Five Years After Katrina, Mold Leaves a Lasting Legacy

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This late summer is the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the storm that devastated the Gulf region from Louisiana to Florida. The city of New Orleans was 80% flooded, displacing thousands of families who had to rebuilt their lives from scratch. Now, five years later, the increase in mold serves as a painful reminder of the tragic natural disaster.

According to an ongoing study by the Head-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana (HEAL) project, 78% of those children who had asthma in Louisiana were sensitive to molds. This is about 30% higher than the average for a major urban area. The mold spore count went up so high in New Orleans that it was able to sensitize kids who would not have been sensitized under normal conditions.

About 10.2 million children have asthma, or one in seven kids. This number has grown steadily over the last ten years. The asthma rate in New Orleans is one of the highest in the nation, and the city has the highest childhood asthma death rate in Louisiana. Asthma is 60% higher among Africa-American children and nearly 300% higher among Puerto Rican children.

The U.S. spends $8 billion treating childhood asthma, more than any other childhood condition. It costs another $10 billion in costs related to school absenteeism and missed work.

It’s clear that mold has a detrimental affect on children predisposed towards asthma. There have also been many studies that link the cause of asthma to the presence of mold during the early stages of life. We need a study on how common asthma is in children who were born in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

As part of the HEAL project, asthma counselors visit families in New Orleans who have asthmatic children and educate them on how to manage it. They inspect the home and identify water leaks and places where mold might grow.

Asthma is now considered a national epidemic. It’s worth the time to inspect your home for mold and it’s worth the cost to hire a reputable commercial mold remediation company if necessary. Mold remediation and qualified mold removal is essential for sustaining the health of children.

I suggest you visit this comprehensive list of the health effects of mold to learn how mold can affect not just children, but all people with asthma.