Info for the flooded areas, the Mississippi and elsewhere.

BillW

First of all, you have our sympathy and best wishes.  Here are some suggestions to help with the cleanup, and some precautions to take.  This is not intended to replace any orders from your local, state or federal officials.

Flood water is filthy.  It contains sewage, petroleum products, chemicals, garbage and debris.  It's crawling with disease germs, which remain after the waters recede.  Poisonous snakes and even alligators are likely part of the mix, if they occur in or near where you live.  They can be anywhere in any flooded building, so use extreme caution.  Floods can move houses off their foundations, scour soil away from basement walls, and generally destabilize any structure, so use extreme caution when entering any structure after the waters recede; it's best to wait until authority has declared a building safe to enter. Beware propane tanks, unknown chemical drums, gas cylinders and buckets.  They may contain toxic substances, or be a fire hazard.  Check with fire or police officials before trying to move anything of the sort.

NEVER try to relight ANY combustion appliance be it a water heater, furnace or boiler, range or oven that has been soaked.  No gas valve, ignition module or oil burner is safe to relight after a flood, no matter what ANYONE tells you.  Unless you want to create more damage or injure or kill yourself, don't do it!  Such equipment MUST be replaced.

Shut down the electrical system at the main disconnect, and have a licensed electrician replace the panel, and check out the wiring system.  Electrical fires are common after flood waters go down, due to wet wires and fixtures.  Shut off gas supply until the gas company can check it for leaks.

Wet sheet-rock and most other building materials like panelling CAN NOT be dried out.  They soak up water like a sponge, and once the waters recede, the paper backing and wet interior provide an ideal habitat for molds of all sorts to grow.  Remove any sheet rock that has been effected asap. Remove carpets and rugs, draperies and any soaked furniture.

Cleanup after such a disaster is emotionally devastating, and physically dangerous.  The Red Cross and FEMA have free decontamination kits, but after the basement is pumped out, and the muck is wetvac'd and pressure washed there is a lot more to do.  Please follow the directions provided with the kits. Most decontamination involves the use of chlorine bleach.  Go to the home center and get goggles, rubber or plastic gloves and a respirator with a YELLOW cartridge, a PURPLE secondary cartridge will help remove any airborne particles, the yellow will remove the chlorine.  Get several replacements, and change the cartridges when they restrict your breathing, or you begin to smell the chlorine.   DO NOT run generators, pressure washers or other power equipment in confined spaces, and beware of exhaust from them.  <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Don't be a victim of carbon monoxide!</span>

Finally, beware of those fly-by-night bottom feeders who always seem to appear after any disaster, offering all kinds of services at a cut rate.  Use your local contractors, if they can still operate.  Nationally advertised companies like ServPro are usually reliable and legitimate.  Don't get victimized by human predators.