Black mold invading hurricane damaged homes on Gulf Coast

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September 13, 2005

Black mold invading hurricane damaged homes on Gulf Coast

By Brad Crocker

The Mississippi Press

,MS

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20050913/NEWS0110/50913011/1260

PASCAGOULA — Nora Brown has been living with several family members,

including her eight grandchildren, in a flood-soaked home since

Hurricane Katrina hit the coast two weeks ago, but it's a new house

guest that's causing problems.

Black mold is growing inside her home and she says it has already

made one of her grandchildren sick.

Brown, like thousands of other Pascagoula residents, has water and

electricity and has opted to stay in her home. She also has no money

for contractors, who are scarce, to remove the mold growing in the

place she has called home for five years.

" Everything's just gone, it's gone. We have to start all over again

from day one. It's rough, " said Brown, 49, who's now worried about

her family's health.

One grandchild recently became ill possibly from exposure to mold,

Brown said. The child was taken to the hospital and has since

returned home.

Health officials are concerned about overexposure to black mold

resulting from hurricanes and the complications that arise for

people with asthma, allergies or other breathing conditions. Cancer

patients taking chemotherapy, and those who have received an organ

transplant are also susceptible to mold infections.

Brown has registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency

for financial assistance and temporary housing, but has not heard

about the status of her claim.

" We have nowhere else to go, " she said.

Across town, a stray dog adopted by Diamond's family frolics

around the property that received 2 feet of unprecedented flood

water in the Pinecrest subdivision.

Diamond's mother, Delois s, and his grandmother, Diamond,

were waiting for an insurance adjuster and a FEMA representative

because the five vehicles on the property were also claimed by

Hurricane Katrina.

They have been working on the sheet rock and pulling carpet to rid

the house of mold.

" We've been trying to get it out, " said s, pointing to mold

that caked underneath the tub and other areas. " People don't know it

can do that, " she said of the mold's growth.

s' father, C.T. Burkes, helped build Pinecrest around 50 years

ago, where residents are still in awe of the flood that Katrina

brought to south central part Pascagoula.

" You look around and there's damage everywhere, to everyone, " she

said. " You've got to save what's left. "