As residents of Iowa deal with more record-breaking flooding today, the water damage restoration and cleanup experts at Rainbow International offer the following list of helpful websites:

Story County, Iowa: http://www.storycounty.com/
The City of Ames: http://www.cityofames.org/
The Des Moines Register: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/
The Ames Tribune: http://www.amestrib.com/
The Iowa State Daily: http://www.iowastatedaily.com/
WHO-HD NBC 13: http://www.whotv.com/

When dealing with a water damage situation:

In the event of water damage, do the following:

• Stay calm! Call Rainbow International.
• Make sure the water source is turned off. This will help contain the damage.
• Turn off the breaker in the damaged area before you unplug or remove any electrical devices located on the wet carpet.
• Place aluminum foil under the legs of any furniture which is in contact with wet carpet. This might help prevent furniture stains on your carpet.
• Lift draperies away from wet carpet.
• Pin up upholstered furniture skirts which may get wet.
• Remove books, shoes, paper goods, fabrics, potted plants, and other items which may stain wet carpet.

Do not attempt the following:

• Don’t use your home vacuum, since electrical shock may result, as well as certain damage to the equipment itself.
• Don’t place newspaper in traffic areas to walk on, since newspaper ink transfers easily to the wet carpet fibers and may result in permanent staining.
• Don’t walk on carpet any more than necessary. This will keep the damage from spreading to unaffected areas.

In a few days close to two hundred Rainbow International franchise owners, their families, team members and business associates will descend on the history city of San Antonio, Texas for the 29^th annual Dwyer Group Reunion. The event runs June 20-23, 2010. 

Reunion is a festive time designed to bring the many concepts of The Dwyer Group together annually for updates, inspirational speakers, informative business-specific classes and, most importantly, fellowship amongst the thousands of gifted and dedicated individuals that own and operate their own franchise.

A new feature this year includes live social media updates from Rainbow International as we join our sister concepts (Aireserv, Mr. Appliance, Mr. Electric, Glass Doctor, Mr. Rooter and The Grounds Guys) and their attendees at Reunion. Time allowing, we intend to post frequent updates to our Facebook, Twitter and FriendFeed accounts and maybe even new video to our YouTube channel. You may access these feeds via the following links:

www.facebook.com/rainbowintl
www.twitter.com/rainbowintl
www.friendfeed.com/rainbowintl
www.youtube.com/rainbowintl

We are excited about this opportunity to share the unique experience that is Reunion with our extended network of business associates and friends. If you don’t follow Rainbow International at the above mentioned accounts, please feel free to do so and share with your friends. We believe a tremendous strength of the social (new) media movement lies in its capacity to expand contact, conversation and the exchange of relevant information.

Make plans to check our blog and social media channels often for updates!

Here’s a great article about home mold cleanup and safety from the EPA: 

Mold Cleanup

Who should do the cleanup depends on a number of factors.  One consideration is the size of the mold problem.  If the moldy area is less than about 10 square feet (less than roughly a 3 ft. by 3 ft. patch), in most cases, you can handle the job yourself, following the guidelines below.  However:

• If there has been a lot of water damage, and/or mold growth covers more than 10 square feet, consult EPA’s Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings.  Although focused on schools and commercial buildings, this document is applicable to other building types.
   
• If you choose to hire a contractor (or other professional service provider) to do the cleanup, make sure the contractor has experience cleaning up mold.  Check references and ask the contractor to follow the recommendations in EPA’s Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings, the guidelines of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygenists (ACGIH), or other guidelines from professional or government organizations.
   
• If you suspect that the heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) system may be contaminated with mold (it is part of an identified moisture problem, for instance, or there is mold near the intake to the system), consult EPA’s guide Should You Have the Air Ducts in Your Home Cleaned? before taking further action. Do not run the HVAC system if you know or suspect that it is contaminated with mold – it could spread mold throughout the building.
   
• If the water and/or mold damage was caused by sewage or other contaminated water, then call in a professional who has experience cleaning and fixing buildings damaged by contaminated water.
   
• If you have health concerns, consult a health professional before starting cleanup.

http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldcleanup.html

Please see the link below to a terrific story about Sarah McNelly and Rainbow International Of Sacramento helping a customer deal with pesky rats chewing holes in attic water pipes.

http://www.kcra.com/money/22385450/detail.html

03.19.2010 – After water, smoke or fire damage, it is natural for a person to want to begin the cleaning of their home or business. While timely action can be a great help, it is also true that incorrect or delayed action can jeopardize or seriously impede satisfactory restoration. In fact, the wrong action can make restoration more difficult and can greatly delay the timeliness of achieving the best results possible.

Water damage is progressive and items that could be restored within the first 48 hours of the water damage may not be restored if emergency response is delayed. Although you might be tempted to use a shop vacuum or call a company that only has equipment to dry carpet, you should consider that water will wick up walls and travel under base molding and sill plates. It will penetrate through floor coverings into sub-floors, even causing water damage in rooms below.

In addition, if humidity inside the structure is not controlled, items that were not damaged from the original water damage could be damaged as a result of absorbing moisture from the air. Structures that are not dried out quickly and properly can become a food source for mold growth.

In the event of water damage, do the following:

Stay calm! Call Rainbow International.

Turn off breakers in damaged areas before you unplug or remove any electrical devices located on the carpet.

Place aluminum foil under the legs of any furniture which is in contact with wet carpet. This might help prevent furniture stains on your carpet.

Lift draperies away from wet carpet.

Pin up upholstered furniture skirts which may get wet.

Remove books, shoes, paper goods, fabrics, potted plants, and other items which may stain wet carpet.

Do not attempt the following:

Don’t use your home vacuum, since electrical shock may result, as well as certain damage to the equipment itself.

Don’t place newspaper in traffic areas to walk on, since newspaper ink transfers easily to the wet carpet fibers and may result in permanent staining.

Don’t walk on carpet any more than necessary. This will keep the damage from spreading to unaffected areas.

Rainbow International Service Professionals are trained on current procedures, such as Rapid Structural Drying, to dry your entire structure as quickly as possible, using state-of-the-art equipment and technology. Moisture meters are used to locate moisture that may not be visible or may be hidden behind walls or cabinets, so that our Service Professionals can ensure that all wet materials are dry. Because we understand how important it is to react quickly in the unfortunate event of water, smoke, or fire damage, you can rely on Rainbow International to provide emergency response and quick professional service 24-hours a day.

Call your nearest Rainbow International location at (877) 517-2462 or visit http://www.rainbowintl.com and search via ZIP code.