4.   I didn’t die/ didn’t suffer extensive damage only because I was given oxygen to help me breathe/ that after one hour or so, essentially relieved all trouble, and I returned to normal.  Had it not been for the oxygen, my body was in trouble; could have died/ was “trying to breathe from the bottom of my toes so to speak”/ in trouble.   The obvious solution or need here is KEEP OXYGEN ON SITE, whenever you are working around mold.  I needed it at an earlier time as well, but recovered;   wasn’t in it long/ but didn’t have a mask.   Oxygen in welder tanks is just fine/ don’t worry about filters, you breathe all kinds of stuff in the air everyday as well.  Oxygen can be in an emergency kit due to one company having produced a very small propane oxygen torch which uses the little cast away propane cylinders.  Just the value, a small hose, and one oxygen cylinder makes a perfect small emergency pack.  Try not to need it.
When killing mold in a crawl space: DON’T go down into the crawl space with the gas.  DO use a sprayer (plastic hose, with small drill holes in it or actual sprayer nozzles adapted and drill holes in the foundation to insert the pipe from the outside so you can run the length of the building in relative safety.  BUT DO remember that too much gas is hazardous; so do a section, and then another section the next day, or whatever you feel is safe. Where a breathing mask.  You only got one set of lungs. Same is true of interior walls/  section at a time.  Every house should have a mold inspection prior to buying it, prior to living in it, if any suspicion arises.
Most things DO NOT have to be thrown away!  But they do have to be dealt with properly, learn how.   Just leave most  insulation,  out in the sun/ do kill the mold, if obvious. and let it dry.  Do use a GOOD breathing mask/ NOT a cheap particle mask as most do to put in insulation:   it gets in your lungs.  Be kinder to yourself than that/ your body will thank you.

The best way to hire a contractor in these types of situations in particular is:   to buy the materials yourself/ and arrange deliveries yourself, in realistic “bite size pieces” so you can keep track of the materials.  And pay the contractor based upon distinct “goals met”.  Get this much done/ you get paid this much money; and so on.  Find one you can work with.

5.  One of the things about living in an area that can be flooded.  Is you do have to be prepared for floods.  IF you have a basement.  It is a very simple concept solution for the average homeowner:   when you know a flood is coming.  To put large floats created from Styrofoam into the basement; plywood at the bottom. Remove what holds the house to its foundation such as anchor bolts/ place a rubber connection between the sewer piping so it can detach.  And let the house rise with the water on the strofoam floats.  It should stay within the foundation but you can chain it dependent upon the expected water height.       Styrofoam that does not absorb water should be used, structured within the float to withstand the pressures applied/ styrofoam that does absorb water must be wrapped in a single sheet of plastic to keep the water out. Or this cheaper product can be stacked in foot square pieces to provide structures for support within the containment area of the float (lighter, cheaper)  Cut and glued into an appropriate shape.  If it leaks/ you sink.  If something smashes into it and pokes a hole/ you sink.  Therefore a chain link fence type of barrier, hanging from the house;  could be used.  The most likely danger is in the first foot of water.
Retrofit or new construction expects that the float is the basement/ with a one foot wide empty zone outside the float perimeter, to allow water to rise the structure when needed. No more “house flooding”.

You must displace the amount of water by weight, with the amount of styrofoam that exceeds that volume of space to be able to lift a house (just like a boat).  A 50,000 pound house (with everything in it)/ generally 2000 sq ft  average house.  Needs 50,000 divided by 8 pounds per gallon=6250 gallon displacement.  A gallon equals 230 cubic inches 230 times 6250=1,437, 500 cubic inches. .134 (the conversion rate)= 192,625 cubic feet @ a depth of one foot in water.  For every one foot deeper you go, an additional 8 pounds of force is added. At ten feet, its 80 pounds, per sq foot, pushing up.   So to lift 50,000 pounds, it matters how deep you go with floats.  Assuming a depth of 4 feet gives us a force of 32 pounds of lift. 192, 625 divided by 32=6019 cubic feet that must be displaced.  Divided by 4 for the depth= an area of 1504 square feet gives you an area of 40 by 37 feet to lift 50,000 pounds.  Divided by 7 feet deep=3439  cubic feet for lift displacement/ divided by 7= 491 cubic feet of displacement. OR an area of float 20 x 25. See the difference?  But every portion of the lowest level in water must be able to resist 56 pounds per square foot, without serious deflection.
HOW MUCH does your house weigh, including floats?  Architectural drawings, have plans/ plans usually have shipping weights/ plus your stuff.  A bundled styrofoam 4x4x8=128 cubic feet :   or 1504 stacks this size. Obviously that won’t work.  You must be able to use the displacement of water by creating space within the water that it cannot enter like a boat.  Which brings the question back to “very strong/ very light houses made out of aluminum filled with waterproof styrofoam and ready for lifting. In areas which flood.

The question is:   what can we use?  The only realistic answer is several independent rubber inflatable’s that are winched under the house, by removing the foundation under the sides which do not support the main portion of the house.  You can put several under the house uninflated, “more than would otherwise fit” (long tractor tire inner-tube/ pontoon types).  With a common manifold for filling with air/ individual shut-offs to each one/ and a back up pump in case.  You must inflate them as the water rises, not before in a basement. Careful of sharp edges.  Moved from location to location/ a shared possession if possible. 
A greater answer is obviously keep the rivers from flooding by creating retention ponds along the river, or in areas designated for that purpose.  The most simple method of doing that is to enlarge all tributaries to twice their size./ or whatever the volume of water expected to increase would demand. That would include leveling the bottom of these ditches and streams, to create a slower run of water (not “tilted for flow”/ level for slow; share the burdens/ don’t send me your trouble). Water will create its own trench, to form the stream in low water times.  Bigger locks and dams on the mississippi river won’t help to control large floods/ they would help smaller floods.

On the issue of water, YOU MUST start getting used to the idea that bottled water is no longer a right, a need, or a reality that can be sustained.  People buy it because they do not trust their own water supply/ an honest concern.  However it is more true that instead of buying water believing they will protect us.  We MUST simply protect our own water supplies from all forms of disaster.  For today/ tomorrow/ and more than one hundred years from today; the future HAS rights too.