Mold Remediation in Hudson, FL

Hudson is an unincorporated Gulf community at the western end of Pasco County, about 32 miles from Tampa. It has residential canals, the Port of Hudson and Hudson Beach, and sits around 7 feet above sea level. Its population skews older, with a median age of 59.7 in 2020. About 62 percent of homes are single-family, 27 percent are mobile homes and 11 percent multi-family, and about 77 percent are owner-occupied. Many homes along the canals, most of them mobile homes, went up from the 1980s on.

Idalia, then Helene

Idalia's surge put a reported 3 to 5 feet of water into the Sea Ranch community at Hudson Beach, trapping residents. One family a block from a canal woke to ankle-high water that rose to their thighs as they left. A year later, Helene's surge left a water line of about 42 inches in a canal home off Sea Ranch Drive, just after neighbors had finished rebuilding from Idalia. On Maryland Avenue, a home took in at least five feet of water, and a resident said nearly every house was a total loss. Almost every home in the Gulf Breeze Mobile Home Park flooded, and Pasco County declared many unsafe because floors and outlets were compromised.

Steps after floodwater

1. Only go back in when the county says it's safe, and keep children out of the cleanup.
2. Remove items soaked by floodwater that can't be cleaned and dried within 24 to 48 hours, as DOH-Pasco advises.
3. Open windows and wear at least an N-95 respirator while removing wet or moldy materials.
4. In mobile homes, check the belly wrap, subfloor and skirting; soaked insulation and flooring usually need replacing.
5. Remove mold before painting or caulking, never over it.

Permits and flood zones

Pasco County Building Construction Services issues permits in unincorporated Hudson, with central offices on Citizens Drive in New Port Richey plus Dade City and Land O' Lakes, and posts post-storm permit information. Check your FEMA zone with Pasco's Find My Flood Zone lookup; V and VE zones are coastal high-risk areas and A and AE zones are the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area.

Renters, health and the call

Pasco County Code Compliance takes property-maintenance complaints through Pasco Customer Service or the county 311 portal. Health questions can go to the Florida Department of Health in Pasco County; EPA advises people with asthma or weakened immune systems to stay away from moldy areas.

Your call connects you with an independent local remediation company. Florida's s. 468.8419 keeps assessors and remediators apart on the same structure for 12 months, so the business that removes mold won't be the one that tests it. Verify the remediator's license on DBPR's online search.