Public menace: Flooded homes plagued by major mold issues

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July 14, 2007

Public menace: Flooded homes plagued by major mold issues

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_5629073,00\

..html

By Hines/Times Record News

The city of Wichita Falls has set up a hotline to deal with building questions.

It is 761-8852

Mold made it hard for Virginia to breathe, but it was the condition of

her childhood home that took her breath away Friday.

The self-described " senior citizen " now living in East Texas got her first

glimpse of the home on Woods Street that morning.

" I was devastated, " she said, standing on a porch with water-logged, discolored

belongings clumped about like an ill-conceived yard sale.

It didn't help that mold had grown on just about every surface, from pictures

once owned by her mother to knickknacks now coated with pea-green film. Behind a

white breathing mask, demonstrated the mold's effects on her allergies

with a brief chuckle and coarse snort.

" We knew there would be mold, " she said. " We just didn't know it would be this

bad. "

Mold has become a major worry for home and business owners. Just about every

home affected by recent flooding has mold, said Bobby Teague, building and code

administrator for the city. He has looked at 20-25 homes and found mold in all

of them.

" It's a big problem. It's prevalent in every house already, " he said. " The

houses that haven't been opened to dry out - (mold) is everywhere. "

's precautions made sense in light of the potential hazards posed by the

fungi.

The Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health District has already distributed

information packets about the need to rid homes of mold. After two days, mold

can grow without being visible. Children and the elderly are being encouraged to

stay away from cleanup areas.

One mold in particular, Stachybotrys chartarum or " black mold, " grows well in

material such as straw, paper and fiber board. It can produce toxins, and some

folks who are sensitive to molds can fall victim to nasal stuffiness, eye

irritation or skin irritation. Some people may have more severe reactions,

according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Already, more than a dozen houses in the Tanglewood addition of West Wichita

Falls have been found with mold problems. Four homes near Lucy Park were

affected, and 80 homes on the east side of the city have been found with mold.

" The whole spectrum, from a few little spots to the whole thing just covered, "

Teague said of what he'd seen.

Precautions were already being taken on the east side of Wichita Falls.

Ralph is the unit commander for the disaster response team from the

Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo. He said the real problems come once the

mold dries and becomes airborne. Mold hasn't been much of an issue healthwise,

yet.

" We have some very good masks, " he said.

Reporter Hines can be reached at (940) 720-3456 or by e-mail at

HinesM(at)TimesRecordNews.com.

Copyright 2007, Times Record News. .