After the Water

Don't rush this step — most flood injuries happen during cleanup, not the storm.

• Electricity + water kills. If water reached outlets, appliances or your panel, keep the power OFF and call an electrician or FPL before flipping anything.
• Smell gas? Leave and call 911 from outside.
• Wear boots and gloves. Floodwater hides nails, glass, and — this is Florida — snakes and fire ants. Cover any cuts; floodwater carries bacteria (Florida Health).
• If sewage backed up into the house, treat everything it touched as contaminated.

Your claim is worth what you can prove. Photograph and video every room, every wall, every damaged item before anything gets cleaned, moved or thrown out — including the waterline on the walls and the serial numbers on appliances.

👇 The free Claims Photo Log below organizes it all into one packet for your adjuster.

• Your insurer — today. Start the claim, get a claim number, ask what they need. Note: flood damage is covered by a separate flood insurance policy (NFIP or private), not regular homeowners — check which you have.
• Report your status / damage: Indian River County EOC (772) 226-4000. Reporting damage helps the county document the disaster — which is what unlocks state and federal help.
• Keep every receipt — pumps, fans, hotel nights, tarps, cleaning supplies. Reasonable emergency spending is often reimbursable.
• Take notes: who you talked to, when, what they said. Claims take months; memory doesn't.

Drying only works if the water has actually stopped. When the source is obvious — storm water that came in and drained — skip ahead to Step 05. But if carpet is wet and nobody knows why, baseboards are peeling, or a damp spot keeps coming back, read the signs before you dry, patch or close anything up:

• It follows the rain. Water shows up during or right after wind-driven rain; stains gather around windows and doors; carpet is wet along an exterior wall. That's failed window or door seals, or flashing — a glazier or window contractor's job.
• It's there rain or shine. Moisture that never fully dries, near a bathroom or kitchen wall, a musty smell, a water bill that jumped, a warm or damp patch on the slab, or a faint hiss when the house is quiet — that's a plumbing leak, supply line or drain. Call a plumber who does leak detection (acoustic listening gear, thermal cameras) before anyone opens a wall: pinpointing the leak first means one small cut instead of a torn-up room.
• It's coming up, over a wide area. Water at floor level across a whole room or more, new cracks, doors that suddenly stick — think slab, foundation or groundwater. Call a foundation specialist, and walk the outside of the house too: the ground should slope away from the walls, and downspouts shouldn't dump water against the foundation.
• The stain is on the ceiling. That's the roof — but the stain often sits well away from the actual leak, because water travels along rafters and drywall before it shows.

Suspect a plumbing leak? Don't wait for the plumber to stop the damage — close the shutoff valve for that fixture or zone now (the main shutoff if you can't isolate it), then make the call.

Two rules while you hunt: photograph everything before you move or cut it — where the water came from is part of your claim (Step 02) — and don't open walls until the source is confirmed. Demolition before diagnosis only makes the repair bigger.

And tell your insurer what you find (Step 03): the source affects how a claim is handled — a pipe that suddenly burst and a slow leak that seeped for months are generally treated very differently. Another reason to find the real source early, and to have the photos to prove it.

Mold can start growing in ⏱ 24–48 HOURS on wet materials. The goal of the first two days is simple: get it dry.

• Pump or mop standing water out as soon as it's safe. Open windows when weather allows; run fans and AC; a dehumidifier earns its keep this week.
• Wet carpet padding, soaked upholstery and drenched drywall usually can't be saved — and holding onto them feeds mold. (Photograph first — Step 02.)
• Hard surfaces can be cleaned and disinfected. Never mix bleach with ammonia or other cleaners — the fumes are dangerous.

• Gloves, boots, eye protection. A mask (N95 if you have one) for moldy rooms.
• Wash hands often; shower after a cleanup session. If you're overdue for a tetanus shot and get cut on debris, call your doctor or urgent care.
• Work in short shifts — heat, humidity and grief are exhausting. Drink water that you know is safe.
• Bag debris and stack it neatly at the curb, separated the way your county asks — it speeds pickup for the whole street.

Wells: if floodwater reached your well, do not drink the water until the well has been disinfected and a lab test comes back clean (Florida Health). Use bottled water, or boil for a rolling 1 minute, for drinking, cooking, ice and brushing teeth. Your county health department can tell you how to get a sample tested.

Septic: conserve water hard while the ground is saturated — short showers, hold the laundry. Do NOT have the tank pumped while the ground is flooded — a pumped-empty tank in high groundwater can cave in or float. Most systems recover as the ground dries.