For Mid-Atlantic states, damage from summer storms may be long-term

It has been a rough summer for residents of the Mid-Atlantic states who have had to endure record heat and devastating storms that, in some cases, left them without power for days.

Back in June, denizens of Virginia, Washington D.C. and Maryland bore witness to one storm that produced hurricane force winds, widespread thunderstorms and damaging floods. The National Weather Service concluded that this was a multi-day dericho storm, which is a rare weather event that causes massive damage over a swath of land that sometimes extends for hundreds of miles.

In response to the destruction, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley sent a request to the federal government asking them to declare six counties throughout the state as disaster relief areas, the Washington Post reports. O'Malley did this in the hopes of recouping up to 75 percent of the cleanup costs following the dericho.

Though much of the damage from the storm has since been repaired, a lot of the recovery will take place over the long term.

One issue residents will need to worry about is the development of toxic black mold, which the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) warns has the potential to develop anywhere where moisture levels are high. The CDC warns that hazardous black molds could be hard to find and identify as it may be behind walls. Black mold is known to develop in homes following major floods like the ones that took place during the storm.

Households affected by the dericho, or any of the weather events that have plagued the Mid-Atlantic during this abnormally severe summer, should contact a home inspector to determine the presence of damage that the owner may not immediately recognize. This includes seeking a mold inspection to take care of a potentially hazardous problem before it gets too large.