Healthy Indoors Magazine
Issue link: https://hi.healthyindoors.com/i/881255
Healthy Indoors 21 decontaminated and restored to service prior to mechanical drying and mold remediation work. That's just plain backwards!" In fact, that is exactly what the 2013 agen- cy directive specified, presumably to reduce mechanical drying times on NFIP claims, even though subsequent drying and remediation would most likely re-contaminate the HVAC systems. No mention is made of addressing this probable cross-contamination outcome. The Bottom Line This is an unprecedented event, especially for those directly affected by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. The initial cleanup will take months, and the rebuilding may take years. Many of the impacted Caribbean islands, such as Puer- to Rico, may not have municipal power complete- ly restored in 2017. The ongoing damage toll is enormous. Healthy Indoors will follow this evolv- ing story throughout the coming months, and pro- vide related news and features. Of course, there is a good deal of valuable information to help recovering hurricane/flood victims available from both government agencies and other credible organizations. Here are a few of the documents that be useful for those in need. You can access them, along with a variety of oth- er publications, to view and download from our online resource library at: https://healthyindoors.com/library/ 2, or 3 days based on the degree of saturation at the onset of drying." Taken at face value, this suggested drying practice fails to consider parameters like the types of materials being dried, outdoor weather conditions, or other factors that could affect ac- tual times required sufficiently dry a building out. This FEMA document appears to be somewhat slanted towards minimizing insurance payouts rather than providing the necessary remedial ac- tion to restore a property to pre-loss conditions. According to Tim Hebert, CHC, CMRS, CSDS, from Air Purification Specialists, Inc. of Pavo, GA, "FEMA's position on properly documenting struc- tural drying projects from this document is right in line with industry best practices, as recom- mended by ACAC. But their failure to recognize the extreme conditions in disaster scenarios sets their directive up for failure. In addition to creating (what may be) an unnecessary review step in the adjusting process, they have totally neglected the fact that masonry substrates, like concrete walls and foundations, generally take significantly more than 3-days to dry—sometimes even weeks. As- suming that everything can be sufficiently dried in 3-days is sophomoric, at best." Leaving bound moisture in slabs, as a result of inadequate restorative drying protocols, can allow secondary mold growth to occur after the remediation work has been presumed complet- ed. Hebert went on to say, "FEMA is also way off base in specifying that the HVAC systems be