Hurricane Irene – Flood, Water Damage And FEMA Funds Run Low

Hurricane Irene, 2011′s first hurricane, has left a path of disaster in it’s tracks. Regarding its affect on the USA, Irene passed along the coasts of Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, New York and Vermont. Vermont has seen the worst flooding in centuries. Early estimates of total damaged incurred by Irene are over $10 Billion already. Compared to the damages exacted by Hurricane Katrina, $105.8-billion, this $10 Billion is low.


As of today, there are still 3 million people on the Eastern US seaboard that are without power and thousands of people are either homeless and/or stranded by flood waters. US National Guard and firefighters have rescued hundreds of people from record flooding in New Jersey and Vermont and are now planning to airlift food and water to inland towns cut off by Hurricane Irene.

Unfortunately, FEMA’s funding has hit a low. Ten storms in the US that have required FEMA funds this year alone have caused billions in damage. FEMA’s fund is now below $1 Billion. FEMA is stating that some projects are being put on hold and no new projects will be approved until FEMA assess the needs of Hurricane Irene survivors. This year has been one of the most extreme for weather in U.S. history, with $35 billion in losses so far from floods, tornadoes and heat waves.

Hurricane Irene has killed at least 40 people and caused substantial property damage from North Carolina to Vermont over the weekend.

Currently, eyes are on Tropical Storm Katia which could be a hurricane as early as Wednesday, August 31.

1-800-DRY-ME-OUT is a full service water damage restoration company that provides emergency water removal from hurricane damage and flood damage, water mitigation, carpet drying, mold remediation, fire damage, sinkhole and sewer cleanup services. 1-800-DRY-ME-OUT is located in Port Richey, Florida, and proudly services the West Gulf Coast of Florida. For more information, please visit http://www.drymeout.com

Call A Water Mitigation Company Immediately

One of our most recent water damage restoration jobs is a classic example of something we come across so often in the restoration industry: water damage that leads to a severe black mold problem. And this mold problem could have been completely avoided had the clients called us for water mitigation and dry out services.

The clients, Jill and Mike, had recently sold their home and are in the process of building a new home. In the interim, they found a home to rent. Upon moving in, they placed a lot of their boxes in the basement for storage. Once moved in, Jill and Mike didn’t have any need to venture back into the basement. About two months later, and coincidentally after a lot of heavy rain storms, Jill needed to get something from one of the boxes in the basement. Upon heading into the basement, she was horrified at what she saw!

“There was over an inch of water covering the entire basement floor,” Jill told us, “I was completely mortified.”

All of their boxes were sitting in over an inch of standing water. The worst part was that neither Jill nor Mike knew for exactly how long.

“We had been experiencing a few weeks of serious rain so I am not exactly sure when the basement flood would have occurred,” Mike explained.

Jill and Mike proceeded to take the boxes out of the water and move them to one area of the basement that wasn’t affected by the flood damage. Regarding the remaining water, they left it because they assumed it would seep back into the ground.

“The basement floor is just a concrete slab so we though it would be okay to just let it figure its way out,” Jill told us.

“Interestingly enough, we found a hole dug out for a sump pump. The cap was on it but there was no sump pump. This obviously alerted us to the fact that the landlord/home owner of our rental property must have known there would be flood and water issues in the basement. But why were we not told of it and why was there no sump pump?” Mike explained.

Read the rest of: Basement Flood Damage