Monster Mold Threatens Health in the South

Earthlink.net ^ | September 27, 2005 | Silverman, Breed, Marchione

[Past Your Eyes]

NEW ORLEANS - Wearing goggles, gloves, galoshes and a mask, Veronica Randazzo lasted only 10 minutes inside her home in St. Bernard Parish. Her eyes burned, her mouth filled with a salty taste and she felt nauseous. Her 26-year-old daughter, Alicia, also covered in gear, came out coughing.

"That mold," she said. "It smells like death."

Mold now forms an interior version of kudzu in the soggy South, posing health dangers that will make many homes tear-downs and will force schools and hospitals to do expensive repairs.

[Syco]

You won't get in the way. I doubt if the cemetery was seriously affected. I helped do a mudout on a guy's house in Bay St. Louis who was there during the storm. He said that the water came in pretty suddenly, stayed around for about three or four hours, then receded almost as quickly as it came in. There probably wasn't time to saturate the ground to the level necessary to float caskets.

If you're interested, I was working with Samaritan's Purse. They have a base camp at the Bayou Talla Fellowship Church in the Kiln along Hwy 43. They have many volunteers (like me) from out of state who are helping but they're looking for local help as well. If you, or anyone you know is looking to get attached to a group to help with the relief, I can't recommend anyone more. They have a LOT less bureaucracy than the Red Cross and really get their hands dirty (filthy actually). If you're in the area, stop in and ask for Connie if you'd like to help or if you have any questions.

[Rastus]

[Syco]

By the way, not ALL of the Kiln was flooded, but there were significant portions underwater in the southeastern parts.

[GrandEagle]

If you're in the area, stop in and ask for Connie if you'd like to help or if you have any questions.
Thanks for the info.
Hey, and thanks for the help! We down here on the Gulf Coast appreciate you taking your time to come down and help.
My family and I came through with very minor damage, but in talking with my friends there at the Dupont plant, they are very appreciative of the help. Your time makes a difference.

Cordially,
GE

[caver]

Wow, thanks for the description. It really brings home the severity of everything. Just this last week, I have also been seeing things talking about the destruction in Mississippi. I didn't understand it either since the media wasn't talking about it like New Orleans.

Thanks again for setting the record straight. I get most of my news here on FR but even that I don't have time to catch the posts I woudl liek to see. At home, the boob tube is on the MSM outlets and boy do they have a different story to tell you.

I didn't mean to be so flippant with my comments. And I do believe you. I don't think you can make that stuff up.

[ErnBatavia]

Where is "Bayou Teche"? I remember as a California kid, being dragged to visit some antebellum mansion there, and then falling in love with the neat old place. I could taste the history there.

[Syco]

It was an honor. I wish that I could have stayed for a month (though that heat is oppressive). I went with a group from my church, and strange as this may sound, while we did it for the people, we did it more for Him!

[Syco]

I didn't think that you were being flippant. I'm hoping to give a full accounting to the folks on FR in a few days. I just got back a few days ago though and I'm slowly beginning to recover. It was a physically and emotionally taxing trip. I'll try to remember to ping you when I post it.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Re you pic -- is that from the Jethro Tull family album?

[null and void]

Re you pic -- is that from the Jethro Tull family album?

He's growing his own salmon food...

[MD_Willington_1976]

Yes, some people are actually using mold and bacteria in large scale operations...

[ptrey]

SYCO...Thanks for that post...Bayou Talla is my wife's church although I do attend sometimes and love the people...The women are great cooks...Thank you for your help...

[GrandEagle]

we did it more for Him!
That I do understand!

[BurbankKarl]

Mold pic

[Wonder Warthog]

"Where is "Bayou Teche"? I remember as a California kid, being dragged to visit some antebellum mansion there, and then falling in love with the neat old place. I could taste the history there."

Bayou Teche is down near the coast (close to Morgan City). It is much more Creole than Cajun. But most of the coastal and "along the Mississippi" areas have places with similar "atmosphere" and history.

[ErnBatavia]

Thank you! It's been a long time....on the same trip we got to see Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis' home in the Biloxi area; for some reason I recall that more vividly.

I saw some pics here on FReep how it got hammered during Katrina.

[Palladin]

What did they expect, when you have the city sewer system running through your house?

Bulldoze and burn every house.

Rebuild NO inland.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Thank YEW!!

And we are about ready to go out to eat! ;)






(I'll remember this, Karl....) ;)

[Past Your Eyes]

I'm inclined to agree. Pull the Corps of Engineers out of there, let the River do what it has wanted to do for the past 200 years, which is abandon the place altogether and turn south somewhere around Baton Rouge. Mother Nature may have caused the misery and suffering but humans set the stage for it.

[Grizzled Bear]

Do they have fire insurance. Whoops!