Fungus and the Superstorm Sandy

robklurfield

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An unusual question in the aftermath of the storm.

We own property in one of the hardest hit regions of the storm's wrath at the Jersey Shore. The barrier island on which the home is located has been under martial law, with inspection visits limited and requiring escort by National Guard troops. Our particular area is open for the first since the storm today.

For insurance purposes it will be critical to make as many images as possible of the wreckage. Because of the extent of the damage, we have been told to expect hazardous conditions requiring use of face masks, rubber gloves, rubber boots, etc. We have been told to expect extreme mold (and I assume, therefore, also fungus) growth everywhere, not to mention incursions of water tainted by all manner of toxic fluids and chemicals (sewage included).

Alright, given these conditions, is it a safe assumption that it would be rather unwise to bring any valued camera equipment and glass into such an environment as the likelihood of coming home with active fungus spores is a extraordinarily high? I am planning to bring only an iPhone. A good choice, right?

We have been told to assume that everything we are wearing that is not rubber may need to be destroyed. The authorities are actually "washing" the sand that is being removed from the streets out of fear that it is highly contaminated by germs (the sewage being a major culprit) and chemicals (oils, gases, formaldehyde, etc. and who knows what else).

We are told that a neighbor who visited the home in which two or three generations of his family grew up (a full-time residence in an area largely used for vacation homes), vomited upon seeing the extent of the wreckage, so we are not expecting anything cheery to come of our first visit (we probably won't be able to make the trip until next week).

All that said, we are lucky. Our primary residence escaped largely unscathed (save for being without electricity and heat for 12 and half days and still without phone, internet, cable, etc., thousands in downed trees needing to be removed). Very lucky. The damaged place is an investment property -- a big chunk of our retirement savings, BUT not the roof over our heads. Our kids enjoyed many happy summers there, but losing it won't make us homeless. Many people are not so lucky. If you have concerns about those folks, give to the American Red Cross.

Thanks for any insights on not bringing home fungus and other creepy, destructive stuff.
 
Hi Rob, my deepest sympathy for what happened. I am glad you and your family are in sound condition and still have roof over your heads. Regarding fungus and poisonous substance, I think it's best you go there with a simple point and shoot, after all the idea is to take pictures for the insurance company right?
 
On May 5th 1989 100 mile per hour winds swept thru our neighborhood here in Winston Salem. We had two trees on our house and lost twelve large trees on our less than one acre lot.

No power, mud everywhere but we were lucky. We got dried in the next day, I had a good chainsaw and knew how to use it and we got a new kitchen out of it.

Keep all these folks in your prayers. It will take about a year to get houses and lives back together. I would not wish this on anyone.

Good Luck and God Bless to all. Joe
 
Be safe

Be safe

Rob
Be safe out there.Don't take any risks.If the house is a total loss shoot you pictures from outside and let the pros do the rest.You can't afford to risk your health trying to save anything replaceable.

Randy T
 
Hi Rob,

sorry for your troubles but as you said, not your primary residence and no one got hurt.
Same here.... we were very lucky, just 10 days w/o power and communication.

As for the fungus and stuff. The photos will be for documentation purpose, so any digital P&S will do the job but it will also not do any valuable camera of yours any harm as long as you don't drop it in the water.

It will not get stored for weeks in this environment, so it's like shooting in bad weather. Just wipe it off afterwards. What ever camera you use, you will take it back from there, so there isn't any problem.
 
Hi Rob, sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope life gets back to normal for you ASAP (and it will get back to normal). You know, I bought my wife a Canon digital camera for around $100 (I think from Amazon) and it has done very well by her. Why not leave the expensive gear in a safe place?
 
Rob, we're in a similar situation, though reversed. Our house flooded, but the BH was relatively untouched. We put everything up on the 2nd floor beforehand, which limited the damage.

My experience (perhaps incorrect) has been that salt water kills most things and I haven't had much trouble with just salt water flooding. But, every half-full bottle or box of "whatever" dumps into the water and coats everything, so you get food, olive, motor and gear oil from under the sink, shelf, garage or bathroom spreading over all in an oily film. Add dead plants and marine life and you've got a toxic soup, particularly 2 weeks later.

Salt water also "kills" the septic system's bacteria, so that is 'dead' becoming a simple tank that has to be pumped and resuscitated, in a couple months.

I'd use a P&S; in my case the S100. I cracked its screen during the storm somehow, but it still works.

Thoughts and prayers for those, like you, who were badly hit. It was the worst storm of my lifetime to hit here and it ranks up there with the last dusie of the '30s my parents experienced.

-Charlie
.
 
Rob,

Please accept my condolences. Until I was 18, I spent a lot of time at the Jersey Shore. My cousin has a home in Avalon. My wife's best friend has a home in Ocean City, NJ.

I hope the cold weather has minimized mold growth. I also hope the dire warnings about mold from the authorities are somewhat exaggerated in order to discourage home owners from visiting. Unfortunately we know the all the damage is severe and non-mold toxic residue will be present.

I wish you and you family the best of luck during the recovery.
 
We'll be making a visit on Sunday. From what a neighbor told us, we seem to escaped with far less damage than I feared. Yet, not more than 800 or 1000 feet away, two houses were totally destroyed. They were right on the beach.
 
I hope that the damage is not too great, but I wouldn't worry about fungus in the camera that you take to document the damage. Fungi are universal and your camera is alway being exposed to it - if you ever took it to a construction site or a farm it has gotten dosed with countless spores. It is when conditions are right - temperature and most of all moisture that they start to grow, which shouldn't be a problem for a dry camera. Good luck.
 
Rob, I am so sorry this happened to you. I hope that your second home escaped the worst, as your neighbor indicated.

I know that cameras and electronics rapidly succumb to mold and fungus in hot tropical climates - here that will not really be the case. Nonetheless, I would not risk dropping my Leica in some goo, just for the sake of a pic for the insurance company. ;-(

God bless, and hope you can make a positive report after the weekend.

Randy
 
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