What Do I Do If My House Is Flooded

If your house is flooded, your first move is to get yourself and your family safe, then shut off the water at the source and kill the power to any wet area only if you can reach the breaker without standing in water — after that, call for professional water damage help right away. The faster water gets stopped and the drying starts, the less damage it does to your floors, walls, and belongings. I'm Jordan Brush with Prime Cleaning and Restoration right here in Tyler, Texas, and water damage is the work we do the most. Let me walk you through exactly what to do first, in the order that matters.

1. Get Everybody Safe Before You Touch Anything

When you've got water where it doesn't belong, the first thing on your mind can't be the furniture or the floors — it's got to be the people. Water and electricity together are nothing to mess with, and a soaked floor can hide a lot you can't see. Before you go wading in to grab things or snap pictures, stop and think about where that water's coming from and what it's sitting on top of.

Here in East Texas, a lot of homes have outlets, cords, and appliances down low where floodwater reaches them fast. If there's any chance the water's touched something electrical, treat the whole area like it's live until you know otherwise.

• Stay out of standing water that's anywhere near outlets, cords, or plugged-in appliances.
• Don't shut off the power by standing in the water — if you can't reach the breaker from a dry spot, leave it and call for help.
• Get kids, older folks, and pets up and out of the wet area first.

Pro Tip: If water is rising and you're not sure it's safe, get everyone out of the house and make your calls from a dry, safe spot. No belonging is worth a risk to your family.

2. Shut Off the Water at the Source

Once folks are safe, your next job is stopping more water from coming in. If a pipe burst, a water heater let go, or a supply line under a sink failed, you want to close your main water shutoff valve. Most Tyler-area homes have that valve near where the water line comes into the house, out by the meter, or in a utility area — and it's worth knowing where yours is before you ever need it.

If the water's coming from rain or rising outside, you can't shut that off, but you can still work to keep more of it from getting in and move your valuables up high. Either way, the sooner the source stops, the sooner the clock stops running on the damage.

• Find and close your main water shutoff valve to stop supply-line flooding.
• For an appliance leak, close the smaller shutoff valve right behind that fixture.
• If you can't find or turn the valve, call your water provider or a plumber right away.

Pro Tip: Go find your main shutoff valve today, while it's dry and calm, and make sure the whole family knows where it is. In a real flood, you don't want to be hunting for it.

3. Start Getting Water Out and Air Moving

After the source is stopped and everybody's safe, time is the thing working against you. Standing water soaks deeper into drywall, subfloor, and framing by the hour, and that's where the real trouble starts. If it's safe to do so, you can start pulling water out and getting air moving while you wait on help.

You don't need fancy equipment to make a difference in the first hour. A wet/dry vacuum, towels, and mops all help. Getting furniture up off wet carpet keeps the damage from spreading into things you'd rather save. But know your limits — the drying that actually protects a house happens below the surface, and that takes real equipment and know-how.

• Soak up and remove as much standing water as you safely can.
• Open windows and run fans to get air circulating if the weather allows.
• Lift furniture, rugs, and anything valuable up off the wet floor.

Pro Tip: Carpet can look dry on top while the pad and subfloor underneath stay soaked for days. Don't trust your eyes on this one — moisture hiding underneath is what leads to warping and mold down the road.

4. Document the Damage for Your Insurance

Before you haul everything off and start tearing things out, take a few minutes to document what happened. Photos and video of the water, the damaged areas, and your belongings can make a real difference when it comes time to file a claim. You want a clear record of where the water was and what it touched.

I'm not an insurance agent, and I'm not going to promise you what your policy covers — every policy's different and you'll want to call your carrier. What I can tell you is that good documentation protects you, and so does acting fast to stop the damage from getting worse. Insurance companies want to see that you did what you reasonably could to limit it.

• Take photos and video of standing water before you clean anything up.
• Save damaged items or pieces of them until your adjuster has seen them.
• Write down when it started and what you think caused it.

Pro Tip: Call your insurance company early and ask how they want the claim handled. The sooner you loop them in, the smoother things tend to go.

5. Call a Water Damage Restoration Pro Right Away

The last first step is the most important one for your home's long-term health: get a professional out there fast. Proper water damage restoration isn't just mopping up what you can see — it's finding the moisture hiding in walls, under floors, and behind cabinets, and drying it all the way out before it turns into warping, rot, or mold. That's the part most folks can't do on their own.

Water damage restoration is the work we do the most at Prime Cleaning and Restoration, and we're based right here in Tyler, Texas serving the surrounding East Texas area. When you call, we're going to listen to what happened, get moving quick, and do our best we can for your home. That's all we can ask of ourselves, and it's what you ought to expect.

• Call sooner rather than later — the quicker drying starts, the less damage sets in.
• Pick someone who'll stand behind the work and treat your home right.
• Ask what the process looks like so you know exactly what you're getting.

Pro Tip: Keep a restoration company's number saved in your phone right now. When water's coming up through your floor, you don't want to be searching for who to call.

What I've learned about flooded houses after years in the field

The biggest thing I've learned is that water damage doesn't wait on you to figure it out. Every hour that water sits, it's working its way deeper into a home — and the folks who call fast almost always come out better than the ones who wait a day or two hoping it'll dry on its own. It rarely does. What looks like a small puddle on the surface is often a soaked subfloor you can't see.

I got into this line of work because I wanted to set a standard — to show people what a job done the right way actually looks like. That's how I've run things since I started Prime Cleaning and Restoration back in 2016, and it's how I run every water job today. This is not my business. This is God's business, and I'm just trying to run it the best I can and treat folks the way they deserve to be treated. When you're standing in a flooded house, you don't need somebody cutting corners on you — you need somebody who'll do right.

I'll tell you straight: all you've really got in this life is your word and your name. So when we show up to your home, we're not there to take advantage of a bad situation. We're there to work for you. You can read more about how we do that over at Prime Cleaning and Restoration.

And if something's not right — if there's a problem and you come back to us the right way — we'll fix it. No worries. That's just part of standing behind what you do.

How Prime Cleaning and Restoration helps Tyler-area homeowners with a flooded house

When your house floods, Prime Cleaning and Restoration is here in Tyler, Texas to help you stop the damage and get your home dried out the right way. Water damage restoration is what we do the most, and we bring the equipment and the know-how to find the moisture you can't see and dry it all the way out — not just the part sitting on top of your floor. We work with everyday homeowners across Tyler and the surrounding East Texas area, and we treat your home like it matters, because to you it does.

We give everybody our best. If you're dealing with a leak, soaked floors, or water coming up where it shouldn't be, don't sit on it — the sooner we get started, the more we can save. Call us at (903) 594-8007, or come find us at Prime Cleaning and Restoration. We'd be proud to work for you.

We're regular folks right here in Tyler, same as you, and we'd rather help a neighbor through a hard day than anything else. That's the standard we hold ourselves to.

FAQ

What do I do if my house is flooded?

If your house is flooded, get everyone safe first, shut off the water at the source, cut power to the wet area only if you can do it from a dry spot, then call a water damage restoration pro right away. Acting fast to stop the water and start drying is what keeps a bad situation from getting worse. Prime Cleaning and Restoration in Tyler, Texas handles exactly this kind of emergency.

Should I turn off the electricity if my house is flooded?

You should turn off the electricity to any flooded area, but only if you can reach the breaker without standing in or touching water. If the breaker box is in the wet zone or you can't get to it safely, leave it alone, get out of the house, and call for help from a safe, dry spot. Water and electricity together are a real danger, so never take a chance on it.

How fast do I need to act when my house floods?

You need to act as fast as you safely can, because standing water soaks deeper into floors, walls, and framing every hour it sits. The homeowners who call for help quickly almost always come out better than the ones who wait, since early drying is what prevents warping, rot, and mold. At Prime Cleaning and Restoration in Tyler, Texas, we move quick for exactly that reason.

Can I clean up a flooded house myself?

You can safely remove standing water with a wet/dry vacuum, towels, and fans, and lift furniture off wet floors, but full drying usually needs a professional. The moisture that causes long-term damage hides in the subfloor and behind walls where you can't see or reach it, and that takes real equipment to dry out properly. Doing the surface cleanup helps, but call a pro to finish the job right.

Who do I call when my house floods in Tyler, Texas?

When your house floods in Tyler, Texas, call Prime Cleaning and Restoration at (903) 594-8007 for water damage restoration. Water damage is the work we do the most, and we serve homeowners across Tyler and the surrounding East Texas area. We'll listen, get moving fast, and do our best we can for your home.