BURGAW — Restoration work has started on the Pender County Courthouse, nearly eight months after Hurricane Florence caused extensive water and mold damage to the historic building in the middle of Burgaw’s town square.

According to County Assistant Manager Chad McEwen, Wilmington-based architectural firm LS3P estimates that court will resume in early 2020. He also said the county did not budget for storm repairs at the courthouse since it anticipates “most expenses will be covered either by our insurance provider or FEMA.”

According to county spokesperson Tammy Proctor, total costs of the project are currently unknown. The county’s facilities and fleet director, Allen Vann, called LS3P’s project completion timeline “ambitious.”

“Given the scope of work required to restore the building to pre-Florence conditions, the timeline provided by the architect is very ambitious,” Vann said.

The start of repair work comes after months of discussions between county officials, insurance and FEMA representatives, architects, and state preservation officers looking for agreement on the scope of mold remediation work needed for the building. Restoration work will also begin on the Hampstead Annex, which houses several county departments including health, planning, housing, and the Sheriff’s office.

“The Pender County Courthouse will require extensive interior repairs, including removal of mold, remediation of lead paint and asbestos mastic, roof and masonry repairs, and windows and wood trim and interior and exterior architectural feature restoration,” the county announced in a release. “Complicating this process is the fact that the Courthouse is a national registered historical structure which requires compliance with historical preservation and restoration guidelines to receive FEMA reimbursement for the associated cost.”

In February, commissioners and town officials debated details of the delayed approval from the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), including a potential FEMA reimbursement tied to SHPO approval and whether the county itself had delayed communication with the preservation office.

“We’re holding court in every nook and cranny we can find,” Commissioner David Williams said at the time, referring to court proceedings taking place in buildings throughout Burgaw.

The combination of funding sources from insurance and FEMA should result in minimal out-of-pocket expenses to the county, McEwen said.

“The restoration of the Courthouse is the top priority for the county in terms of repairs related to damage to our facilities caused by Hurricane Florence,” McEwen said. “This has been, and will continue to be, a complex and time-consuming process.”

At the Hampstead Annex — the former Topsail School — crews are installing a new ceiling and floor in the auditorium. Repairs to the drywall and woodwork in other portions of the building are also underway. Work is expected to be completed by late June.

Vann said the restoration of Burgaw’s courthouse entails a multi-agency process involving FEMA, the county’s insurance company, LS3P, N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts, SHPO, Pender County Clerk of Superior Court, and numerous other court and judicial officials.

In April, Pender County Clerk of Courts Elizabeth Craver called to attention health issues experienced by her staff after they were relocated from the courthouse to the Judicial Annex Building — an issue she referred to as “sick building syndrome.”

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Mark Darrough can be reached at Mark@Localvoicemedia.com

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source https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2019/05/09/pender-courthouse-and-hampstead-annex-begin-repairs-8-months-after-florence/

PORTLAND, Ore., May 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Mold Inspection Sciences, one of the state’s largest mold inspection and testing companies, has announced the publication of an infographic now available to view and download from the Mold Inspection Sciences website.

The infographic highlights that there is always a possibility of mold when buying a home, whether the property is new or old. This resource is designed to show you where to look for mold, how best to detect the possibility of a mold issue, what type of environments mold thrives in, and the right questions to ask your home inspector, real estate agent, and seller.

So why should people read, reference, and share this tool?

«Buying a home is a big deal,» says Michael Bains, CEO of Mold Inspection Sciences. «It’s one of the most important investments you will make in your life. The last thing you want to discover while you’re in the process of buying or moving in is that you have a mold problem.»

Mold is a fungus that comes in a variety of shapes and colors. Mold can be visible and odorous, while other times it can grow undetected inside the walls, under the floors, in the ceiling, or places like your basement, crawl space, or attic.

Mold thrives in damp areas, and in building materials such as paneling, wallboard, carpet, and ceiling tiles. Don’t be fooled; mold can grow in homes in the desert just as quickly as it can in homes located in humid or wet climates.

In most real estate transactions, a home inspection will be performed before finalizing the purchase. A good home inspector will be able to point out areas of concern when it comes to signs of water damage leading to a potential mold problem, but that is not always the case.

Bains points out that while a mold inspection isn’t usually required, it is a very good idea to conduct this type of inspection. Mold inspections are very specific and should be done by a qualified professional.

The «Finding Mold in a New Home» infographic can be downloaded on the Mold Inspection Sciences website: https://www.moldsci.com/buying-a-new-home-infographic/.

About Mold Inspection Sciences:
Mold Inspection Sciences, https://www.moldsci.com/ was founded in 2002 by CEO Michael Bains with one simple goal in mind: to provide affordable, professional, and high-quality mold inspection and testing services to people across dozens of cities in seven states suffering from the nuisance of mold. Over the past 16 years, MIS has successfully performed and solved thousands of investigations, providing safer and healthier conditions for a wide variety of clients to thrive in.

*IMAGE link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/19-0509s2p-mold-infograph-300dpi.jpg 

This release was issued through Send2Press®, a unit of Neotrope®. For more information, visit Send2Press Newswire at https://www.Send2Press.com

SOURCE Mold Inspection Sciences, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.moldsci.com

source https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/finding-mold-in-a-new-home-infographic-demonstrates-how-to-check-for-mold-before-its-too-late-300847413.html

Recent rainfall is causing a headache for some local berry farmers. Appel farms in Springdale have been trying to keep diseases in their strawberries from spreading to the rest of their berries during peak berry picking season. These black spots on the strawberries are a disease caused by a combination of wet weather and warmer temperatures. Once one strawberry becomes impacted by the disease it can spread to other berries. Travis Appel said this year it was a slow start to the berry season because of some late freezes. So far, the season hasn’t been too bad outside of the rounds rain the area has had recently. He said some problems they can see in their strawberries will be gray mold – also caused by wet weather and high humidity levels. Leather rot is another problem they are seeing that is caused by wet weather. “Some mold damage and some rot damage from berries sitting in water, » Appel said. «The more rain we get it’s just going to get worse. We have to get those bad berries picked off the plant.”Appel they need to get the bad berries picked off the plant so it doesn’t spread to other berries that aren’t affected yet.“Strawberries get all kinds of problems because they are so low to the ground they are laying on the ground. So as little rain as we can get is what we are praying for,» Appel said. Johnny Gunsaulis with the Extension Office in Benton county said when strawberry farms have a lot of moisture for an extended period of time they can have problems with the roots. After they start producing the berries you can see problems like mold and plant disease. Gunsaulis said some farmers have had problems. “Talked to a grower who is at a loss about whether or not he is going to get any of his first production,» Gunsaulis said. «He was afraid he was just going to have to pick and destroy that to keep his plant diseases from getting worse.” Gunsaulis added that when the ground is wet from rainfall it can even be difficult for farmers to do work on their crop and prepare some plant beds.

source https://www.4029tv.com/article/rain-causes-problems-for-nwa-berry-picking-season/27425611

[unable to retrieve full-text content]United Methodist Disaster Response continues repairs from Florence, Matthew — Washington Daily News  thewashingtondailynews.com

You have read 1 of 5 articles. Log In or Subscribe. After Hurricane Irene devastated eastern North Carolina in 2011, United Methodist Disaster Response came …

source https://www.thewashingtondailynews.com/2019/05/09/united-methodist-disaster-response-continues-repairs-from-florence-matthew/

source https://www.detroitnews.com/story/life/home-garden/2019/05/09/home-advisor-fastest-way-turn-your-home-into-money-pit/1122524001/

source https://waldo.villagesoup.com/p/rsu-20-offers-stockton-springs-school-to-towns/1812438

staff report

source https://www.goupstate.com/news/20190507/home-damage-restoration-company-opens

Portland officials have denied residents’ claims that the city must pay for damage caused by a burst water main that spewed millions of gallons into their homes two months ago, saying the pipe broke spontaneously at no fault to the city.

Denial letters written by a city claims analyst called the Northeast Portland property damage “unfortunate” multiple times but said “the city is not liable” for the destruction.

City letters instruct homeowners to seek reimbursement from their insurers. But many reportedly do not have flood insurance because their homes are not located in a floodplain.

Either way, the city’s decision leaves irritated homeowners with hefty bills.

Ryan Humphrey, for example, said he is facing bills of up to $70,000 to repair his wrecked basement and garage.

When the water main burst near the intersection of Northeast 23rd Avenue and Skidmore Street, Humphrey said, it sent a torrent toward his home that was so forceful it bent his garage door in. Over several hours, his basement filled with more than two feet of dirty water.

“My laundry room is a wreck. Everything down there is contaminated,” Humphrey, a financial analyst, said Tuesday.

He’s already spent $20,000 fixing mold damage, replacing a broken furnace and taking care of other repairs.

Like about a dozen of his neighbors, Humphrey filed a claim with the city’s Risk Management office, hoping it would help pay for the damage caused by the failure of city infrastructure. He received a denial letter Monday.

“I was just blown away that that’s how they concluded this thing,” he said.

Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who is in charge of the Portland Water Bureau, said Tuesday that “the claims are still in process and I will wait to comment until that process is complete.”

The Water Bureau director, Michael Stuhr, was unavailable for an interview on his views about maintenance of drinking water infrastructure, said his spokeswoman, Jaymee Cuti. Stuhr cannot speak to the liability claims because he was not involved in the decision-making, Cuti said.

A spokeswoman for the Risk Management office, Heather Hafer, emailed that “through extensive research” the city found it had not acted negligently.

Asked to explain the city’s decision-making or make available the claims analyst for an interview, Hafer said, “I’m not sure I can provide any further clarification as this was the messaging that was provided” from risk management officials.

Hafer said the burst 30-inch pipe showed no signs of failing and emergency crews were quick to respond with “timely, reasonable and appropriate” actions.

Firefighters were on-scene at the flooding soon after it began. But Portland Water Bureau crews were unable to shut off the pipe for several hours as a geyser flooded the Sabin neighborhood. Officials later called the burst pipe a “catastrophic failure.”

Humphrey said he and several neighbors are considering a lawsuit.

The water main case has similarities to a 2017 incident, when the city denied a woman’s $25,000 damage claim after police officers used explosives to enter a rental house she owned, where a man wanted for attempted murder had barricaded himself.

In that case, the city’s code enforcement bureau even fined the homeowner for violations resulting from damage caused by police officers.

— Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com

source https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/05/a-burst-pipe-flooded-portland-homes-the-owners-now-have-to-pay-for-the-damage.html

Management company says some residents will be able to return in mid-June.

WILMINGTON — Jervay’s first resident stood in front of Wilmington City Council on Tuesday and asked the city to help her and her neighbors recover from Hurricane Florence.

Acquanetta McNeil and her family moved into the newly renovated Jervay Place off of Dawson Street in 2004. About 14 years later, McNeil and the other residents of Jervay’s 100 units were told in November they would need to leave while repairs were made to mold or storm damage at 86 of the complex’s apartments.

«I’m here asking council today to please help us in this situation because it’s like we have no recourse,» McNeil told city council. «We’ve been told, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know’ so many times that we get tired of hearing it.»

McNeil is staying in Riegelwood, commuting between 20 and 30 minutes each way to Wilmington for work while suffering health effects she attributes to the stress of fallout from the hurricane. Initially, McNeil said, she was told repairs would be made in three to six months, a period that has come to an end without repairs.

In an email Tuesday, Laura Karl, a development associate for Telesis, Jervay’s management company, wrote, «Five of the nine buildings impacted by the hurricane are currently being repaired and renovated and are set to be completed. Reoccupancy will commence in the middle of June.»

Contractors are, Karl added, continuing restoration efforts on the four remaining buildings and will restore roofs to those buildings once that work is completed.

Residents who were told they needed to leave the community while repairs were underway will have a right to return to their units, Karl wrote, adding the management company and general contractor are both fielding questions from residents.

«Management has maintained frequent contact with residents displaced by damage and relevant agencies,» Karl wrote, «including the housing authority.»

That does not, McNeil said, match the reality she and other Jervay residents are experiencing. For instance, McNeil said nobody has told residents they can access storage containers located within Jervay’s main loop Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Bill Saffo, Wilmington’s mayor, said council does not have many options because Jervay is a privately owned community, as are many of the other storm-damaged affordable housing options such as Market North and The Glen.

«The only thing that we can continue to do is to press the issue and to ask these people to please address these folks because they’re our citizens,» Saffo said, «and in some cases they may have nowhere else to go.»

Beulah Carr, another Jervay resident, attended Tuesday’s meeting but did not speak. Initially, Carr said she was told repairs would take three to six months, a period that has since passed.

«It’s appalling,» Carr said. «I want to go home. I just want to go home. I’m way stressed out.»

A tree fell on the third floor of Carr’s apartment building, causing water and mold to flood into her second-floor apartment. Unlike other residents who moved out in November, Carr was forced out of her home in the days after Hurricane Florence impacted the area.

«I haven’t seen my personal stuff in almost nine months,» Carr said, adding she is living with a niece.

In her remarks to council, McNeil also called on policy makers to develop a plan for housing in the aftermath of future disasters, knowing hurricanes and other events are likely to result in a loss of affordable housing.

McNeil said, «I am a planted Wilmingtonian. I’ve been here my whole life, and to have been pushed out like I was and (I) literally felt like I had been abandoned and forgotten about was just unacceptable.»

During a trip to Washington D.C. last week, Saffo discussed affordable housing with the Pew Charitable Trust, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and members of Congress. Ideally, Saffo said, there would be a way to help the U.S. Department of Housing and Affordable Development fund housing efforts in the aftermath of a disaster.

«It’s a glaring hole right now in our relief efforts at the federal level,» Saffo said, «and we’re going to need federal-level help, but also (help at) the state level to help make it happen.»

Reporter Adam Wagner can be reached at 910-343-2389 or Adam.Wagner@GateHouseMedia.com.

source https://www.newbernsj.com/news/20190508/months-after-florence-jervay-residents-ask-wilmington-for-help

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma State Department of Health is encouraging Oklahomans to be weather aware during storm season and giving tips on how to keep your family safe.

Flood damage can lead to a number of public health issues. OSDH recommends the following tips:

• Listen for news reports to learn whether a community’s water supply is safe to drink.
• Have wells checked for contamination from bacteria and chemicals.
• Clean and disinfect everything that got wet. Mud left from floodwater can contain sewage, bacteria and chemicals. Professional services and/or guidance may be necessary before attempting to repair flood-damaged property.
• Throw out any food, including canned items, which was not maintained at a proper temperature or has been exposed to floodwaters. Do not eat food from a flooded garden.
• Remove and replace any drywall or other paneling which has been underwater. Mold growth in hidden places is a significant health hazard.

Officials also recommend keeping an emergency kit to have ready for evacuation. Keep supplies such as snacks, a change of clothes, prescription medicine, medical equipment, important documents, pet supplies and valuable items such as family photos and irreplaceable mementos.

source https://kfor.com/2019/05/08/osdh-how-to-avoid-injuries-from-flooded-areas/