Flooding and Allergies

Remnants of two tropical storms combined with an area of low pressure are a recipe for disaster.  In this case it led to many basements flooded.  Even after you get rid of the water, mold is still present.  Doctor Parushasp Dhabhar explained how mold grows.  "Mold spirals are everywhere their always present, their present in this room right now as we speak. It's a question of if the conditions are right for them to proliferate."

            Doctor Dhabhar offers some advice for those trying to clean up flood damage." You have to have fans and a dehumidifier to dry it out. That is the most important thing. In terms of systematic treatment the only real treatment is antihistamine, decongestant, or nasal spray"

            Should people look for specific over the counter medications?  "There are at least six different medications. Their all good, they all work. There are some that cause a little bit more drowsiness than others but they are all very effective."

            Hurricane Katrina left people with a cough so bad experts dubbed it Katrina Cough.  Do Central New Yorkers have to worry about something similar?  "It will not lead to that kind of epidemic proportion. That was a very unique situation; there you had standing water many feet of it which destroyed homes. This just does not compete with that. We were not hit that badly."