Even small hurricanes can bring big mold, water woes

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Expert: Even small hurricanes can bring big mold, water woes

Jim Stratton | Sentinel Staff Writer

Posted April 15, 2006

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/orl-

canes1506apr15,0,7395516.story?track=rss

Even a hurricane that packs relatively little punch in terms of wind

and storm surge can leave many homes uninhabitable, an expert told

the National Hurricane Conference on Friday.

Reinhold, vice president of engineering for the Institute

for Business & Home Safety, said that during the past two

hyperactive hurricane seasons, he has seen many seemingly intact

dwellings -- condo units especially -- damaged by water that had

been forced under doors and through window seams.

Driven by hurricane-force winds, the water sneaks into the home,

soaking floors and baseboards.

And once inside, it drenches carpets, allowing mold to overrun the

unit. Once that happens, the condo likely will have to be gutted

before residents can return.

Coastal high-rise condos with sliding patio doors are particularly

at risk because they sit up in the air, exposed to the worst of the

wind and rain.

" I think we're going to see a huge displacement of people, " said

Reinhold, who spoke on the final day of the hurricane conference in

Orlando. Once the water soaks walls and carpets, he said, " you'll

have to strip out everything. "

Florida is riding a condo construction and conversion wave that is

among the biggest in the country. In 2005, Orlando was the busiest

condo-conversion market in the nation. Tampa was second, while

Broward County was third.

Last year, Reinhold said, many high-rise units suffered extensive

water damage from Hurricane Wilma, which raked across South Florida

in October.

Before hitting the state, it rumbled through Mexico, and Reinhold

said he saw similar damage in high-rise resort hotels there.

In Cancun, rooms that from the outside appeared fine actually were

filled with water. How quickly they could be repaired often was as

simple as whether their floors were carpeted or tiled.

Tiled rooms, Reinhold said, sometimes needed " just a few guys with a

squeegee. " Most carpeted rooms needed to be stripped to the frame.

Hotels are vulnerable, too. When Hurricane Jeanne hit Florida's east

coast in 2004, it soaked the Cocoa Beach area. About a month after

the storm, Reinhold had trouble finding a hotel room there because

so many along the coast suffered water damage.

Builders and door and window manufacturers are looking for ways to

prevent water intrusion, but their work, Reinhold said, " is still in

the pretty early stages. " He said state building officials

ultimately might have to toughen codes.

" I don't think any Florida building codes address this very well, "

he said. " The criteria on this is pretty low. "

Jim Stratton can be reached at jstratton@... or 407-

420-5379.