If you evacuated your home because of Hurricane Ida, you might not have had a chance to clean and empty your refrigerator before rushing out the door.
All of that perishable food depends on cold temperatures for freshness and has no doubt begun spoiling or rotting inside your icebox, creating a nightmare of a smelly mess to clean up upon your return.
Some neighbors have relied on the kindness of gracious residents who stayed behind to unplug and clean out their refrigerators.
If that’s not possible, here are some recommendations for the cleanup process that LSU's housing specialist Claudette Reichel gave NOLA News:
1. Be sure your appliances are unplugged.
2. Protect yourself by putting on rubber gloves and a mask.
3. Throw out everything left behind.
4. Remove all of the shelves, trays, and crisper drawers and wash them diligently with hot water, dish detergent, and a tablespoon of liquid bleach.
5. Scrub the interior of the refrigerator and freezer, including the door and its rubber seal, using the solution above with added baking soda.
6. Leave the door open for about a half-hour to allow the air to circulate.
For any persistent odors, use a solution of water and vinegar, which kills mold and mildew, and leave the door open for several days. Then stuff the fridge or freezer with rolled-up newspapers, allowing it to sit for several days before washing it down with vinegar and water again. Finally, soak a cotton swab with vanilla and sit inside with the door closed for at least a full day.
Additionally, if your refrigerator has a drip pan, it needs to be washed and sanitized as well!
“Obviously, if it's a huge mold problem, that's a different story, and given the circumstances of the city right now, there's not much you could do about that,” Tulane epidemiologist Felicia Rabito told Gambit Weekly. “Mold is all about moisture. If it doesn't have water, then it won't grow.”
Kay Morrison, the owner of The Occasional Wife, told Gambit her team of 10 helps New Orleans-area residents get belongings they left behind shipped and clean out their refrigerators, the latter which is currently most popular.
“We're booked daily, all day on that,” said Morrison, noting a surge in requests from Tualen students who thought they’d be returning to their apartments.
“Parents are hiring us to go in and pack up things that they need right away,” she added.
Updated 9/3/21 with quotes from the Gambit Weekly.
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