no sign that the home had been flooded.
The baseboards were swollen. There was a small patch of mold in one shoe.
The mold will cover everything if you don't act immediately.
Mr. Zuluaga has worked as a mold remediator in South Florida for 20 years.
The remediators are getting ready to work. By the end of the day, they would remove the baseboards, pull up the hardwood flooring and cut out the drywall.
One of the most devastating, long-term and hidden costs of America's changing climate is mold.
The extent of America's mold problem is difficult to assess, but there is consensus that climate change and more intense heat, rain and flooding are heightening the risk. There isn't a lot of publicly available data about mold rates, but there is a lot of scientific data that shows mold poses a serious health risk.
Sign up for the Climate Forward newsletter Your must-read guide to the climate crisis.The Federal Emergency Management Agency expanded their disaster aid to cover mold growth. The program has paid out more than $150 million to 95,000 households since it began.
Four states and the District of Columbia don't require licenses for mold remediators. There is a state called Florida. In order to prevent conflicts of interest, mold remediators are not allowed to inspect and then clean the same property. Property owners have less regulatory assurances in the majority of states.
Hurricanes are a thing in Florida. In May, months before it was known that one of the most powerful storms in the recent history of the United States would destroy large parts of his state, Mr. When the power goes out, they prepared portable generators and fuel to power his collection of fans and dehumidifiers.
He got 140 calls in the first 24 hours. A desperate homeowner in Naples called while sitting on top of their bed surrounded by flood water. It has been continuous.
Immediate action is needed for mold removal. The clock begins when the rains stop. It can be done in 24 hours. It's too late by the 72 hours. Any saturated porous or semi-porous surface that hasn't been treated has to go.
Mr. Zualaga said that the ghosts of his past storms are an ever present memory. The most expensive storm to hit the United States at the time was Hurricane Hugo, which wreaked havoc in the Caribbean before hitting Charleston, S.C.
He was a high school student in Puerto Rico. He and his family were without water and electricity. He said he was fortunate to have experienced it. It gives me an idea of what's going on.
Even the cleanest homes have mold or fungi. They are suspended in the air. There is a difference between a healthy home and a tear out.
There is strong evidence linking mold to respiratory problems. People with long-term exposure to high levels of mold are more likely to have problems.
There is a question as to whether there is a correlation between mold exposure and neurological damage. Karen Dannemiller is an associate professor at The Ohio State University who studies indoor air quality.
Her research shows that the immune response can be stimulated by higher humidity. She said that mold is a big issue.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, climate change is causing an increase in the intensity and range of wet weather events. C.D.C. found that many of the homes they inspected had visible mold growth. The National Center for Environmental Health asked about mold the most.
Even without a storm, mold can grow in Florida. During a storm, if the power goes out and the air-conditioning stops working, there is a formula for massive mold growth.
After Hurricane Andrew, Florida adopted some of the nation's more strict building codes. Many old homes weren't built with modern conditions in mind.
Hurricane Ian made a second landfall near Charleston, South Carolina, which has been hit many times by intense storms. The immunologist at the College of Charleston has survived a number of hurricanes. Her home was flooded and she suspected mold because of her scientific background.
She took a sledgehammer and found mold in the attic. The house was torn down.
She saidMold is a tragedy. We allow kids to sleep in bedrooms with toxic mold because it wouldn't be acceptable for them to breathe chemicals from tailpipes.
It may be worse for low-income people. Poor quality housing can cause them to suffer the effects of mold. Tenants may be hesitant to approach a landlord about issues like mold in their housing if they fear eviction.
It can cost a lot to fix mold. Standard homeowners' insurers do not usually cover mold damage.
The coverage for mold damage may be capped even if you have a mold specific rider. The limit in Florida is ten thousand dollars. Even if you have more flood insurance, mold won't be covered. In the Florida counties where people were told to leave, only a small percentage of homes had flood insurance.
The Naples home is a great example of a good case study. The team removed anything that made contact with floodwater after assessing the damage to the house. The house will be ready to be rebuilt after the remediators clean the structure and other surfaces.
If a property has been left to sit and the mold has spread through the walls, the house may have to be torn down to make room for a frame.
A 160,000- square-foot furniture showroom and warehouse was inspected by Mr. Zuluaga and his team on Tuesday. The smell was overwhelming They found that some of the wooden tiles were showing signs of mold. There is an estimated $5 million of furniture in the warehouse.
The next three years would be tied up by work from Hurricane Ian. There was nothing left to do. After completing their inspection, he and his team moved to another place.
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