"It's a devastation financially. People are having to having to move out of their homes and people can't afford rent and a mortgage payment. And they're worried about their insurance being cancelled."



She compared it to people stuck on their roof in New Orleans with the hurricane with helicopters going by."/>


"It's a devastation financially. People are having to having to move out of their homes and people can't afford rent and a mortgage payment. And they're worried about their insurance being cancelled."



She compared it to people stuck on their roof in New Orleans with the hurricane with helicopters going by."/>


"It's a devastation financially. People are having to having to move out of their homes and people can't afford rent and a mortgage payment. And they're worried about their insurance being cancelled."



She compared it to people stuck on their roof in New Orleans with the hurricane with helicopters going by." />
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Kottkamp speaks at NFM Toxic Drywall Rally over weekend

3 min read
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Organizer Brenda Brincku called toxic drywall “the Silent Hurricane” at a rally to bring awareness of the issue held Saturday at The Shell Factory & Nature Park.

“It’s a devastation financially. People are having to having to move out of their homes and people can’t afford rent and a mortgage payment. And they’re worried about their insurance being cancelled.”

She compared it to people stuck on their roof in New Orleans with the hurricane with helicopters going by. “The government needs to understand that people are going to walk away from their homes because they are not going to pay for a toxic house they can’t live in.”

The event was called the Rally for the Cause. “The reason we decided to have the rally is because we’re focusing on the effects to children. It’s pretty devastating – kids have to move out, you have to sell things to survive. We sold our boat and a golf cart and more.”

They were owners and builders of their home, she said. “It’s consumed us for 11 months, we’re trying to figure out what went wrong. We moved out of our house on March 19 and sometimes the financial strain is overwhelming, worrying about our future.”

She and husband George Brincku of Alva organized the event with Richard and Patti Kampf of Cape Coral.

The Kampfs have been living with Chinese drywall for just over two years. The Brincku’s have American dry wall.

“It’s not only a Chinese drywall problem but American as well,” Brenda continued. “The message is that people need help now – not six months from now, to survive.

American drywall has the same symptoms as the Chinese products. “We had to move out because it has corroded everything in our home.”

Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp was the guest speaker. His Southwest Florida home has the toxic drywall.

One organizer, Brenda Brincku knows Kottkamp’s wife Cindy, and asked that he appear at the rally.

“I’ve brought in folks from the Department of Health and I’m trying to get some answers on whether or not there are long-term health problems related to this,” he said. “The preliminary tests seem to suggest the answer to that is no, however, I think as both Lieutenant Governor and a father, I’d like to have a little bit more concrete answers, as these people would, on that issue. The next issue is – what is the solution? We need to have a process in place so these people have help and know that this will be over some day. That’s the next thing I’m pushing.”

“What seems to be lacking in my view is the lack of urgency,” Kottkamp continued. “We know there at least 30,000 homes in Florida, at least 100,000 homes in America and I don’t know if that’s high or low.” But it is effecting that many families, he said.