Flood Clean Up Guidelines
(February 6, 2008) -
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Cuyahoga County Board of Health Advises Residents to Follow
Proper Flood Clean up Guidelines and To Avoid Swimming in Lakes and Streams for 48 Hours After a
Heavy Rain
The Cuyahoga County Board of Health (CCBH) has posted detailed
guidelines on its website for cleaning up your home after a flood event. If the link
does not work copy and paste the URL link into your web browser.
CCBH recommends following these simple tips prior to clean up to
assure personal safety:
The potential for electric shock is a true possibility in any
flooded area. Wear rubber boots in wet areas until it is certain no electrical hazards exist.
- Turn off main switches and unplug electrical appliances in wet
areas.
- Do not turn on any appliances which have become wet until they have
been thoroughly dried and checked for proper operation.
- Do not use matches , torches or any other open flame until the area
has been thoroughly vented to remove natural gas. The gas or liquid propane supply to all
appliances in flooded areas should be shut off until the appliance has been checked
The following are basic guidelines for clean up:
- Bacteria, viruses and fungi must be killed in the cleanup process.
The most widely accepted, safe and effective sanitizing agent is hypochlorite in the form of
household bleach.
The bleach solution recommended for cleanup is one half cup of bleach to one gallon of
water
. Never mix bleach and ammonia, which can produce chlorine gas, which is
deadly.
- Determine what items will have to be discarded and remove them for
disposal.
- Generally, if the bleach solution comes into contact with all
surfaces of an item, that item may be salvageable. Stuffed furniture, pillows and mattresses will
have to be discarded; indoor/outdoor carpeting and rugs may be salvageable. Thick wall to wall
carpeting and padding will have to be discarded or professionally treated.
- Thoroughly rinse all visible soil from all items to be kept. Rinse
the walls several inches above highest flood level. Carefully rinse behind any base coving to
remove all soil. Rinse down the entire floor.
- Prepare the bleach solution as directed above. It may be possible
to immerse smaller items in the solution. A broom or mop may be used on larger surfaces to aid in
applying the bleach and water.
- If the flood waters have reached more than several inches up the
sides of hollow walls, these walls will have to be removed. Cut out the area of drywall that has
become wet and discard.
- Thoroughly saturate the remaining studs with the bleach
solution.
- Allow the bleach solution to remain on all surfaces for at least 15
minutes for adequate kill time.
- Several methods can be used to dry the cleanup area. Fans,
dehumidifiers, fresh air ventilation, mops, squeegees, and wet/dry vacuums are all good
alternatives.
- Over the several weeks following the flood replace disposable
furnace filters or clean permanent filters with the bleach solution several times to reduce trapped
mold spores.
As always, CCBH recommends avoiding any contact with water from lakes and streams for at
least 48 hours after a heavy rain event.
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