Coomer Creek Neighborhood Association

Flood Damage Tips For Your Home

Tips for filing an insurance claim

Excerpt from article in Dallas Morning News

Immediately:
• Call your agent or insurance company. Have ready:
(1) your policy number;
(2) a telephone number or e-mail address where you can be reached.
• When you file your claim, ask for an approximate time frame of when an adjuster can be expected.

Once you have reported your loss:
• An adjuster will work with you to calculate the value of the
damage and prepare a repair estimate.

Before the adjuster arrives:
• Separate damaged items from undamaged items.
• Take photos of damaged items and water inside the house.
• Make a list of damaged or lost items and their age and value.
• If a contractor prepares damage estimates, provide them to the
adjuster.
SOURCE: FEMA press office

Cleaning up your home

Walls
• Start at the bottom where the damage is worst. If the wall won't
come clean, the Sheetrock or plaster may have to be removed
and replaced.
• If Sheetrock or plaster is removed, wash and disinfect studs
and sills.

Furniture
• Wood alcohol or turpentine applied with a cotton ball may
remove white mildew spots on wood.
• Cream wood restorers with lanolin will help restore good
wooden furniture parts.
• Upholstered furniture, carpet and bedding should be cleaned
only by a professional. Unless the piece is especially valuable,
upholstered items soaked by floodwaters should be thrown out.

Appliances
• Some appliance parts can store electricity even when unplugged.
Check for warning labels.
Appliances with such labels will need professional cleaning, but
first get a cost estimate to see whether they are worth saving.
• Appliances such as washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and
vacuum cleaners can usually be cleaned and disinfected, but it is

• Don't use your washing machine until the water is safe to drink and
your sewer line works.
• Before using the washing machine, run the machine through
one full cycle with hot water and a disinfectant or sanitizing agent.
• Chlorine bleach added to the wash cycle will remove mildew
and sanitize clothing, but it can fade or damage some fabrics.

Kitchen Items
• Throw out soft plastic and porous items that may have absorbed floodwaters.
• Wash dishes by hand in a disinfectant and air dry. Don't use
a towel.
• Don't use a dishwasher until it has been cleaned and disinfected,
the water supply is safe to drink and the sewer works.

Food
• Throw out any food that has been touched by floodwaters.
• Even food in tin cans should be discarded if the cans got wet
during the flood.
• Do not keep food in bottles or jars that have bottle caps or
screw-on lids.

Paper and books
• Valuable papers such as books, photographs and stamp collections can be rinsed and frozen (in a frost-free freezer or commercial meat locker) until you have time to work on them.
• Papers should be dried quickly when they are thawed or unsealed. A blow dryer will do.
• Computer disks with valuable information should be rinsed in clear water and put in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. They can
later be taken to a professional drying center, and the data can be
transferred to a good disk or tape.
SOURCE: The Home Depot

City collection of debris and Electric Power Restoration

Dallas' sanitation department announced Monday that residents won't be fined for leaving flood-damaged items and debris on the curb today through April 4.
• Residents should call 311, the city's non-emergency number, to report items to be collected.
• Items to be collected should be no larger than an average sofa (6
feet long by 3 feet tall).
• Damaged items such as carpet,pieces of Sheetrock and flooring
materials will also be collected. No waste collections have been
affected by the flooding; all collection routes remain on schedule.
Electric power restoration
• Call TXU at 1-888-313-4747,24 hours a day, seven days a week.