It is important to prevent the extensive mould growth and
mould-related health effects. Therefore the proper remediation of
flood-damaged homes should be conducted as soon as possible
after flooding. Our results indicated significantly lower adjusted OR
for visible vapour condensation and mould growth in ‘removing
mud from crawl space’ and ‘disinfecting crawl and indoor space’. If
mud could be removed from crawl space at an early stage after
flooding, moisture source was eliminated and it was expected to
prevent extensive mould growth. In the aftermath of major hurricanes
or floods, the recommendation that building wet for
>48 h will support mould growth and should be remediated was
provided [8]. The proper remediation of flood-damaged homes
should be important for reducing the indoor environmental exposure
of microbial contaminations [8,9]. All cleaning methods were
effective for decreasing the concentration of indoor fungi [17], and
moreover respirators should be worn at least when entering,
cleaning and repairing flood-damaged homes for avoiding the
occurrence of the averse health effect [9,21]. To prevent microbial
contamination after flooding, drying methods of building surface
materials [16] and flooded buildings [18] were provided. The results
of this study indicated that ‘drying crawl space’ was not effective to
prevent indoor dampness and visible mould.