10/09/2024
How to protect yourself from mold after a storm/ hurricane damage.
Mold is one of the most serious results of water damage from a hurricane or severe floods. Mold can grow within 24 to 48 hours after water damage. It can keep growing until the correct measures are applied to stop it. Molds can be recognized by sights, such as wall or ceiling discoloration, and a bad odor or musty smell.
Who's most at-risk with mold exposure?
Returning to water-damaged homes after a disaster may pose serious health threats. This is especially true for people who already have pre-existing respiratory conditions, pregnant women, children, older adults, and people with diseases that compromise the immune system.
People with weakened immune systems can develop invasive mold infections days to weeks after exposure to fungi that live in the environment. People with a weakened immune system, especially people receiving treatment for cancer, people who have had an organ or stem cell transplant, and people taking medicines that suppress the immune system, should avoid cleaning up mold.
After the storm passes and you have water intrusion and damage.
The biggest concern with mold due to water damage in a house is the growth of black mold. Stachybotrys chartarum, as it’s known to scientists, is a micro fungus that occurs rarely in the wild. It instead prefers the cellulose building material of our homes! It often grows in damp areas or places that have suffered water damage. One common breeding ground for it is wallpaper, and you might find the whole wall behind your wallpaper has become infested with black mold.
The mold spores from black mold are harmful for people to breathe. The spores trigger a range of respiratory troubles, leading to coughing and wheezing and other symptoms of "sick building syndrome." The effects are especially pronounced and harmful in infants. Prolonged exposure can cause even more serious troubles, such as headache, vomiting, and bleeding in the lungs. If you notice a rise in these symptoms among the people in your home, you may have black mold growing somewhere out of sight.
“Black mold” or “toxic mold” is, most frequently, referring to one (or many) of the Stachybotrys, Chaetomium, Memoniella & Fusarium mold spore types. These molds are most commonly discovered attached to wet and decomposing building materials such as drywall and wood. Once disturbed it can be detected in the inside air; occasionally, it can be detected in the inside air without having been disturbed during air sampling. Visit us at: www.indoormicrobialspecialist.com or www.homeinspectorusa.biz
