Surrounded by mold, Saint Paul Missionary Baptist Pastor Haywood Johnson, leaves the church after rescuing sermon robes nearly a month after Hurricane Ida's wind and storm surge devastated the historic African American community in Plaquemines Parish. After about six months in his Irish Channel apartment, Allen Clayton started having coughing episodes. He didn’t have a history of asthma and he wasn’t around common triggers like smoke.
He was a healthy 33-year-old who got exercise regularly as a pedicab driver. But suddenly, he was coughing until he passed out. He visited the emergency room several times, where they gave him breathing treatments and sent him on his way.
“I thought I was dying,” Clayton said. It wasn’t until an ear, nose and throat doctor sent a scope down his nose that the problem became clear. “He just immediately said, ‘You got a lot of mold in your house, don't you?,’” Clayton recalled.
“He says, ‘You need to move out, like, today.’” With an abundance of rain, regular flooding and a humid climate, Louisiana buildings are uniquely positioned to cultivate a moldy environment. That translates to health effects for many residents who become sensitized to mold over time.
“We see it all the time,” said Dr. John Carlson, allergy and immunology specialist at Ochsner Health. About half of the patients Carlson sees for allergies end up testing positive for a mold allergy that can translate to typical symptoms like coughing, watery eyes a.