Flood damage is its own kind of water damage
Flood damage restoration in Houston starts with one fact that changes everything else: water that came in from outside is dirty water.
A split supply line under the sink sends clean tap water across the floor. A flood is different. Water that rose out of a bayou, ran off a street, backed up from a ditch or pushed in from Galveston Bay has picked up soil, sewage from overwhelmed lines, fuel, lawn chemicals and whatever else it crossed. The restoration industry's main standard, the IICRC S500, puts rising floodwater from rivers and streams, ground surface water and seawater in Category 3, the most contaminated group, alongside sewage.
That label is why flood cleanup costs more, takes longer and throws away more of the house than a pipe leak of the same size. It is also why the first rule after a flood is simple: stay out of the water, and keep children and pets out of it.
Water Damage Pro Houston does none of that cleanup. It is a no-cost number to call: an automated assistant asks what happened and transfers you to an independent, locally owned restoration company that takes flood calls in your part of greater Houston. The inspection, the estimate and the flood cleanup all come from that company.
Safety before anything else. If you smell gas, leave the house now and, once outside, call 911 and your gas utility's emergency line (CenterPoint Energy serves much of greater Houston). Never walk into standing water near outlets, cords or appliances; switch power off at the breaker only if you can reach the panel while standing on a dry floor, otherwise call your electric utility (CenterPoint Energy in much of greater Houston) or an electrician. Stay out of sewage water. If it is safe to reach, close the main water shutoff.
What a careful flood cleanup looks like
Each restoration company has its own methods, and the one you are connected with will explain its plan after it sees the house. Most flood jobs follow the same broad order, because each step depends on the one before it.
- Safety and documentation. The company checks for electrical hazards, gas smells and structural problems before anyone works inside, then photographs and measures the damage. Take your own photos and video first, too, before anything is moved.
- Water and mud removal. Standing water is pumped or extracted, and the silt left behind is shoveled and washed out. Floodwater mud carries the same contamination as the water.
- Removal of porous materials. Carpet and pad, insulation and the wet part of the drywall generally come out. Crews often cut drywall in a straight line above the highest wet point, which the trade calls a flood cut, so the wall cavity can be cleaned and dried. Particleboard cabinet bases and swollen trim often go too.
- Cleaning. What stays (studs, the concrete slab, solid wood framing) is cleaned to remove silt and contamination. Ask the company what cleaning products it uses and why.
- Drying and moisture checks. Dehumidifiers (machines that pull water out of the air) and air movers run until moisture meters, tools that read how wet a material is, show the framing and slab are back to normal. In Houston's humid summers this step decides whether mold follows.
- Rebuild. Only after the structure is dry do drywall, insulation, floors and cabinets go back in. That is water damage repair, often a separate estimate.
The order matters because the EPA says wet materials dried within 24 to 48 hours usually do not grow mold, and floodwater rarely leaves you that much time. A house that sat in water for days during a regional flood may already need a mold check by the time anyone arrives. The mold timeline guide explains why.
Wind-driven rain is not automatically floodwater. In March 2026 the IICRC said water from weather events is not automatically Category 3; the category depends on what is found at the site. Rain blown through a broken window is judged differently from water that rose out of a bayou. Ask the company which category it assigned and why, because it drives what must be removed.
Flood policy or homeowners policy: which one applies?
This is the question most Houston flood victims get wrong, and it shapes everything about paying for the cleanup. The answer depends on where the water came from, not how much damage it did.
| Situation | Policy that usually applies | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Rising water from a bayou, street, ditch or storm surge | A separate flood policy (NFIP or private). Standard homeowners policies do not cover flood. | Do I have flood coverage, for the building and for my belongings, and how do I file? |
| A pipe or water heater bursts during a storm | Usually the homeowners policy, as sudden and accidental water damage. | Is this sudden and accidental under my policy? What is my deductible? |
| Rain enters through storm damage to the roof or a window | Depends on the policy and how the opening was caused. | Does my policy cover rain that came in through storm damage? |
| Mold after either kind of water | Most home policies limit or exclude mold cleanup. | Is mold covered at all, and up to what amount? |
The Texas Department of Insurance says home policies do not cover floods, and FEMA says most homeowners policies do not either. National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies generally have a 30 day wait before they start, with some exceptions such as a policy tied to a new mortgage. FEMA's NFIP line is 800-427-4661. TDI also warns that an insurer can deny a claim if you do not protect the property from more damage, which is one reason not to wait on the cleanup. None of this tells you what your own policy pays; only your insurer can, so call it and keep notes. The homeowners insurance guide goes deeper.
Flood zones: how to look up your own property
FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Maps sort land into zones. A Special Flood Hazard Area is land FEMA expects to be covered by a flood that has a 1 percent chance of happening in any year, often called the 100-year flood. Zones whose names start with A or V are those high risk areas. FEMA notes that a home in one has about a 26 percent chance of flooding during a 30-year mortgage, roughly one in four.
To check a property, go to the FEMA Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov), type in the street address and open the interactive map. If you have a government-backed mortgage on a home in a high risk zone in a community that takes part in the NFIP, flood insurance is required.
MAAPnext in Harris County
The Harris County Flood Control District is updating the county's flood maps through a project called MAAPnext, using newer NOAA rainfall data (Atlas 14) and other updated data. The project describes the updated rainfall rates as more than 30 percent higher. The draft maps on maapnext.org are for awareness and education only: they are not final, are not regulatory and cannot be used for insurance or permit decisions until FEMA's own map process makes them effective. Looking at them still tells you whether your street may be drawn into a floodplain later.
Keep one thing in mind about every map. A lower risk zone is not a no risk zone; it only means FEMA rates the yearly odds as lower. When Hurricane Harvey stalled over the county in 2017, the Harris County Flood Control District counts about 120,000 structures flooded across the region, far more than sit beside any one bayou. A zone tells you the odds, not your house's fate.
Storm surge near the coast
In Galveston, League City, Webster, La Porte, Seabrook and the neighborhoods around Clear Lake and Galveston Bay, flood damage can come from the water itself rather than the rain. The National Hurricane Center defines storm surge as an abnormal rise of water pushed ashore by a storm's winds, over and above the normal tide, and calls surge and large waves the greatest threat to life and property along the coast. Even Tropical Storm Imelda in 2019, remembered for its rain, caused minor surge flooding in Shoreacres, Clear Lake Shores and along Toddville Road in Seabrook, according to the National Weather Service.
Surge water is seawater, Category 3 under the S500, and it brings sand, salt and debris. Salt also corrodes metal and wiring, so ask the company how it plans to clean and check them. If officials order an evacuation for your zone, go. Do not go back in until officials say it is safe, and treat every flooded building as unsafe until it has been checked.
Water came in from a bayou, a street or the bay? Call the free line. The assistant asks what happened and connects you with an independent local restoration company that inspects in person and gives you its own estimate.
What to ask the restoration company before you sign
- Which IICRC water category did you assign to my house, and what does that mean for what comes out?
- How high will you cut the drywall, and why there?
- Will you take moisture readings at the start and at the end, and give me the readings in writing?
- Is this a written estimate for drying only, or does it include rebuilding?
- Who do you contract with: me or my insurer? Who is responsible for the bill if the claim is denied?
- If you find mold over 25 contiguous square feet, who writes the remediation protocol and who does the work?
- Do you hold the IICRC credentials you mention, and can I see them?
Check the mold license first. In Texas, mold assessment and mold remediation are licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). In most cases visible mold under 25 contiguous square feet can be cleaned by people without a license; larger jobs generally call for a licensed mold assessment consultant to write the remediation protocol and a separate licensed mold remediation contractor to do the work. Ask for both license numbers and look them up on the TDLR license search (opens in a new tab). The line does not check licenses for you.
After a major flood, many unfamiliar contractors knock on doors, and you may be asked for a large deposit up front. Ask for a written estimate, read the contract before you sign, and never sign over your insurance payment to anyone you have not checked. The guide to checking a company lists the warning signs.
Getting connected after a flood
Call the line from a safe, dry place. The assistant asks briefly whether water came from outside, whether it is still rising and where you are in greater Houston, then transfers you to an independent, locally owned restoration company. If no one at the company can pick up, it gets your name, number, area and problem so it can call you back. After a regional flood, every company in the region is busy; be ready to explain whether anyone is in danger and whether you have power.
- Dial the numberAn automated assistant picks up (832) 662-4107 at any hour, holidays included.
- Say what happenedA burst pipe, a flood, a roof or appliance leak, a sewage backup or mold, whether water is still coming in, and where in greater Houston you are.
- Get connectedYour call is transferred to an independent, locally owned water damage restoration company, which hears a short summary first.
- Work with that companyIt inspects, quotes, does the work and bills you or your insurer as you arrange. If it misses the call, it gets your name, number, area and problem to call you back.
Related pages
- Water Damage Restoration in Houston
- Emergency Water Removal and Extraction
- Water Damage Repair
- Mold Remediation in Houston
- Why Houston Floods
- What to Do in the First 24 to 48 Hours
- Galveston
- Kingwood
About this line: Water Damage Pro Houston is a free phone line, not a restoration company. It answers your call and connects you with an independent local water damage restoration company, which inspects, quotes and does the work, and which you pay directly. Companies may pay a referral fee. The line never charges you. Read how the line works.