A biological nightmare festers

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Hurricane Katrina

A biological nightmare festers

Draining the city will take 36-80 days. The longer the water sits,

the worse the chemical contamination becomes.

By MATTHEW WAITE, Times Staff Writer

Published September 4, 2005

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/04/Worldandnation/A_biological_nightma

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Hidden in the waters drowning New Orleans are things experts never

thought would float inside a house for a month.

There isn't a lot of research on what happens when carpet, drywall

and kitchen cabinets sit under clean water for weeks. Add sewage,

gasoline, pesticides and toxic chemicals, and " it's a slowly

developing enormous problem. " said W. La Point, a professor

of biological sciences and water quality expert at the University of

North Texas.

Before rescue officals can even get everyone out of the flooded

areas of New Orleans, the unimagined difficulty of fixing the city

is starting to set in. Some, including Speaker of the House Dennis

Hastert of Illinois, are wondering if it can even happen. If it

does, the reconstruction will be massive and cost billions.

" There may be decisions to be made as to whether large areas of the

city can or should be rebuilt, " said Ed Pasterick, a FEMA specialist.

The problems in rebuilding cascade, starting with the water.

The latest estimate from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: 36 to 80

days to drain the city.

The longer the water sits, the worse the chemical contamination

becomes, La Point said. Some substances - such as pesticide powder

packaged in cardboard boxes - already are in the water. More serious

toxins, such as those used in industrial processes, will stay sealed

for a while. But eventually water will rot and rust those

containers, too.

The chemicals will bond to sediments in the water and turn into muck

in the streets, creating hazardous mud needing specialized

environmental cleanup and disposal sites, La Point said.

" The streets are going to be pretty grossly polluted until this muck

is cleaned out, " La Point said.

Then there is the mold and wood rot growing in flooded buildings.

" It's going to be incredible, " said Doug Rice, a mold expert and

director of Colorado State University's Environmental Quality

Laboratory. " We're going to have quite the lab experiment going on

there. "

Given the conditions in New Orleans now, mold likely has started to

grow already.

A lack of humidity control is critical, Rice said. Without air

conditioning, the steamy conditions are right for mold growth, from

the houses in the neigborhoods to the high-up floors of hotels.

" If they don't have electricity for two months, or three months,

that's going to be a problem, " he said.

Rice has studied areas damaged by hurricanes for over a decade. The

closest comparison Rice can think of is Hurricane Floyd in 1999,

which left parts of North Carolina under water for weeks. The mold

growth after that storm, Rice said, was " incredible. "

New Orleans will be worse.

Healthy people without allergies won't notice some mold in their

house. Allergic people will react badly to small amounts. Everyone

can be affected by high levels of mold.

Given the right conditions, mold turns toxic, Rice said. Health

effects then turn serious - respiratory distress, memory loss, lost

use of senses.

And, Rice said, most insurers no longer cover mold under homeowners

policies.

Mold can be cleaned up, he said, even in large amounts. But it will

take time - optimistically, Rice said estimated eight months to a

year.

Wood rot is harder to predict.

Denis , an associate professor of architecture at the

University of Miami and Mike O'Reilly, a professor of structural

engineering at Colorado State University, both have studied houses

following hurricanes. They said just because a house is underwater

doesn't necessarily mean it will have to be razed.

Wood rot occurs when the material is subjected to repeated wet-dry

cycles. Wood completely submerged won't rot because necessary

organisms need air. Dry wood won't rot because there is no water.

" What I would be worried about is the two to three inches around the

surface, above and below, " O'Reilly said. " That's where the rot is

going to occur. "

If the house has been opened up to the elements - windows blown out

or broken, doors open - the wood will dry out naturally when the

water is drained out of the city, O'Reilly said. If the house stayed

closed up, the wood won't dry and will rot.

" It's sounds kind of simplistic, but if the building hasn't had

major structural damage . . . it's just a matter of letting it dry

out, " he said.

Homes flooded by rising water - as opposed to rushing water which

does serious structural damage - could be saved.

" It's the interiors that will be damaged the most, " said. " I

wouldn't assume you'd have to knock it all down. I would like to see

the water recede before we decide that. "