Harvey. Ike. Allison. Tax Day 2016. Memorial Day 2015. Houston floods. Our IICRC-certified crews have responded to every major flood event in the metro since 2015. NFIP coordination, direct homeowners billing, same-hour dispatch.
Here's what to do — and what not to do — in the next 5 minutes. The window between the loss starting and significant structural damage is short. Houston humidity accelerates the damage clock.
Houston's combination of subtropical climate, flat coastal-plain geography, clay soils that don't absorb water, and aging combined-sewer infrastructure makes the metro uniquely flood-vulnerable.
Buffalo Bayou, White Oak Bayou, Brays Bayou, Sims Bayou, Greens Bayou, and Cypress Creek drain almost the entire metro toward Galveston Bay. During Harvey 2017, multiple bayou systems exceeded record stages simultaneously. The Memorial, Heights, and inner-loop neighborhoods that bound the bayous take the worst flooding. Harvey produced 50+ inches of rain across parts of the metro — a 1-in-1,000-year event that flooded homes that had never flooded before.
The two USACE-operated reservoirs west of Houston are designed to hold floodwater from upstream watersheds and release it slowly through Buffalo Bayou. When the reservoirs reach capacity (Harvey 2017), controlled releases flood downstream neighborhoods — and litigation around those releases is still ongoing. Homes in Energy Corridor, Memorial, and along Buffalo Bayou downstream of the reservoirs face this specific risk during major storm events.
Coastal-adjacent Houston areas — League City, Clear Lake, Friendswood, Seabrook, Kemah, Bay Area — face Galveston Bay surge during hurricane events. Hurricane Ike 2008 produced 15+ feet of surge in some coastal communities. NFIP flood insurance is essentially mandatory in these zones.
Allison 2001 wasn't a hurricane — it was a tropical storm that stalled over Houston for days and dropped 40+ inches of rain. Memorial Day 2015 and Tax Day 2016 were similar non-hurricane rainfall events. These produce slow-onset flooding throughout the metro, often without flood-zone designations.
Our crew arrives with truck-mounted extraction units (capable of removing hundreds of gallons per hour), structural drying equipment for Gulf Coast humidity conditions, full PPE rated for Category 3 flood water, moisture meters, and contents pack-out supplies. In the first 60 minutes: containment perimeter established if Category 3 water is present, water extraction begins, photographic documentation of every affected room, contents triage (what's saved, what's tossed, what goes to climate-controlled storage), and identification of structural damage requiring engineering review.
Over the next 24-48 hours: continued extraction, demolition of all unsalvageable porous materials (flood water is Category 3 by definition — drywall below the water line, carpet, insulation, baseboards all come out), pressure-wash and decontaminate hard surfaces, EPA-registered antimicrobial treatment, structural drying with LGR dehumidifiers (Houston humidity makes drying take longer than DFW or Austin — we run equipment for 7-14 days typically), NFIP claim documentation coordination, and assessment of contents for restoration versus replacement. The reconstruction scope is separate — typically 6-16 weeks depending on the extent of damage.
We bill your insurance carrier directly so your out-of-pocket cost is typically just your deductible. We work with every major Texas carrier — and the high-net-worth specialty carriers for custom-home losses.
Same-hour dispatch to all of these Houston-area cities plus 30+ more. Our crews are local to the metro — we know the neighborhoods, the bayou systems, the building codes, the soil conditions, and the carriers.
Standard homeowners insurance excludes flood damage. Coverage for flooding requires a separate NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program) policy or private flood insurance. If your home is in a FEMA-mapped Special Flood Hazard Area, your mortgage lender required you to carry NFIP. If you're outside the SFHA, you may not have flood coverage — even though Houston's recent floods have proven that homes well outside the SFHA flood regularly. We help document the loss for whichever coverage applies.
Critical legal distinction. Water damage = water from inside the home (burst pipe, roof leak from storm, appliance failure) — covered by standard homeowners. Flood damage = surface water that entered the home from outside — excluded from homeowners, requires separate flood policy. A hurricane that drives water through a failed roof is water damage. A hurricane that pushes Buffalo Bayou over its banks into your living room is flood damage. The classification determines coverage.
We pre-position crews and equipment 48 hours before predicted landfall for major storms. Same-hour Houston dispatch begins the moment it's safe to access properties — typically 24-72 hours after the storm passes. For events like Harvey, demand exceeds capacity for weeks; we prioritize active emergency dispatches over routine restoration scheduling.
Don't. We need to document the high-water mark for the insurance scope, and removing materials prematurely complicates the claim. If you must do something while waiting (multi-day delay), open windows for ventilation, run fans if you have power, and remove standing water with a Shop-Vac if possible. Leave demolition for the professional crew with proper PPE and documentation.
Single-story home with limited damage: 2-4 weeks mitigation + 8-16 weeks reconstruction. Multi-story home with extensive damage: 4-8 weeks mitigation + 4-12 months reconstruction. Harvey-scale catastrophic damage: many homes took 12-24 months to fully restore. The reconstruction bottleneck during major events is often skilled labor availability and material supply — not the restoration company's capacity.
Same-hour IICRC-certified crew dispatch. Direct insurance billing. Free on-site assessment. The longer you wait in Houston humidity, the bigger the loss.