Students at Florida State University are complaining after coming back from their winter break and finding an unpleasant surprise.
Students said they've had to throw away blankets, pillows and clothing due to mold and mildew found in their rooms. Several complaints came from students living in some of the university's older dorms like Smith Hall.
"The whole building was filled with mold. It was in the elevators, on the floor, it was in the rooms, on the wall," one student explained.
University housing officials said the rooms have been deemed safe to live in.
Jose Vazquez's daughter lives at Smith Hall. He said last semester she was already complaining about mold, but when she returned to Tallahassee from Miami, the problem got worse.
"The living situation now is not appropriate. You send your children to study and you're expecting to have a healthy environment," Vazquez said.
Vazquez's daughter and two other students who spoke to NBC 6 said the mold is so bad, they have respiratory issues or other health conditions.
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"When I moved in, I developed bronchitis and for the whole semester I wasn't able to get rid of it," one student said.
Video shot by a student shows personal belongings, now trash, out in the dorm hallway. A sign warns others: "Dangerous, don't touch, mold."
"They think just reimbursing is going to fix it, but it's really not. Health is way more important than just paying for a mattress pad or a pillow," another student said.
FSU released the following statement about the issue:
"We had a mold problem in one of our oldest residence halls that had been closed for three weeks in warm, rainy weather during the winter break. As soon as it reopened, housing staff immediately began working with students to resolve the problem, clean their rooms and repair any damaged items. The university's Environmental Health & Safety department followed up, checking the entire hall and deemed it safe."
