Broward homeowners face mold challenges after torrential rainfall
FORT LAUDERDALE - Almost two weeks after torrential rainfall led to destructive flooding in Broward County, an unwanted guest is thriving on the surfaces of the walls of many homes - mold.
Besides the hazard to human health, the flood waters also brought sewage and chemicals into many homes. Having flood insurance has been a lifesaver for some of the families affected, for the ones who do not have it, doing nothing is not an option.
"The water was coming in all the doors at the same time, it's been chaos," said Ann Dykes who lives in Ft. Lauderdale.
All the streets in her neighborhood were covered by water which then ended up in the homes.
Dykes bought her house in 1989, all of her outside walls are concrete and the ones inside are drywall.
"Drywall absorbs like a sponge, so you may see the surface is dry, behind it's going to be wet," said Peggy Gonzalez, who owns 365 Property Restoration, the company Dykes hired to clean up her house.
According to Gonzalez, some people have chosen to dry their homes by opening doors to air them out and mopping up. She said that is not enough.
"That wall, even though we clean it, things will get to the other side of the drywall. The only way to eradicate is by cutting the wall," said Gonzalez.
According to Isa Gonzalez, the manager of the cleaning project at Dyke's home, the house had over three inches of water.
"We had to cut up to two feet on this wall and that one too," he said.
Gonzalez underscored the importance of having flood insurance. He said many homeowners were covered when it came to cleaning, drying, and disinfecting their residences.
Others weren't so fortunate.
"I had clients from this incident in the area that didn't have insurance and they had to go to their own pocket," he said.
Gonzalez said homeowners who did not have flood insurance are looking at restoration costs of up to $10,000.
Public adjuster David Sherman said many people are under the notion that the content coverage is immediately included under flood insurance. He said it's not unless specified.
"These cabinets (at Dykes' house) were hit by water, so these cabinets must be removed and replaced, they will be covered by flood insurance," said Sherman. He then pointed to the cabinets above the stove and said those would have to be covered under the content coverage.
"I thought we had coverage for everything inside and apparently we didn't," said Dykes who does not have content coverage.
Dykes also did not know that installing new walls has to be done by someone else, not the company hired to do the cleaning. Nevertheless, she is glad she has flood insurance. Her message to others is, "Get insurance anyways, despite the fact that you don't have flooding in that area, go get it and get what covers everything in the house."