[unable to retrieve full-text content]Chattanooga couple says condo complex won’t repair leaking roof causing mold and water damage  WRCB-TV

source https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/41699909/chattanooga-couple-says-condo-complex-wont-repair-leaking-roof-causing-mold-and-water-damage

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Experts warn of possible water damage after rain, major storms  WBTV

source https://www.wbtv.com/2020/02/13/experts-warn-possible-water-damage-after-rain-major-storms/

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School officials expected air quality testing at Homestead Elementary to wrap up on Thursday, with results expected in about two weeks.

Until then, a classroom where black mold spores were discovered earlier this month remains closed to students and faculty, though cleaning and remediation has already been completed.

“We are trying to do everything we can to put people’s mind at ease,” Kacee Harris, chief financial officer, said. “If there’s a problem there, we want to know about it. 

“It was almost an instant decision to say test the whole school. If it’s there anywhere, we’re going to find it and we’re going to get it out.”

The cost for the expanded testing is $6,600.

The classroom is one of the original structures of the historic school, referred to as a “cottage.” The cottage classrooms are self-contained and have independent HVAC units. 

Over the summer, a new HVAC unit was installed.

“It had floor damage, and we replaced all of that,” Harris said. “We knew there had been some moisture issues with the old HVAC units. Once we replaced those, we wanted to make sure everything was OK.”

GEOServices, LLC of Knoxville, conducted the Jan. 27 tests that included samples from seven classrooms and two comparison samples from outside the school. 

Only one classroom showed the presence of black mold spores. 

When the school system received the results Feb. 6, Harris said they contacted the company to arrange for schoolwide testing and contacted ServPro to conduct a thorough cleaning and remediation of the classroom.

“Within two hours of getting the results, we have a mold remediation company onsite,” Harris said. “They were done today [Monday], but we’re not letting anyone back in there until we get the new test back.”

Cost for the environmental cleaning was $2,920.02. The remediation included a cleaning the HVAC and air scrubbing. The room was cleaned using a plant-based anti-microbial on windows, shelves, cabinetry, floors and walls and the contents of the room. 

The Environmental Protection Agency says molds can cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals, with symptoms such as runny nose, red eyes, sneezing and skin rash. Research on mold and health effects is ongoing, the agency says on their website. 

There are no federal of EPA limits for mold or spores. Harris said the contractor said most spore counts above 50 to 200 spores per cubic meter represent an issue, except in the case of black mold. 

Black mold, also known as stachybotrys, is toxic to humans if inhaled, eaten or touched. It is often found in areas that have been exposed to standing water and it grows on material that is rich in cellulose, such as ceiling tiles, wallpaper, sheet rock or wallpaper.  

The sample from room 304 tested with 40 spores per cubic meters of air. 

GEOServices wrote in its report, “Due to the presence of Stachybotrys, GEOServices recommends occupants be removed from structure with Stachybotrys. In addition, the results of this report should be provided to the school health professional or appropriate persons that can assess the findings and possible health issues. The location of the Stachybotrys should be identified and removed by a professional certified to remediate mold.”

Other mold species found were aspergillus/pennicillium, with 47 spores per cubic meter; basidiospores, 67 spores per cubic meter; cladosporium species, 7 spores per cubic meter; and smuts/myxomycetes, 7 spores per cubic meter.

The outside comparison sample found ascospores at 1,200 per cubic meter and basidiospores at 140 per cubic meter. The outside sample was taken outside room 304. Another sample from outside room 407 found ascospores with 247 per cubic meter and basidiospores at 87 spores per cubic meter. 

Other rooms did test positive for types of mold not found outside, including aspergillus/pennicillium, cladosporium species and smuts/myxomycetes. However, no room tested above the 50-200 spores per cubic meter level for those species. Interior results of ascospores and basidiospores were below levels observed in samples from outside the school. 

 

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source https://www.crossville-chronicle.com/news/local_news/schools-waiting-on-homestead-retesting/article_36d4dac6-4e96-11ea-9168-d3faf892e1f5.html

source https://www.wxyz.com/news/report-michigan-among-states-with-most-frozen-pipe-damages

STERLING – Mystery solved.

A mold-damaged copper cornice and deteriorating wood supports in Sterling Public Library’s original wing, built in 1903, are the cause of years worth of water damage.

source http://www.saukvalley.com/2020/02/12/donations-sought-to-repair-200-000-in-damage-to-sterlings-carnegie-library/acvpea9/

STERLING – Mystery solved.

A mold-damaged copper cornice and deteriorating wood supports in Sterling Public Library’s original wing, built in 1903, are the cause of years worth of water damage.

source https://www.saukvalley.com/2020/02/12/donations-sought-to-repair-200-000-in-damage-to-sterlings-carnegie-library/acvpea9/

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The Rockford housing market is reaching levels it hasn’t seen in over a decade.

Last year, roughly 5,000 homes were sold in Rockford, an increase of almost 5% from 2018. The average price for a house also rose 2.5%, average around $138,000. That marks the highest average price in 12 years, said the Rockford Area Realtors.

source https://www.mystateline.com/news/local-news/illinois-1-in-frozen-pipe-damage-according-to-state-farm/

Flooding in the past week has once again consumed much of southern West Virginia, with Gov. Jim Justice signing a state of emergency proclamation for seven counties on Friday. 

The flood washed out Chris Frazier’s basement in Yukon, McDowell County. High waters caused Frazier’s neighbor Missy Hagerman to monitor the safety of her house on one side of Dry Fork River, while her family worried about flooding in their house on the other side of the river, near Bartley.

Once the water receded it left trash hanging from trees along rivers and major roadways, a marker for how high the water reached and how far it traveled during the most recent flood to strike southern West Virginia.

Counties impacted so far include Fayette, Greenbrier, Logan, McDowell, Monroe, Raleigh and Wyoming. McDowell County officials issued a local state of emergency on Thursday before the governor’s proclamation.  

On Tuesday, Feb. 11, the West Virginia National Guard announced plans to send members across the state, as the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management gears up for another long bout of heavy rain that could amount to more than an inch of water in various counties where the ground is already saturated. 

Meteorologist Mike Zwier with the National Weather Service in Charleston said Tuesday the NWS is most concerned with creeks overflowing throughout the state and mudslides. 

“You add that to places that have already had an inch or more that have fallen,” Zwier said.“A lot of areas of WV will have gotten two inches total.”

Last week, the National Weather Service reported that Welch and McDowell sustained the most recorded waterfall at 3.6 inches.

In Yukon, Wayne Crigger said he spent the weekend shoveling mud out of his driveway. 

“I got up at ten that morning and it was already in the road,” Crigger recalled of the flood. “The water from the ditch was stopped up and it was in the road, and then by about 10:30, 11, it started getting into my yard and then it veered up all the way around my house. My basement flooded, my sister’s basement flooded.”

Crigger grew up in McDowell County, and he said he does not think he is going to leave, even though the area floods pretty regularly.

“I’ve been here every since I was little, young and stuff,” he said. “It’s the worst I’ve seen it in years. I haven’t seen it this bad in years. It hasn’t really got up enough to get into yards I think, since 2000.”

The McDowell County 911 Office said on Monday towns in the southernmost portion of the county were struck the hardest, those being Bradshaw, Berwind, English and War.

DHSEM Director Michael Todorovich reportedly traveled over the weekend, assessing the damage in the seven counties. DHSEM Spokeswoman Lora Lipscomb said Tuesday morning her office was still processing Todorovich’s findings for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the governor’s office. 

Frazier said he and his neighbors had yet to hear what his county and the state were doing to help out.

“My whole basement all flooded out of here and everything,” Frazier said. “Every year’s the same thing. The deeper the water gets, the more flooded we get. And it’s hard to get anyone to do anything, really.”

Frazier said he is thinking of leaving McDowell County some time this year. He said he wishes his local government would work on building the infrastructure to deal with such constant flooding, and the river water that fills his and his neighbors basements every time.

“You know what flood water does to a house?” Frazier said. “It causes damage, it causes mold in the house. Stagnant water, especially.”

Not everyone in the seven-county area was seriously impacted by the flooding this time around, but many McDowell County residents recalled significant past floods.

Missy Hagerman lives in a painted white house with stairs out the front. She said there have been years when the water gets so high from the nearby river it covers her front steps. 

“My house is fine this time, because State Roads came and fixed the drain up there,” she said, referring to state highway workers. 

Usually, Hagerman said her husband and son end up clearing out the road storm drain. 

The most recent flood to be highly publicized was the 2016 flood that resulted in 23 deaths and more than 4,000 structures that were either destroyed or somewhat damaged.

Communities in southern West Virginia are still rebuilding homes and schools four years later, and area lawmakers are still introducing and considering legislation related to the event.

A recent report from West Virginia Public Broadcasting found a State Resiliency Office established by legislation in 2017 remains relatively inactive, leaving many communities unprepared as natural disasters worsen. 

Lacey Griffith is a pastor at the Yukon Pentecostal Holiness Church. He said he has been preaching in McDowell county for more than 60 years, and he can recall bad floods all the way back to 1957. 

He has also watched the coal industry dwindle and provide less jobs for people in the area. Without a lot of money coming out of or going into the area, Griffith said it is hard for people to rebuild every time, after every flood. 

“Let me tell you about McDowell County,” Griffith said. “They are struggling. These people are struggling. They’re trying to live. It’s hard to live here.”

This story is part of West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Southern Coalfields Reporting Project which is supported by a grant from the National Coal Heritage Area Authority.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

source https://www.wvpublic.org/post/floods-hit-southern-wva-region-still-recovers-past-damage

“A typical month, we may have 100 to 120 work orders. That’s your home is flooded, or there’s been smoke damage, or whatever. Last week, in a seven day period, with all the rain, we had about 150 work orders,” said Stan Richardson with Servpro Birmingham.

source https://www.wbrc.com/2020/02/12/experts-explain-how-handle-water-damage-before-it-gets-dangerous/

Light rainstorms are often nice and relaxing. After all, they’re the perfect time to cozy up next to the fireplace with a cup of tea, a good book, and some delicious treats. However, when the rain gets more intense, you should consider the possibilities of how this affects your home. There are many ways rain can damage your home. Take note of four of these risks so that you’re aware of the possible issues.

Flood Your Basement

A flooded basement is one of the most common issues stemming from heavy rains. Rainwater is notorious for seeping through unsealed windows and entering the basement. This can lead to structural damage and electrical issues. Not to mention, it will cause significant water damage to any items stored in the basement.

Overflow Your Gutters

Gutters can easily overflow with excess rain and debris. Rain is one of the main reasons gutters overflow, which can damage your roof and siding. Your gutter system is meant to handle rainwater, but weak materials can sag or break under the weight of the excess water. This will ruin your gutter system entirely. Once this happens, water will collect on the roof and damage its structure.

Ruin Your Siding

Rain can also ruin your siding. Most of the time, light showers won’t damage your home, but heavy rains can penetrate siding and enter the exterior wall. This moisture can cause wood rot and mold growth. Cracks can also develop, which can cause structural damage. Cracks and moisture can ruin insulation materials, which will increase energy usage and costs.

Lead to Mold and Pests

Excess water in your home can lead to mold growth in your walls and near your windows. Mold in the home can cause serious health risks such as wheezing, red or itchy eyes, and trouble breathing. Excess rain can also lead to pest infestations. Storms cause pests to seek shelter in dry areas, and your home is no exception. Once these pests burrow inside your home, they’ll remain there until you hire an exterminator. Some common pests that do this include termites, ants, mice, and cockroaches, so be aware of this the next time you see rain damage in your home.

Related

source https://racinecountyeye.com/4-ways-rain-can-damage-your-home/