Group helps battle mold

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Group helps battle mold

Hands On Gulf Coast uses tested method

Biloxi Sun Herald - MS*

By MEGHA SATYANARAYANA

megha@...

http://www.sunherald.com/201/story/321081.html

After Hurricane Katrina nearly submerged his daughter's home, Bay

St. Louis resident Armand Douroux dealt with long waits for a FEMA

trailer and then a Katrina cottage. But he had another surprise

waiting for him in the A-frame house the storm inundated - mold.

This fall, he began the process of rebuilding, helped in part by

Hands On Gulf Coast, a local not-for-profit organization rebuilding

the Coast with help from volunteers from all over the U.S.

After their experiences cleaning up moldy houses, said a

Winslow, mold outreach coordinator, the organization realized there

had to be a better way of quickly and economically getting rid of

the ugly mold and its tiny spores.

" Post-Katrina, a lot of people didn't think mold was an issue.

People are just now realizing it, " she said.

Some of their clients have reported feeling ill. And even though

they can't definitely prove mold is what is causing some of her

clients to feel sick, its presence alone affects the psyche, she

said.

" Just from what we've seen and what we've come in contact with, it's

scary, " she said.

They started testing different methods to figure out which would

work best.

They tested four ways of cleaning, creating a report called

the " Hope VI Study " after its testing ground, an East Biloxi

development slated to open the week before Katrina.

Their preferred method is to scrape down the mold, allow it to

settle and then vacuum it. After that, they treat surfaces with an

ammonia-based cleaner and then seal the surfaces to keep them clean.

Douroux said it was a godsend. When the water subsided, said

Douroux, the house was vacant for a while. Then the tearout began.

" You could smell it, you see it, everything, " he said. After he

applied for help with Volunteers of America, Hands On Gulf Coast

contacted him and the cleanup began, led in part by a group of

volunteers he calls " The Care Bears. "

Douroux is now in a Katrina cottage on the property. In the gutted

remains of the home, contractors are slowly starting the rebuild,

first raising the house on pillars.

Hands On's mold-remediation project is funded through AmeriCorps and

the Environmental Protection Agency, said Winslow.