Mold seeping into flood victim's home, lungs

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Mold seeping into flood victim's home, lungs

KOMO Seattle*

By KOMO Staff

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http://www.komonews.com/news/local/27510939.html

LEWIS COUNTY, Wash. -- Heavy flooding battered Centralia months ago,

but problems are still popping up.

The disaster has cost one woman her home and her health. Fierce

floodwaters forced Pam Riley to leave her trailer home.

" My house was still standing but it was a mess, " she said. " The

water was up to the second step. "

The floodwaters have long since receded, but trouble has remained.

" I got mold coming up through my drains and clogging my drains, "

said Riley.

Mold now seeps from ceilings and contaminates carpeting. Walls are

warped and the floor is weak. There's even one room Riley is too

afraid to enter.

" It's been months since I've opened it, " she said. But she knows the

mold is crawling up the wall.

After the 2007 flooding, the Federal Emergency Management Agency

gave Riley $9,000 to fix her heat pump and house, but the money came

after the mold.

" It's gotten into my bed mattress. It's gotten into my lungs, " said

Riley.

The Wal-Mart cashier says she's now too sick to work and too broke

to move.

County Long Term Recovery Agency said it plans to replace

Riley's trailer, but she's been waiting since May.

The problem isn't finding a new trailer home; it's finding

volunteers qualified to dismantle and dispose of Riley's moldy

trailer.

Sharon Goble, the agency's executive director, says her relief

agency is short on cash and still long on local folks needing

assistance.

" We're willing to give to new disasters but have to remember there's

old disasters still out there, " she said.

Riley, meantime, is hoping help hasn't dried up with the flood.

Anyone who is qualified to clear Riley's troubled trailer from her

property is urged to contact the County Long-Term Recovery

Agency.