No Katrina RELIEF Effort
I’ve Been There
&
An American’s Plea To Americans

[These are some snippets from my input into a log, write-ups from the Katrina volunteers of the American Red Cross (ARC). The Red Cross is providing temporary shelter, food, and water, some minor financial assistance, and small amounts of bulk goods to the survivors of Katrina & Rita in northeastern Louisiana and southeastern Mississippi. I participated in the first financial assistance and bulk goods operation 10-miles north of Louisiana, 90-miles north of New Orleans. That site, which became one of several that were set up subsequently, closed a few days ago. That’s all that’s been done since Katrina obliterated and Rita spiced the horrific nightmare that tens of thousands of people who are roaming around that region, searching for help. More people have electricity than a week ago, but people are crammed into damaged homes in sweltering heat, receiving no medical help, no ongoing food or water supplies, no information other than what they here from the volunteers or on the radio, and literally thousands and thousands of people are living in their cars. Katrina hit on August 29th. That was five weeks ago.]

[From the Montgomery, Alabama experience] Red Cross Katrina headquarters in 97-degrees and 89 percent humidity today in the revered home of Dr. King’s old church and Ms. Rosa Parks. Red Cross was downsized a month before Katrina hit, so they seem undermanned to the extreme. Found out that the American Red Cross (ARC) mission is very narrow, actually: Shelter, food, water, small amounts of financial assistance and bulk goods. Some full-time employees and veteran disaster team volunteers populate ARC. I guess it could be viewed as a form of organized chaos. However, without exception, it’s the most disorganized, poorly managed work operations I’ve ever seen. To a person, every volunteer I talked with agreed.

Few highlights: Hundreds of United Rental Trucks sat in the parking lot, unused. Tons of donated supplies were piled 20-feet high in an area the size of an acre. With nurses, doctors, psychologists, therapists, EMTs, rescue specialists, architects, contractors, former military, plumbers, electricians, construction workers, advocates, college students, retirees from an array of career fields, executives, managers, white and blue collar workers, the Katrina volunteer force in Montgomery was formidable. However, there was no assessment of those resources and how they could be utilized. Instead, the relatively small, silo-disconnected, greathearted, fragmented ARC workers feverishly fumbled and fawned at trickling-out what’s needed within ARC policy and procedure. I spent two full days just waiting.

This is the American Red Cross. The mantra goes like this, “we’ve never encountered a disaster of this magnitude and so we are developing our system as we go.” That sounds pretty good. However, ARC has been around for 125 years, through Galveston, Camille, Ivan, Andrew, St. Helens, San Francisco, and internationally via WWI, WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, Bosnia, Iraq. You mean to tell me that ARC doesn’t have a scalable disaster plan?

From what I’ve heard here, neither does FEMA, the military, or local, state, or our national systems. There are fantastic, dedicated, incredible people in these organizations. Nonetheless, people have and will die because of this failure, and thousands are suffering beyond all of our comprehension in unimaginable isolation as a result of it.

Pre-Deployment: The ARC Disaster Mental Health (DMH) coordinator asked me to stay after the Katrina mental health volunteer group introduced themselves, along with their professional summaries. She sat with me and asked more questions, then she told me about Tylertown. ARC was going to set-up their first financial assistance/bulk good operation in Tylertown, Mississippi, in the poorest region of the United States. There were some “incidents” in Tylertown and the situation was volatile. Reportedly, some prison-holding cells were emptied by way of the New Orleans’ flooding and dozens of convicts were roaming the area. The National Guard arrived recently, a curfew was in effect, and ARC determined that the situation could tolerate this set-up. As the day wore on, after talking with some 30-mental health volunteers, 9 agreed to sign up, to be deployed with the rest of ARC operations going to Tylertown, Mississippi.

[Tylertown, Mississippi] Cars lined-up each day for miles in both directions on the highway that led to the “arena” (a rodeo-like facility with bleachers and a large, metal roof). Temperatures soared into the upper 90’s with similar degrees of humidity, making the heat index around 110+ degrees. The hurricane victims have at best been living with anyone who’d take them in. Homes were packed with people, without electricity and until two weeks ago, without water. Thousands of victims lived in their cars. People had been searching for services, other than just food and water, traveling from county-to-county, wandering over northeastern Louisiana and southeastern Mississippi. ARC has an 800 number; however, in essence it doesn’t work. There’s TV, but no one could watch it without electricity.

The few ARC workers who managed the operations were great people, although stretched-out so thinly that, beyond basic parameters, the volunteers had to figure-out how to make the thing work. We formulated a plan that would organize the 500 to 700 victims allowed in each day, how to bring folks in, where to seat them on the bleachers, a method of reasonably moving folks through the ARC paperwork in order to get what assistance and good they could.

I became the primary crowd point-person, and Brian coordinated moving victims through the first element of ARC paperwork, in order to get folks inside the air-conditioned center as quickly and orderly as possible. We had a plan.

The heat and insects were overwhelming. We had shade, but it was sweltering anyway, with still, hazy air over the dirt horses and prize bulls are usually shown on. Love bugs, disgusting creatures with a foul odor mingled constantly with the victims and volunteers. Then there was the result of not having utilities or running water on people’s hygiene and the diseases that come along on that ride. We were also in a main root of white-to-black racism, the foundry of the South’s crucible for black people, the heartland of the Jim Crow laws. There were also great local people, black and white, who worked together outside the box, rippling the status quo in Tylertown. The Southern Baptist volunteers were there before the Red Cross and they were great. Nonetheless, the racism was as palpable as the heat in Tylertown.

I planned to conduct crowd “behavior management,” joining, reframing, explaining, providing needed information, problem-solving, encouraging, caring about, working around barriers, diffusing the potential for violence, and somehow, someway reconnecting with people without any. My role in our plan, connection, would prove pivotal at this point within this sociological context. After so many weeks of abject suffering, some brutalization, rampant rejection and isolation, and no response to horrible, horrible circumstances, the potential for something going wrong was very high and we had to try everything we could think of to prevent it from happening. I managed and embraced the crowd and the victims saved the ARC operations and me. I had four days of varying degrees of dehydration, one resulting in a time-out on the MD/RN cot. I also caught a sore throat, my voice was ravaged, I lost 10-pounds, and fatigue, stress, and physical elements were difficult. I used “Dr. Phil” as a known metaphor. I’d walk from section to section of the bleachers and say:

“Ladies, gentlemen. Good morning. I’m Dr. Bob. I’m from Los Angeles, California and I’m a volunteer with the American Red Cross. Everyone you see here is a volunteer. There are also a few folks who work for the Red Cross. Our American Red Cross manager is from the International Red Cross. He’s been all over the world and seen the worst of the worst. He’s a good guy, as are the other Red Cross folks here. Our volunteers have come from Canada, Ohio, Tennessee, Philadelphia, Florida, Washington, Oregon, and the Carolinas. Most of us were not Red Cross volunteers before Hurricane Katrina. But we signed up after this monster took your homes, your lives, your dreams, and released things beyond your greatest fears. We just want to help. From all of us, I want you to know that no matter what the Red Cross does or does not do, or FEMA, or that 800 number, or the government, or anyone else, I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT PEOPLE, REAL PEOPLE ACROSS THIS COUNTRY AND THE WORLD CARE ABOUT YOU, ARE VERY WORRIED, AND WE WANT TO HELP. YOU’VE HAD NOTHING UP TO NOW, WE KNOW THAT. BUT TODAY, WITH YOUR HELP, TODAY WE WILL GET SOMETHING DONE!!!”

I’d then describe what was going to happen, how long it would take, how we’d do it, what information they needed, giving updates, etc. I’d then walk up and down the bleachers in between various “Dr. Bob” announcements or instruction, answering questions, hearing suggestions, diffusing a phenomenon of tension, and giving psychological first aid.

Throughout the day, the volunteers, including myself, would sit with victims outside, take down their information, then get folks inside to receive financial assistance cards, and then back outside for bulk goods. Everyone worked on everything, and worked as hard as people can. We worked with the local police, sheriff, National Guard, and had great support from out-of-area police form Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Every evening we spent time trying to figure out how to do it better. Other than a few “incidents,” a couple near riots, some hidden weapons, problems with how the local sheriff and police handed out tickets and sent people away, it worked. In fact, five other ARC assistance sites, set up over the time we were there (e.g., McComb, Centerville, Beckman), modeled operations after our system. The Red Cross did its job.

The People

The people who’ve been victimized by this natural, human, and inhumane disaster are the most remarkable humans I have ever encountered. The pain, loss, despair, suffering, anguish, and agony they have, are unlike anything any of us can comprehend. Thousands and thousands of people came from New Orleans. Their stories create pain in the listener; they are incredibly powerful.

A woman, who miscarried during the flooding, yet had her baby still inside her, walked for miles from one hospital to another, and no one treated her. A third hospital brought her in, got her baby out of her, and sent her on her way. She was told, “you can always have another baby.” A police officer and two assistants came up, taking a two-day break from New Orleans. Houses are marked with a red circle and a line through it, like a “no smoking” sign, to indicate that no one remains inside. An inverted triangle means there is a corpse for removal. The officer said there are not 10,000 dead, but there are probably hundreds. Rescue workers and officers tied or chained corpses to streetlight posts, signs, rails, tracks, and fences. One of the assistants said that they keep finding people in their homes. One fellow was holed up in the attic of a home marked as clear. He’d been there with minimal rations for three weeks. There are hundreds of folks still trapped in their homes. The relief and police services are undermanned. I asked how they could possibly handle so much death. The officer said one grows sort of numb to it, like how an MD might become. He said that if I dropped over in front of him, he’d check to see if I was alive and if I wasn’t, he’d just step over me and go on. Later, the assistant said that she cannot get to numb, that she’s been crying for hours in between trying to function, with each corpse is found. A man clung to his wife as they tried to get to their car when the water poured in from Lake Pontchartrain, but their hands were pulled apart suddenly and she was gone. So was his house, his pictures, all of his records, books, clothes, and he doesn’t know where the rest of his family wound up, if they made it.

[Sept 25th, Greenville, Mississippi] I went from Tylertown to Greenville Mississippi yesterday after completing a shortened ARC services day, due to the arrival of hurricane Rita. She hit landfall on Friday night. That was something in Tylertown, with wind, rain, air pressure, and a moving, counterclockwise eerie mass of Rita over us. Today, Rita’s tropical eye was about 50-miles away from Jackson, Mississippi when a former colleague and ongoing friend of mine met the ARC courier who driving me up from Tylertown. The rain and wind became so furious that we couldn’t see more that 20-feet beyond the vehicle. We finally had to stop on the highway. My friend has an 8,000-pound Hummer H2, and at times we would hydroplane sideways, even at 5 to 10 mph. Hurricanes carry tornadoes along as they travel about on land and Rita was no exception. There were several of them around us.

I came to Greenville, because my friend has taken matters into his own hands. In 1999, the VA completed the construction of an assisted living building in Greenville, Mississippi, and then abandoned it due to financial redirection. My friend works for a company that wants to make it available to take-in forensic psych patients, diminishing pressure on overloaded state hospital systems. My friend is now finalizing negotiations with FEMA to dedicate half of the 225,000 square foot facility to house survivors of Katrina, and do something far greater. The goal will be to integrate these folks into the community of Greenville (or wherever they choose), so they do not return to the abject poverty lived in before Katrina. I design and manage large operations and programs, and my friend wanted to talk with me about the project, lessons learned from Tylertown, and brainstorm it all into a plan for community, vocational training, medical, mental health, church and educational support for the survivors of Katrina who come to Greenville for relief. Yes, real relief. It’s about time someone stepped up to do it.

He’s a staunch Republican and I’m a Democrat. We vehemently disagree on many things, but we are the closest of friends and on what counts, we’re on the same page entirely.

[Los Angeles, California, back home in late September] Yesterday my armor came off and I spent a lot of time crying. I also began to feel the fatigue. I’m so grateful for what I have, and I love being home again with my beloved wife and sweet kids. I’m so tired, and still going in and out of a tiny bit of post-dehydration wooziness. Already had a call from someone in Tylertown. I guess a victim/survivor had a gun that fell through the bleachers. Never sit in the bleachers with a gun and a hole in the pocket you’re carrying it in, I’ve always said. My experience in Montgomery and Tylertown has opened another door in my life. I intend to go through it.

[October 7] Talked with an EMT, Dan, who’s continued to work in Tylertown until the Red Cross closed operations a few days ago. Scene remains the same, although more people have electricity. Standing homes are packed with people in sweltering heat, with health problems untreated, many folks living in their cars. Miles of cars wait each morning for Red Cross assistance, yet there remains no relief, no real help, and no one else is stepping-up.

People’s Heart

The most incredible, unbelievable and poignant part of this journey was the hope and faith of these amazing people. Almost to a person, over and over and over again, I heard about their faith in God and their preservation of hope. The unwavering love among those who found or attached themselves to each other was indescribable, and people were so grateful for help, even too little and too late. It was beyond astounding to me to hear such words after these accounts of infinite, ongoing suffering. I have never met people who carried such grace and love in the face of horror, inhumanity, annihilation, anger, despair, and sheer agony. It will change me forever. It was the greatest honor I’ve ever had, to be among them, wading for a time in the waters of courage, integrity, and spirit in purest definition.

May humanity meet the level of integrity, hope, and faith of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

A Plea for America

It will be important going forward to understand what should be improved, to make disaster relief and recovery in our country work the way it should. However, now, right now, thousands and thousands of New Orleans and Mississippi Americans are without power, living in their cars, homes are gone, friends and relative’s whereabouts unknown, food and water doled-out to our citizens, as though they are refugees. I’m just an American and in my view, this situation is intolerable.

No matter whose to blame or what should be done in the future, one thing should be abundantly clear: Bureaucracy is failing. The money is there, and there are phenomenal people in FEMA and the Red Cross doing everything they can to help, within the limits of their respective bureaucratic structures. The need in Mississippi and Louisiana screams, “think outside the box.” We cannot wait for the bureaucratic systems, public sector or non-profit, to figure this out. Too many Americans are alone in a Hell few can imagine. If we are moral, if we have values, if we are the great country that we all believe in, we must act.

I know from meeting so many, incredible volunteers who came to the American Red Cross with great heart and a multitude of skills that the necessary workforce is readily available. We’re lined-up to help. I believe many who read this are ready as well, to contribute their time, hands, and hearts to help fellow Americans. I will be sending this to news agencies, but more importantly to those who have the means, the economic power, and the influence to coordinate something Americans can do that government or agencies thus far can’t.

Americans need our help. There is a great lesson about color that we can all take away from this situation. It’s very clear: Red, White, and Blue.

In your article, "Katrina & Rita make significant impact on Louisiana", the writer asserts that the only good news is that Lake Pontchartrain is in good shape and expected to return to full health. But I've sure that I heard on the news that the government pumped untreated toxic flood waters into Lake Pontchartrain when they were draining New Orleans. Was I misinformed? I don't know both assertions could be true.

Though it does sound like a contracdiction, it isn't. The toxins are dissipating fairly quickly, probably because conditions are right for the water to circulate out of the basin. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation estimates a worst case scenario of 10% displacement. Right after Katrina, the lake was in better shape than it was before the Foundation cleaned it up.

The writer was well able to console the victims of Katrina, almost with the confidence of the Lady with a Lamp, and, perhaps -- in what was more of PTSD -- he broke down, when he got back home, somewhere in California. But humanly so. The close contortion of life and property, to which he's been witness, could have been his lot. Who knows. Good stuff, though, springing from an on-the-spot assessment of the evil wrought on the Gulf people by Mother Jones, sorry, Mother Nature!

STUDY FINDS MOLD MAY ONLY BE HAZARDOUS TO GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND THEIR FAMILIES

As if government officials did not have enough to worry about in these days of allegations of rampant corruption, a new study finds they may be more susceptible to ‘toxic mold’ exposure than their constituents.

October 18, 2005

While the average citizens of New Orleans are being encouraged to return to the city with little warning of potential health hazards from breathing mold and the toxins they produce, Governor Kathleen Blanco has been residing outside of the Governor’s mansion. The mansion has been undergoing a taxpayer paid $800,000 renovation, $500,000 of which is for mold removal.

In 2003, Bryan Brown, who leads the consumer protection division for Kansas State Atty. Gen. Phill Kline, sued Kansas Republican Party Chairman Tim Shallenburger over the home Brown purchased from Shallenburger, which was reported to have mold. Brown said things started falling apart in the house and that his children became ill because of mold.

Mr. Brown has not taken any known stance in the state of Kansas to assist numerous average citizens claiming difficulty from mold. This would support the current scientific evidence frequently used in mold litigation - mold is only dangerous for government officials and their families.

As further evidence of this phenomenon and according to a survey conducted by the University of Calima, 99.9% of average citizens complaining of mold illnesses are reported to be liars and whiners - including infants. This survey was graciously funded by a grant from the National Insurance Affiliations.

After a $5.6 million dollar renovation of the South Carolina Governors Mansion three years earlier, First Lady Jenny Sanford said stachybotrys was causing health problems with her family. Stachybotrys is a known toxin producing mold.

According to Mike Sponhour, spokesman for the South Carolina State Budget and Control Board which oversees maintenance on the building, “We understand the concern the first lady has for the health of her family and children. We take that very seriously. We’re committed to doing everything we can to fix the problem and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Like numerous other government officials’ families from across the US, Governor Sanford’s family is apparently highly susceptible to mold induced illnesses.

Another government official who may suffer from susceptibility that the average citizen does not, is North Carolina Governor Mike Easley. In August of this year, he and his family were forced to move from the governor’s mansion because of mold. This is the second time in four years that the 114 year old mansion has been invaded by mold. According to Secretary of Administration, Gwynn Swinson, the governor and his family needed to clear out for health reasons.

A study done earlier this year was able to establish average citizens as those who may not suffer from the same mold illness susceptibility as analyzed in the Government Officials’ Study. Dr. Emil Bardana, President of the American College of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology (ACAAI) and prolific expert witness in mold litigation, examined 50 mold cases where people were evaluated by the physicians retained largely by the representatives of defendants. The study by allergist Bardana concluded that no credible medical evidence has emerged to link mold exposure to the wide range of serious medical conditions associated with toxic mold syndrome - which is a poisoning, not an allergy.

Although memory and immunological complications have been reported by many Americans who have been exposed to mold in prior flooded buildings, a WebMD Health Advisory regarding toxic mold syndrome and issued to the public in September of this year quoted allergist Bardana as saying, “We know that mold can make people sick if they end up in the foods they eat. But there is little evidence that inhaled environmental mold exposure can cause the serious illnesses that are attributed to it.”

It is unclear if the health advisory by the President of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology regarding no known ill health from inhaling mold applies to government officials and their families or only the public at large.

After the implication of safety from the Public Health Advisory, sales of HazMat suits that are typically worn to protect from inhaling mold during remediation are anticipated to decline. “Golly, who knew we could breathe that stuff in all day long and it wouldn’t hurt us one bit besides a runny nose. I’m just buyin’ me and my boys some gloves,” said Bubba Smith, owner of a brand new remediation company that provides expert advice to the citizens of New Orleans regarding mold clean up. Mr Smith was unable to remember the name of his new company.

Through the University of Mississippi, additional research by ACAAI allergists is underway to determine if stress from Katrina plays any role in increasing the impact of mold on the average citizen. It is uncertain if the focus of this research is the stress from Katrina itself, or the stress of having the medical community not acknowledge and treat the known neurotoxic effects caused by some molds – in the general public.

Either way, physicians writing prescriptions for antidepressant medications and referrals to allergists are anticipated to rise. Antifungal prescriptions are thought to remain stable. The number of mold litigation cases currently clogging our courts is anticipated to increase – furthering the need for services of expert witnesses.

Although the Government Officials Study was massive in the number observed to have required extensive mold remediation for the protection of their families that average citizens did not, including George W. Bush and the Governor of Mississippi, it was inconclusive in establishing if these government positions made officials more susceptible to mold illnesses than their constituents, or if their positions might actually have served to benefit the health of they and their families.

Bubba Smith, the National Insurance Affiliations, the University of Calima and a study of Gov’t Officials Mold Susceptiblity are FICTIOUS. Other information including direct quotes are REAL.

SOURCE: The Centers for Disease Control:
Mold Toxins (Mycotoxins)

Much of the information on the human health effects of inhalation exposure to mycotoxins comes from studies done in the workplace and some case studies or case reports.* Many symptoms and human health effects attributed to inhalation of mycotoxins have been reported including: mucous membrane irritation, skin rash, nausea, immune system suppression, acute or chronic liver damage, acute or chronic central nervous system damage, endocrine effects, and cancer.
More studies are needed to get a clear picture of the health effects related to most mycotoxins. However, it is clearly prudent to avoid exposure to molds and mycotoxins.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/pdf/flyer-get-rid-of-mold.pdf

SOURCE: Annals of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, September 2005. The Official Publication for the ACAAI

By Will Boggs, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Mold and dampness can cause coughing and wheezing, but there is little evidence to support the existence of the so-called toxic mold syndrome, according to a report by researchers at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland.

Toxic mold syndrome -- illnesses caused specifically by exposure to mold -- continues to cause public concern despite a lack of evidence that supports its existence, researchers explain in the September issue of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Several critical reviews have failed to find scientific support for toxic effects from breathing in mold spores as a viable mechanism of human disease, they add.

Dr. Barzin Khalili and Dr. Emil J. Bardana, Jr. describe the clinical characteristics of 50 patients with complaints of illness they attributed to mold exposure in their home or workplace. The patients had been referred by a defense attorney in a civil litigation or by insurance adjusters representing worker's compensation agencies.

There was no consistent set of symptoms, the authors report, with patients having an average of more than eight symptoms. Most patients reported a family or personal history of allergy or asthma.

Three quarters of the patients had abnormal physical examination results, the researchers note, with inflammation of the eye or skin and congestion occurring most commonly.

Thirty patients had other non-mold-related illnesses that could explain most, if not all, of their mold-related complaints, the report indicates, and nearly two thirds of the individuals had evidence of a previously diagnosed mood disorder.

"In fact," the investigators write, "when the entire history and objective evidence were scrutinized, a number of well-established and plausible diagnoses emerged that explained many, if not all, the complaints."

In a commentary in the journal, Dr. Abba I. Terr from UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco contends that toxic mold disease is "the latest in a series of environmentally related pseudo-illnesses" that include multiple chemical sensitivity, also known as idiopathic environmental intolerance, and chronic fatigue syndrome, which was attributed at one time to infection with Epstein-Barr virus.

"Since these authors have determined that the patients they describe do not have a mold-related disease but are nevertheless seeking compensation for presumed illness through a legal process that has defined it in those terms, toxic mold disease is truly a diagnosis of litigation," Terr concludes.

MOLD

Do not panic over mold. It is everywhere and in typical settings will most likely not harm you. But, IF YOU OR YOUR LOVED ONES ARE EXPERIENCING ILL HEALTH with a variety of symptoms after exposure to a damp building - yet your doctor is not educated to recognize your illness may be caused by a ‘sick building’ - Provide your doctor with the following Guide from the Univeristy of Conneticutt. This information may also be accessed through the website of the EPA.

Clinician's Guidance on Moisture & Mold in the Indoor Environment

If the governor of Louisiana can get $500,000 to remove mold left by other rats that lived in the mansion. Can I get the same for having the Jefferson Parish Head Rat causing the flooding of my house to pay for mine? Let her live in it a while just like the rest of us!!!

She is telling all of us to use bleach $500,000. is a lot of bleach WHAT"S UP WITH THIS GOVENOR?

What's up with that? The reason that the good citizens of New Orleans are not being provided the clear picture of the serious illnesses mold and the toxins some molds produce, has little to do with hurricanes.

It is reported there are 10,000 mold cases currently in our court system, where people have been made very ill after exposure to mold within an indoor environment. The purpose of keeping you all in the dark, is to limit financial liability for stakeholder industries involved in these cases. If one cannot prove they are ill from mold exposure, then the damages of those whose negligence may have caused the illnesses is greatly reduced.

This stifling of medical knowledged is being carried out through some of the medical associations of the US. (did you know that some of these good doctors receive over $100,000 for single court testimonies denying these illnesses as real?)

When some of you all start experiencing memory and other cognitive dysfunctions -they are going to give you prozac and tell you it is from the stress of Katrina. Then when some of you start experiencing physical symptoms, they are going to tell you that it is a result of the stress you have been under.

Nothing could be further from the truth that they (including the CDC knows) Certain molds produce toxins that can cause neurological and cognitive dysfuntions.

I would strongly suggest for anyone who is experiencing persistant atypical symptoms after exposure to damp buildings to look up the University of Coneticutt, EPA approved: Guidance For Clinicians re: Mold and Moisture Exposure.

Otherwise, you will be diagnosed as depressed and stressed from the hurricanes. You will be fed a bunch of antidepressants and put through many useless tests. You will be allowed to have your actual illness go undiagnosed, untreated and progessively worse.

But the good news is...financial liability for stakeholder industries involved in mold litigation will not be increased.

I think this should be criminal what is being allowed to happen to people over the mold issue and all for the sake of the almighty dollar.

Sharon Kramer

Car Loans http://www.carloansexpress.biz