Hurricane Season Heats Up

At the beginning of August, we put hit pause and told the highly trained professionals who conduct our water and air quality tests  as well as our residential mold inspectors to go home and prepare their homes and families for what was at the time Tropical Storm Isaias, which was predicted to strengthen and become a hurricane.  

Hurricane Isaias

We were very fortunate, the storm stayed just off our coast. It kicked up the surf quite impressively and blustered its way north along the coast, eventually becoming a Category 1 hurricane. 

The folks in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina were not as lucky. That’s where Hurricane Isaias went ashore, it’s hurricane force winds and the tornadoes it spawned knocking out power, taking down trees and claiming the lives of 5 people. From there, the storm continued heading north. It was rated a tropical storm when it hit the Northeast, but that was enough to do serous damage and leave hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without power. 

Hurricane Laura 

The Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas braced for not one but two storms a few weeks later. Hurricane Marco jumped ahead of Laura, which formed first and moved ashore as a tropical storm near the mouth of the Mississippi River on Aug. 24. 

Hurricane Laura made landfall in the early hours of Aug. 27 as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane. The storm left catastrophic damage in its wake, devastating the town of Lake Charles, Louisiana. 

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center did an amazing job at predicting the location and timing of Laura’s assault on the coast, allowing time for people to evacuate. Many lives were saved, but there was nothing that could be done to save the homes and businesses that they had left behind. 

What does all of this have to do with indoor air quality, home allergen testing and asbestos inspections? Nothing, really. All of us at AirMD are just feeling very fortunate. If you are feeling fortunate today, too, you might want to take a minute to think about those who are not faring as well and make a donation to a worthy nonprofit that can help them.