The first day decides whether you have a wet house or a mold house. Heat plus Gulf air plus wet gypsum is a 24-to-48-hour clock, not a polite calendar.
If the power is out, you are limited. If the panel is wet, you are done with DIY electricity. Pull water by hand and gravity if that is all you have.
Do not start a bleach party. Move water, move stuff, move air.
Do this now
- Stay off wet floors if the panel or outlets were submerged. Call a pro if you smell gas or see arcing.
- Push standing water out with a squeegee, wet vac, or pump once it is safe.
- Lift furniture, rugs, and boxes onto blocks or take them outside to a dry, shaded slab.
- Open windows on opposite sides if outdoor air is drier and the yard is not still a lake.
- Photograph the water line before you wipe it off.
Order of operations
Safety, then water, then contents, then air. People reverse that and fog a hallway while a closet still holds two inches of bayou.
Pull carpet tack strips later if you have to. Right now get the pad off the slab if it is soaked. Wet pad is a sponge against Houston concrete.
If neighbors have a generator and you do not, borrow runtime for a pump, not a television.
What ‘airflow’ means in this climate
A box fan aimed at a puddle without a dehumidifier just paints humidity around the room. If you can rent or borrow a dehumidifier, put it in the wettest closed space you can still enter safely.
At night the outdoor air can be wetter than you think. Do not create a cross-breeze that imports more moisture if you already have a working dehumidifier.
Sleep somewhere dry if you can. You will work faster tomorrow if you are not breathing the house.
Do this next
- Shop vacs, pumps, and what to borrow from a neighbor
- Wet drywall, insulation, and when DIY becomes a mold factory
- Water cleanup hub
More in Getting water out & drying now.