Over the last two years, floods have damaged homes and businesses in all 50 states. The total cost for flood damage in the U.S. now stands at over $1 billion. While enduring a major flood is traumatic, dealing with the aftermath is equally as harrowing. Even minor flooding of a few inches can cause severe damage taking months to repair. A systematic approach can help homeowners wade through the murky aftermath of a flood.
Insurance and Other Assistance
• Insurance. One of the first things you should do after a flood is contact your insurance company to see if your policy covers the damage. Homeowner’s policies do not cover flood damage, so flood insurance is a wise investment, even if you’ve taken measures to prevent flood damage.
Note: Document damage by making a list, taking photos, or using videotape as you begin cleaning your home. Besides needing the records for insurance claims, you can also use the information when applying for disaster assistance and income tax deductions.
• Federal Assistance. Disaster assistance is available in Presidentially-declared disaster zones and can help you in recovery. Flood insurance provides more coverage than federal disaster assistance. Insurance could cover a home a certain home for $250,000, while federal aid would provide only $35,000 toward the same home.
Note: If you receive disaster assistance, you cannot receive it again for 3 years. Should your home incur flood damage again within that time period, you would need flood insurance to cover the damage.
• Local Aid. Voluntary agencies, such as the Red Cross, church groups, civic clubs, and businesses typically provide flood relief. Telephone hotlines with such information are available in federally declared disasters.
Safety First
As owners enter their homes after a flood, safety is of the utmost importance. Avoid entering a house until local officials have declared it safe. Be cautious when entering, and don’t go in if water remains around the building.
• Utilities. Report broken power lines and other damaged utilities to the appropriate authorities. Turn off all utilities and have them inspected and restored safely by a professional. Avoid any downed power lines, particularly those in water. See if your sewage and waterlines are damaged and if necessary, have them serviced as soon as possible as they can pose major health threats. Ensure that your water is potable before drinking.
• Fire Hazards. In case of a gas leak, use battery-powered lanterns or flashlights when examining your home and avoid smoking inside. Consult the utility company about using electrical equipment, including power generators.
• Structural Damage. To ensure your home is not in danger of collapsing, inspect the foundation for damage and check the integrity of walls, floors, doors, staircases, and windows.
• Chemicals. Be aware of potential chemical hazards around your property, such as leaking propane tanks or car batteries.
Clean Up
Home owners should clean and disinfect every surface in their home, including walls and hard-surfaced floors, with either a store-bought product or a homemade solution. A disinfectant solution can be made with 1/4 cup of chlorine bleach and a gallon of water. Open windows in the house for ventilation as you clean.
• Dry It Out. To avoid damage to the foundation, gradually pump water from flooded basements (2-3 feet per day). For items that cannot be washed, such as mattresses and furniture, if they are salvageable air dry them outside and then spray them with a disinfectant. Otherwise, throw them out.
• Food Areas. Throw away food that has been in contact with water (some canned items can be saved) and disinfect surfaces that contact food, such as counters, shelves, tables, utensils, serving ware, and refrigerators.
• Kids areas. Carefully clean areas where your children play.
• Clothes. Wash linens and clothing in hot water or dry clean them.
• Carpet. Steam clean carpeting if possible.
• Bathrooms. If sewage has come into the house, wear rubber boots and waterproof gloves to clean up.
• Throw It Out. Remove and discard items cannot be disinfected. Likely items include cloth, upholstered furniture, and drywall. Drywall acts like a sponge and will likely grow moldy, creating a permanent hazard unless removed.
• Freezer Approach. To protect from mildew, photographs, books, and important papers can be frozen and cleaned later. Dry them carefully, wash off mud and debris, place in plastic bags, and then store the items in a frost-free freezer until you have time to clean them.
An Ounce of Prevention…
If your house has flooded once, it can flood again, so take measures to prevent or mitigate flood damage in the future. Be prepared for the next time by reconstructing your home with flood proof materials and using techniques that will minimize damage. Have food stores and an evacuation plan and look into purchasing flood insurance. If your flooding was caused by leaking pipes, appliances, or water seeping into the basement, water alarms and leak detectors are also available, which will alert you to the presence of rising water in your home.
Rob Zawrotny
http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/what-to-do-after-a-major-house-flood-59230.html
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
What a landlord "should" do after major flood due to busted toilet pipe?
My family & I went camping over the w/end and came home Sunday to find that our master bedroom bathroom toilet pipe had busted. It had totally flooded the bathroom, bedroom, closet and half of our living room. It had to happen as soon as we left on Friday to have "that" much water.
I called the landlord instantly and the carpet guy came out and sucked up the water and put down blowers between the carpet and the padding. You could actually see where the drywall had absorbed the water about 12" from the baseboards.
The following morning the owners of the house came out and pulled up the carpet and put out dehumidifiers. The thing that concerns me is mold & mildew. There is no noticeable or viewable mold seen from the interior but what about the inside of the walls and the studs? The baseboard in the bedroom was bulking and my bathroom door will not shut at all due to it being warped from the water.
The landlord, as I mentioned earlier, pulled up the wet carpet and is going to replace the carpet. My walls are turning yellow due to the water stains. The landlord is NOT going to cut a hole to dry out the drywall. He’s just going to paint over the stains to cover them up. Is this safe? I’m concerned about mold forming. I have a 3 yr old and this concerns me immensly.
Should the landlord replace the drywall? Should he at least cut a hole in the drywall to place a dehumidifer there to dry out the inside of the walls? What steps as a tenant should I take to insure the safety of my family? Now, just to give you an idea, we left Friday around 5p, came home Sunday around 11am and there was at least an inch of water (sloshing water). So thats 2 days there. They sucked up the water approx. 3p Sunday but was still sloshy in some areas. The carpet was actually removed approx 2p on Monday.
If the wall weren’t discolored or the door warped it wouldn’t concern me as much, but seeing this, and knowing that they’re just going to "cover" it up scares me. Sorry for such a long post but wanted to make it clear as possibly. Any opinions are very much appreciated.
From what I’ve heard Mold can grow inside the walls and you may never know. We have a great relationship with our landlords and would hate to move, but the health of my kids come first.
The landlords also stated that their homeowners does not cover structural water damage ;(
Get a copy of your Renter's Agreement first and see what that says. Then go to the State Level and find out about Landlord/Tennant Laws.
From all the stories I have heard from renters I am surprised that the landlord did not accuse you of doing something to break the pipe so they did not have to pay for it. Not all landlords are that way, but you don't find that out till something happens.
I would cover your butt and get a professional opinion on why the pipe broke. Get it in writing if you can otherwise it is meaningless. Take pictures every time something happens and document it. Go to the Federal Level and call OSHA or someone like that and get their legal opinion. PLAN ON push coming to shove if you now know that the landlord just wants to do a cosmetic fix.
Get pictures of the way things are now and write things down daily if you have to. Even write down what the landlord says to you if you find him all of a sudden wanting to ask you too many questions. That goes to motive in court. Whatever you do DON'T keep that information where you live now and don't keep just one copy. If the landlord has the right to come in anytime they want "just to check on things" when you are not there I would be suspicious in light of what just happened.
There are enough dishonest landords (and tennants for that matter) out there that I would go under the "guilty until proven innocent" rule, AND I would Never Apologize for writing what happened here or anywhere else where your family's safety is concerned.
Should you ever leave that rental I would demand a signed, written letter from the landlord stating that you paid your rent on time, you did not cause any trouble and there were no problems whatsoever during your tenancy. Remember that should you choose to ever rent after your current rental the first thing the landlords will do is talk. As one Attorney told me a long time ago, "If you don't get it in writing, it never happened".
Forewarned is Forearmed… Good LuckReferences :
Well if your only renting the the landlord can basically do what he wants. If he wants to save money by just repainting the walls then he can do that but if mold starts to grow then he will HAVE to replace the dry wall because it will not be safe for living. As for you personal things that sucks but renters insurance will pay for it and if you dont have renters insurance the you are SOL.
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Replacing the walls or not is up to the landlord. If you feel the repairs are not adequate, you can use that as cause to break the lease and move somewhere else. I would suggest you contact a home inspection persona nd see what he says…
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Having to replace the drywall depends on what the water remediators did when they came in to suck up the water and dry things out. There is a mold and bacterial application that can be put on the drywall after it’s dried out totally. This is basically a spray that prevents mold and/or mildew from growing after a water event. If I were you I’d ask the remediators if they put down this mold inhibitor. If they didn’t, I would express my concerns in no uncertain terms to the landlord. If he decides to do nothing but paint over the once wet drywall, I would contact your local board of health and see if there is anything they can do on your behalf.
Good Luck
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Had pipes burst and the remediators rocked!
mold will not grow as fast as you think and i think what he is doing will work just fine if the fans dry the wall all the way i had this happen to me if you want you can pull back the base board after a few weeks and see if there is some but i think you will be ok
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apartment manager