As Formosan termites chew their way through homes in Louisiana and elsewhere in the South, builders and legislators are left searching for solutions.
(Nov 2003) "Science"
The bug that ate New Orleans
***............The termites do such a fast and thorough job of gutting wood support beams that houses sometimes collapse without warning.
Over the past 15 years they have easily destroyed more of the Big Easy than hurricanes, tornadoes and floods combined.
The dinner bill for this movable feast of wood is $3 billion and growing. And authorities warn that the insects are expanding their range in the United States, moving as far north as North Carolina to date.
In the French Quarter, the cultural heart of a city as much covered by charm as its stately live oaks are by Spanish moss, the voracious termites have eaten through the roof of a police station just off Bourbon Street. They've also shredded the joists under the second floor of The Cabildo, the 1795 building where the Louisiana Purchase was signed.
Matt Messenger of the New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board said the quarter is a magnet for the termites.
"The French Quarter is a termite nightmare," Messenger said, "with its dense wooden construction, common-walled buildings, leaky roofs and moisture retaining brickwork and no open ground.''
In the home of James Cahn, built around a lush courtyard on Barracks Street in 1850, the battle is constant, as it is in almost all the old French Quarter buildings. He's had to replace the roof three times since he bought his home in 1979. For eight years, one interior wall has been ripped out to expose the wooden joists for treatments to get the termites out. In the courtyard, a big magnolia tree with a trunk diameter of more than six feet has been infested and treated with pesticides four times.
"We found six termite nests when we renovated the house and places where they've eaten all of the two-by-fours,'' Cahn said. "In the living room there are holes above the window where they've eaten through the plaster.
"We've seen places where they've eaten through tin to get at the wood.''............***
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03307/236173.stm
Just who is the copy editor here?
Isn't this also a description of what comprise's a liberal in the US?
New Orleans should be bulldozed and not rebuilt with Federal taxes. Former Mayor Moriel (spelling?) once said it's a city that should not have been built, and he was right about that.
How about building with concrete block?
The Formosan Termite is a big problem is Hawaii. The University of Hawaii did some research and found that if you build your house with the foundation on a bed of gravel of a certain size, the termites can't tunnel up into your home. The gravel keeps collapsing as the termites try to tunnel upwards to the wooden foundation.
Well of course! George and Karl let millions of them loose in NO from AF1.
I hope they can't swim.
Actually, eliminating these termites seems like a perfect job for genetic engineering. Surely somebody could engineer a sterile strain that would cause the population to die, like they've done for other insects.
Bacteria, which are lethal to Formosan subterranean termites, have been isolated from termite colonies and evaluated for their ability to kill this termite. Several strains of bacteria killed 100% of the termites in laboratory tests.
Yeah, if you drink 5 gallons a day for 50 years, you might get cancer!
Maybe the toxic brew left by Katrina will kill them.
IIRC, the Formosans are flying termites. They can start from the roof and chew their way down.
Termites cannot live in water; problem solved.
Termites cannot live in water; problem solved.
I've got a log home...spent 800 bucks on Glycol Borate recently to prevent future infestations. Glycol allows the borate to seep deep within the logs. Plus, it's up 2-4 feet from the ground on a foundation. In addition, I have the yearly termite inspections....scary to think what could happen if I hadn't done this.
When my house in Houston got termites 20 some odd years ago it was treated with chlorodane and never had one problem after that.
The beastly bugs virtually hid from site in southern Louisiana until the late 1980's , when the U.S. Environment Protection Agency banned chlordane, an effective pesticide that's been linked to cancer. Since then, pesticides used to treat new home foundations have proven less effective, by all accounts, easing the spread of Formosan colonies.
---
Why can't people take their own risks if they choose with it? The EPA is playing God again?
