Flooding: More than Just Water Damage:
Assessing Methods of Mold Remediation and the Need for Urgent Remediation
Introduction:
In the floods of 2008 of Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, 1,400 homes were destroyed and caused about 750 million dollars in damage (1). When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, over 15 million people were affected and it caused 110 billion dollars in damage, the majority of the cost was directly the result of flood damage (2). Of these homes, approximately 46 percent had mold damage. 17 percent were considered to be heavily contaminated (3). The costs of these floods has been increasing each year as the population and development grows.
Flooding can cost families a great deal, however, the costs go beyond just property damages. Flooding creates the perfect conditions for growth of mold (warm, moist environments on nutrient rich wallboard or furniture). The resulting mold infestation can lead to medical problems that compound a family’s cost. Common symptoms from mold exposure range from non-specific symptoms (i.e. runny nose, watery eyes and cough) to greater respiratory issues (exacerbation of allergies and asthma, along with respiratory infections (4). Even worse, for those that are immunocompromised (children, elderly, HIV/AIDS, etc.) exposure of mold can lead to severe systemic infections (5).
Once mold begins to grow, it proliferates quickly; visible growth can begin in as little as 24 hours in perfect conditions. To most cost effectively curb cost of damage (both to homes and to health), mold infestations must be quickly remediated (3). Without rapid and complete mold remediation, the mold in flooded homes will spread and go deeper into the structure of thes...
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In the late summer of 2005, a terrible tragedy occurred that changed the lives of many in the south-east region of the United States. A Category 3, named storm, named Hurricane Katrina, hit the Gulf Coast on the 29th of August and led to the death of 1,836 and millions of dollars’ worth of damage (Waple 2005). The majority of the damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana. Waple writes in her article that winds “gusted over 100 mph in New Orleans, just west of the eye” (Waple 2005). Not only was the majority of the damage due to the direct catastrophes of the storm but also city’s levees could no longer hold thus breaking and releasing great masses of water. Approximately, 80% of the city was submerged at sea level. Despite the vast amount of damage and danger all throughout the city, officials claimed that there was work being done to restore the city of New Orleans as a whole but many parts, and even the people, of the city were overlooked while areas of the city with higher economic value, and more tourist traffic, were prioritized along with those individuals.
There were a lot of items lost in the flood. Even trucks, cars, and even airplanes. This hurricane has been up to 50 inches of rain. The resulting floods inundated hundreds of thousands of homes, displaced more than 30,000 people, and caused more than 17,000 deaths. Losses are estimated between 70 and 190 billion dollars.
For medical care, no treatment is needed for those who are asymptomatic, just monitoring for mild symptoms (2). For those who cannot fight the disease as easily as the majority, there are an array of treatments available. To start, blood cultures should be performed in all patients, and sputum cultures should be taken for those with chronic histoplasmosis (2). Chest radiology would be preferred for individuals with acute pulmonary histoplasmosis, steroids and possible laser treatment for ocular histoplasmosis, and CT scans for those with cerebral histoplasmosis (2). With prolonged symptoms of more than 4 weeks, medical therapy via itraconazole is recommended for 6-12 weeks, followed by chest imaging (2). Bronchiectasis caused by the microbe is treated with either a bronchoscopy or surgical removal (3). Phrenological treatments to histoplasmosis include amphorcetericin B, ketoconazole, itraconazole, and fluconazole (3). Currently, antifungal agents are being developed to offer alternative treatment (3). To successfully survive as a pathogen, the virus must change itself on a micro level to survive changing conditions, macrophages, and other threats to the fungi’s reproduction (4). Being able to go from an environmental mold to an intercellular yeast is extremely useful for a microbe in an ecosystem that fights for control of those it infects (4). These advantages present within histoplasmosis are what keeps it as a cause of respiratory and systemic disease in mammals (4). There are plenty of treatments available to accommodate all forms of histoplasmosis, making it a microbe that is very simple to cure, despite how hard it tries to
Van Heerden, Ivor Ll. "The Failure of the New Orleans Levee System Following Hurricane Katrina and the Pathway Forward." Public Administration Review, 67.6 (2007): 24-35.
According to Hurricane Katrina At Issue Disasters, economic damages from Hurricane Katrina have been estimated at more than $200 billion… More than a million people were displaced by the storm… An estimated 120,000 homes were abandoned and will probably be destroyed in Louisiana alone (At * Issue). For this perspective, “Hurricane Katrina change the Gulf Coast landscape and face of its culture when it hit in 2005” (Rushton). A disaster like Katrina is something the victims are always going to remember, for the ones the lost everything including their love ones. Katrina became a nightmare for all the people that were surround in the contaminated waters in the city of New Orleans. People were waiting to be rescue for days,
United States Enviromental Protection Agency. (2010, September 30). Retrieved January 13, 2011, from Mold and Moisture: http://www.epa.gov/mold/
On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast of the United States. The storm was measured as a category three hurricane which had reached winds of approximately one hundred and forty miles per hour. The storm had initially measured almost four hundred miles across affecting the areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Of these three affected areas, Louisiana contained the largest amount of damage; however, one city in particular suffered the greatest damage and was the primary focus of this disaster. That was the city of New Orleans. The city of New Orleans was at an incredibly high risk for a few reasons. One reason was that New Orleans was surrounded by significant bodies of water. Each of these bodies of water had contained levees that were built in the twentieth century, where some were stronger than others. Those levees that were not built properly held the greatest risk of being breached and causing treacherous flooding as well. Another factor included New Orleans being located below sea level, which had included the “city’s poorest and most vulnerable pe...
Mold is something that we often take for granted, as something that makes us have to throw the bread away or the cheese smell bad.
Thomas, C., Hilton, H., Sieger, M., Gajilan, A., Burger, T. J., Roston, E., & Walker, D. (2005). NEW ORLEANS IT’S WORSE THAN YOU THINK. Time, 166(22), 30.
Fungi have been significant in both past and modern biotechnological processes (Bennett, 1998). After World War I, a traditional fungal biotechnology has begun and developed into yielding of enzymes, antibiotics, hormones, citric acids, vitamins, and fungicides (Demain, 2000). This list will continue expanding as we moved in this modern century. Fungi definitely bring lots of benefits in pharmaceutical and economic industries. For instance, pharmaceuticals and personal care products may introduce to the terrestrial environment with potential impacts on beneficial soil microbe populations (Hillis et al., 2008). We will discover more economic significant of utilization of fungi in biotechnology area.
On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina forced its way into New Orleans, Louisiana with winds of more than 140 mph. This storm was a strong category three when it hit New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina destroyed homes, businesses, and factories from the high winds and flooding. The devastation that the city suffered was terrible; many people lost family members young and old and also their most prized possessions. Most of all it displaced families and caused an abundance of damage to properties. Due to the costly destruction that the city of New Orleans faced after Katrina, they must now find a way to alleviate the blighted properties from their environment and also face the challenges.
Some of the damage done by Hurricane Katrina could have potentially been avoided if protection systems were installed to the proper extents. In Louisiana, “some parts of the metro area continue to lack hurricane protection built to federal standards” (Webster). Had the greater Louisiana area been better protected, it is very likely that more people would have survived and the total cost of the storm been less. Even in areas where levees...
Hurricanes are powerful and destructive storms that involve great rain and wind. The United States of America has dealt with many hurricanes that have cost a great amount of damage. However, there is one hurricane that happened in 2005 that stands out among the others, Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst hurricanes to hit the United States, a category 5 on the Saffir/Simpson Hurricane Scale. An estimated 1836 people died because of the hurricane and the floodings that happened after (Zimmermann 1). Katrina initially beg...
Fungi are eukaryotic organisms which are either single-celled or multi-cellular organisms, their DNA containing chromosomes are enclosed in a Nucleus inside their cells. Fungi cell structure is very similar to that of the plants however, Fungi do not perform photosynthesis. Fungi is often known to be a nuisance when found within a person’s house, whether on food, the walls or even the floor. People naturally find it disturbing and dirty, however there are good types of Fungi, often referred to as friendly fungi. In 1928 Penicillin, one of the most famous of antibiotic drugs was discovered having derived it from the fungi called Penicillium. This discovery has since has a huge impact on helping people across the globe. However, not all is it seems, there are some nasty fungi that can cause diseases in plants, animals and people. A famous one being Phytophthora infestans. This ...
The effects of poverty can affect a parent’s mental health that can directly impact children. Mental health problems that parents in poverty face can be related to the stress of not having enough money to care for the children. Other mental health problems, like depression, can als...