In Which the Properties of Mold is Discussed

As some of you know, Hurricane Ike ravaged much of the Galveston/Houston area of Texas two weeks ago. Yesterday I few down to help my brother and sister-in-law clean out their apartment. Viewer discretion is advised if you have a weak stomach for mold.

This first picture is of the debris pile that was already there when we arrived. See those innocent looking long narrow white boards (with nails sticking out of them) -- they were found not to be so innocent by the end of the day, as evidenced by the tetanus shot I got after we left the island.


This lovely patch of mold is their living room. I never knew that mold came in so many different colors and textures.


Sadly, my nephew lost many of his toys and books to water an mold, including the sock monkey that my mother made for him when he was born. Cause of death is attributed to swelling and toxic levels of mold. The monkey was lovingly and gently laid to rest in a white banker's box (and not thrown over the balcony like much of the other stuff that had to be disposed of).


My sis-in-law's beautiful wood hutch: we tried to see if a Clorox wipe would help with the mold. In less than 5 minutes the mold was already starting to grow back. My brother and I didn't believe it, so we tried the experiment again, and sure enough it happened a second time. It really was impressive in an ecological sort of way.


The crack in the bedroom ceiling from the wholes in the roof that let water in that dowsed the stuff below. I agree with my brother that it would be much easier if everything was wet because then we would just have to get rid of everything, not go through the process of asking if each item is moldy or OK.


It was really sad to see all the wet, moldy books and puzzles.


Here is my brother's desk, complete with some unknown brown, sticky ooze to go with the mold.


What you see below is the floor of the Honda Accord that I learned to drive in. My brother ended up with the car when he went to graduate school and drove it up until a few months ago. After 14 years of faithful service, Hurricane Ike did for us what would have otherwise been a sentimental thing, ensuring the end of the beloved car. This picture is of the front passenger side floor covered in mold!


This is the floor of the backseat that still has standing water in it.


I might write more later, but that is all the pictures for now, except for one more "grandparent" picture of my dear, sweet nephew! I figured something nice to look at would be a good way to end this blog entry.