Water damage restoration in Alvin, TX, is shaped by flat land, open ditches and Mustang Bayou, which runs right through town. When heavy rain falls faster than it can drain, water finds low spots, and some of those low spots are living rooms.
Water Damage Pro Houston is not a restoration company. It is a free phone line. An automated assistant answers, takes a short description of what happened, and transfers your call to an independent, locally owned water damage restoration company that takes calls for Alvin. That company inspects, gives its own estimate, does the work and bills you or your insurer, as you agree with it.
Alvin: a Brazoria County town on Mustang Bayou
Alvin is in Brazoria County, south of Pearland and Friendswood. Mustang Bayou winds through the city, and a network of ditches, labeled on the city's flood zone map with names such as M-1 and C-1, carries storm water toward it. The city's capital reports put a lot of weight on the M-1 Ditch, with drainage and crossing improvements along it that the city says are meant to reduce flooding and move storm water better.
Hurricane Harvey left marks you could see. City capital reports describe Harvey floodwater causing the side slope of Mustang Bayou to fail in places, damaging part of the city's hike and bike trail and calling for bank repairs. Across the county, Brazoria County received a $36,888,184 federal hazard mitigation grant after Harvey to elevate and rebuild flood-prone homes.
Drainage in Alvin is not one agency's job. A city presentation on streets and drainage lists Brazoria County Conservation and Reclamation District No. 3 next to the city's own review of new construction. Some developments also have a municipal utility district, or MUD, a small local government that provides water and sewer to a subdivision; in 2017 the city approved a utility services contract with the MUD serving Mustang Crossing. If you are not sure who maintains the ditch behind your house, start with the city.
Claudette, 1979: the day Alvin made the record books
Tropical Storm Claudette stalled over Southeast Texas from July 24 to 26, 1979, and parked its heaviest rain over Alvin.
42 to 43 inches in a day
The Weather Prediction Center records 42 inches at Alvin within 24 hours, a U.S. record. The Houston/Galveston weather office cites 43 inches at a gauge just north of town and says it still stands as the continental record.
About 45 inches in all
National Weather Service summaries put the storm total near Alvin at about 45 inches. Claudette never reached hurricane strength, yet it became one of the costliest tropical cyclones in the country up to that time.
The lesson for today
The storm does not have to be a hurricane. A slow tropical system can drop more rain than the ditches and bayou can carry. Know your flood zone and your policy before the next one.
Water damage restoration Alvin homes need most
Floods make the news, but a lot of Alvin's water damage starts with something smaller: a washing machine hose that splits, a water heater that gives out, an attic pipe that froze during February 2021 and leaked once it thawed, or a roof that let rain in when Hurricane Beryl came ashore near Matagorda in July 2024 and swept north across the region. These pages explain each type of job:
Water Damage Restoration in Houston
The full job after a leak or flood: inspection, water removal, drying, cleaning and rebuilding, and how a restoration company works from the IICRC water categories.
Emergency Water Removal and Extraction
Standing water on the floor right now. What extraction equipment does, why speed matters in Houston humidity, and what to do safely before the company arrives.
Flood Damage Restoration
Rising water from a bayou, street or storm surge. Why floodwater is treated as contaminated, what gets removed, and how flood insurance differs from a homeowners policy.
Burst Pipe Water Damage
A split supply line, a frozen pipe or a slab leak. Who stops the leak (a plumber), who dries the house (a restoration company) and what to photograph for the insurer.
Mold Removal and Mold Cleaning
Small spots versus large growth: when cleaning is enough, when Texas law calls for licensed remediation, and why bleach on drywall is not the fix.
Why Alvin homeowners call the line
Rain can come all at once
A town that holds a 24 hour rainfall record knows water can arrive fast and at night. The automated assistant answers every hour of every day, and the call is free.
A local company, not a call center
Your call is transferred to an independent, locally owned restoration company that takes calls for Alvin. That company comes out, inspects and writes its own estimate.
You pay the company, not the line
The line never charges you or quotes a price. You pay the restoration company directly or through your insurer, as you arrange with it.
Clear help with mold questions
In Gulf Coast humidity, a wet wall can grow mold. This site explains when Texas expects licensed mold professionals and how to check a license on the TDLR website.
What happens after you call
The restoration company's first job is to understand the water. Under the IICRC S500 standard, clean water from a broken supply line is Category 1, water with significant contamination such as washing machine discharge is Category 2, and grossly contaminated water such as sewage or floodwater rising from a bayou is Category 3. The category decides what can be dried and saved and what has to go.
Next, a moisture meter shows how far the water spread inside walls, cabinets and flooring. Drying usually means pulling up standing water, then running dehumidifiers and air movers for several days. The EPA says materials dried within 24 to 48 hours usually do not grow mold, but in humid weather that rarely happens without equipment. Ask the company for a written plan and a daily moisture log for your insurer. The first 48 hours guide lists what to do while you wait.
Safety before anything else. If you smell gas, get out of the house first, then call 911 and your gas company's emergency number from outside. Do not step into water that is near outlets, cords or appliances. Shut the power off at the breaker only if you can reach the panel from a dry floor; if you cannot, call your electric delivery utility or an electrician. In Alvin that utility is usually Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP), not CenterPoint, so check your bill now. Keep out of sewage water, and close the main water shutoff only if you can reach it safely.
Insurance and mold for Alvin homeowners
The Texas Department of Insurance says most home policies cover sudden, accidental water damage such as a burst pipe, but not flooding, which needs a separate flood policy. FEMA says a new National Flood Insurance Program policy generally takes 30 days to begin, so it pays to look at the city's flood zone map and FEMA's map for your address well before hurricane season. Ask your own insurer what is covered; the insurance guide has the questions to ask.
If mold shows up, Texas rules apply. TDLR licenses mold assessment and remediation. In most cases visible mold under 25 contiguous square feet can be cleaned without a license, while larger jobs generally call for a licensed assessment consultant to write the remediation protocol and a separate licensed remediation contractor to do it. The mold inspection and testing page explains the assessment step.
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.
How an Alvin call works
- 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.
Ask for a written estimate before any work starts, and ask who will handle rebuilding permits with the City of Alvin. The guide to checking a company covers the rest. North of town, the Pearland page covers Clear Creek and Brazoria Drainage District No. 4.
Nearby areas
- Every greater Houston area
- Atascocita
- Baytown
- Channelview
- Conroe
- Cypress
- Galveston
- Humble
- Katy
- Kingwood
- La Porte
- League City
- Magnolia
- Missouri City
- Pasadena
- Pearland
- Richmond
- Rosenberg
- Spring
- Sugar Land
- The Woodlands
- Tomball
- Webster
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.