Motorcycles, scooters, and outdoor equipment

A motorcycle on a kickstand takes floodwater in places a truck laughs at. Scooters, pit bikes, lawn mowers, pressure washers, and that generator on the patio all have intakes close to the ground. If the yard was a pond, they drank.

The same rule as cars: don’t start them to see. A hydrolocked mower is a smaller tragedy than a hydrolocked pickup, and it is still a fire risk and a claim item.

Photograph them in the silt, then move them to a dry slab if you can do it without ripping your back. Outdoor equipment is easy to forget on a contents list. That’s how a $700 generator becomes a shrug.

Do this now

Do not pull a start cord or hit a button on anything that sat in the water.
Photograph each item in place with the water line on the nearby siding or fence.
Move them to high, dry ground if you can lift them safely. Tip a mower only the way a shop would, not like a toy.
Add them to the auto, flood contents, or homeowners list that actually covers that item.
Keep kids off scooters that “might still run.”

Motorcycles and the electrics

Water in the airbox, the exhaust, the wheel bearings, and the wiring harness is the set. A bike that sat in a first-floor apartment cage near White Oak Park is a flood bike even if you dried the seat with a towel.

Ask the insurer whether it is an auto-type comprehensive claim or a specialty policy. Some Houston riders only carry liability. That is a hard answer. It is still the answer.

Generators and the carbon-monoxide leftover

If the generator sat in water, do not start it in the garage to “dry the house.” A wet generator is a shock and a CO problem. Photograph it for the claim. Borrow or buy a dry one and keep it outside, away from windows.

Houstonians often report killing a generator and a car on the same afternoon. One restraint session covers both.

Mowers, trimmers, and the shed

Small engines take water through the exhaust and the cap. Fuel mixes with floodwater and becomes a disposal problem. Do not dump that mix in the ditch. Ask the city or county hazardous-waste guidance once they post storm rules.

List the shed contents. A flooded shed is a mini house. Adjusters miss it when you miss it.

E-scooters and charging gear

Lithium packs that went swimming are a fire conversation. Do not charge a flooded scooter in the hallway of a Midtown building. Photograph it. Ask the insurer or the manufacturer path. Put it outside on a noncombustible surface if you must store it.

Shared scooters in the silt are not yours to salvage. Leave them. The company can find their brick.