Major flooding in my town

It's been pouring buckets here since 2:30 today. About 2" an hour. Lots of flood calls coming in. I'm about 5 months late on being ready for water losses. But wow. These boys are gonna get in the black the next few Weeks.

Do you have a good resource to rent dehu and air movers or do you need to own them like around here?

If they rent....get in there and make some cash.

If they don't rent, buy some wood and start building an ark. Either way, you will be in demand soon enough.  

It's only been raining on this side of town really good since 4:30 but has poured at times. It's the most rain I've seen here. There are already flash flood warnings. The lightning show has been incredible. I'm sure the water restoration guys are all smiling right now. I looked around the neighborhood and some lots are pretty flooded. I'm lucky that I'm dry.

and how about that its 80 plus in Seattle of all places right now, how weird. going to be almost 90 on thursday

Seattle gets weird when the sun comes out, people start acting weird in public... everyone starts pulling out their sunday cars and speeding

And it's going to be close to 100 deg here tomorrow.   

Hope is isn't too bad for you guys still having bad weather.

Davey Cracker wrote:And it's going to be close to 100 deg here tomorrow.   

Hope is isn't too bad for you guys still having bad weather.

I don't think I woud enjoy the century mark yet, but it is 45 and rain over here...kind of depressing.

Yea, I feel the same way, it's too easy in the year to be this hot!!

I'd rather it be on the cold side than hot, especially when you clean for a living!   

I got a few call from people businesses that just wanted water extracted. I send them to a mitigation company. Without the drying it out, I would feel liable for future problems.

Would you guys just charge for extraction only, take the check and leave and advise them to seek further help in drying?

It isn't a bad call Ryan, do that all the time around here. The insurance companies require the homeowner to act quickly on floods and getting the water out is the most vital part. Handing the rest of it off to a restoration company is wise if you are not set up for that part.

One thing to remember, be very careful with basements that are a several feet deep. Those are not just simple extraction jobs as it can compromise the structural integrety depending on the source of the water intrusion.

Don't be afraid to use tools other than the TM either. A couple of simple sump pumps can pump out more water than your mount and there isn't dumping issues later to contend with. Just run it out the sewer clean-out and let the pumps do the work.  

I don't even do the extraction, i just tell them the truth that we don't service that area due to equipment required after the initial extraction. Just don't want paper trail back to me of they choose not to pursue the rest of the job.

We got up to 5" per hour from this storm Ryan and it was past the point of water extraction to total devastation. When houses on the river are 22 feet under water, what can you do.
I felt the same as you and referred a lot of calls to other companies but handled the minor ones myself.
A ServPro company on the news said they had over 300 calls and had other companies coming in from Tennessee and other bordering states to assist.
At this state it is a total loss and well beyond extraction. Unless you are into full blown water damage restoration what can you do?
Most of the houses here were in total devastation that got flooded and we are talking about 15 to 21 inches of rain.
My biggest fear is down the road with mold and mildew issues in these circumstances.

Wow, that is a rain hammering, really sorry to hear that.  We went through a major flood a few years ago that left us all under water for about 4 months.  Lots of houses and businesses were destroyed.

Mold will become an issue, but that is manageble too.

Mold can be handled....but at this point it's not like a busted water pipe and the end result could leed (or lead) into litigation against you. People are sue happy these days and all bases should be covered before attempting one of these jobs. No doubt that there is a ton of money to be made in these situations if you are equipped to handle it.