Electrical panels and water: do not DIY this part

Water in a breaker box is not a DIY puzzle. Houston floods put silt in the bus, and the house can still have utility power sitting on a wet can.

If you are standing in water, you do not reach for the panel. If the panel face is wet, you do not flip breakers to ‘see what works.’

People die on this step trying to be useful. Be boring. Get a licensed electrician.

Do this now

1. If you smell burning, see sparks, or the meter can is wet, get out and call 911 or CenterPoint as the scene demands.
2. Stay off wet floors around the panel. Do not open the dead front.
3. Call a licensed electrician. This is not a neighbor-with-a-screwdriver job.
4. Report outages on the CenterPoint map if the house is dark. Confirm 713-207-2222 on CenterPoint’s site if you call.

What ‘the power is off’ does not mean

A dark house can still have a live service drop. A tripped main can still leave the utility side hot. Standing water can hide a damaged cable.

If CenterPoint pulled the meter, that is a different, safer picture. Do not assume they did just because the block is quiet.

Generators backfeeding a wet panel are how linemen get hurt. Never tie a generator into the panel without a proper interlock and a dry, inspected setup.

After a pro says it is safe

Then you can talk about which circuits you will abandon until they are replaced. Outlets that sat in bayou water are not ‘fine if they click.’

Photograph the silt line on the panel before anyone cleans it. That photo pays.

If the electrician wants the utility to disconnect, let them make that call. You can live with a dark house for a day. You cannot live with a guess.

Do this next

1. First 24 hours: pull water, move stuff, start airflow
2. Shop vacs, pumps, and what to borrow from a neighbor
3. Water cleanup hub

More in Getting water out & drying now.