What to Do After a Flood in Your House

The instinct after a flood is to rush in and start cleaning, but the first few minutes should be about safety, not salvage. Standing water can hide live electrical hazards, contaminated water, and weakened flooring, so take a breath and assess before you wade in.

If water is anywhere near outlets, the panel, or appliances, shut off the electricity at the breaker — but only if you can reach it without standing in water. When in doubt, call your utility or an electrician. Wear rubber boots and gloves, and assume any flood water that came from outside or a sewer line is contaminated until proven otherwise.

If the flood came from a burst pipe or an overflowing fixture, shut off the water at the main valve to stop more from coming in. For storm or groundwater flooding, there's no valve to close, so your focus shifts straight to removal and documentation.

Before you move or remove anything, photograph and video the damage from every angle — standing water, soaked walls, ruined furniture, and the source if you can see it. This record is the backbone of your insurance claim, and it's far easier to over-document now than to wish you had later.

Mold can begin growing within 24 to 48 hours, so the clock matters. Get standing water out with a wet/dry vacuum or pump, pull up soaked rugs, and move what furniture you can to a dry area. Open windows and run fans and dehumidifiers to get air moving.

The hard part is the water you can't see — moisture wicks into drywall, baseboards, subfloor, and wall cavities, where household fans won't reach it. This is where professional drying equipment and moisture meters make the difference between a clean recovery and hidden rot or mold weeks later.

A small, clean-water spill you catch immediately is often a DIY job. But several feet of water, contaminated water, or any flooding that's been sitting for more than a day calls for a restoration crew with extraction pumps, commercial dehumidifiers, and the tools to verify the structure is actually dry.

A professional team also documents moisture readings for your insurer and can spot the early signs of mold and structural damage you'd likely miss. When the damage is significant, calling early almost always costs less than waiting and dealing with the secondary damage.