Emergency sequence

The first 24 hours after water or storm damage

Work through these nine steps in order. Make the building safe, stop the water, photograph everything before it moves, tell your insurer, then mitigate the damage without starting repairs. Doing the first three in the first hour changes both how much of the building survives and how much of the claim is payable.

HyreRestore Research Desk

Last updated September 18, 2026.

Electricity first. If water is near outlets, cords, a fuse board or submerged appliances, switch off the power to that area at the breaker. If you would have to stand in water to reach the panel, do not. Call your electricity utility and stay out of the room. Nothing else on this page is worth an electric shock.

Then the water. Shut it off at the fixture valve if the leak is at an appliance, or at the main shut-off if it is not. Then photograph everything, before anything moves.

The sequence, in order

The order matters more than the speed. Almost every expensive mistake in the first day is a step done out of sequence — cleaning up before photographing, signing before reading, repairing before the scope is agreed.

1. Make it safe

Before anything else, decide whether the building is safe to be in.

Power. Kill the circuit or the main breaker serving any area with standing water, wet outlets, wet cords or submerged appliances. Do not reach a panel you would have to wade to. Do not use a wet appliance, and do not plug anything in to test it.
Gas. If a furnace, boiler or water heater has been submerged, do not relight it. Submerged gas controls and valves are commonly treated as requiring replacement rather than drying out. If you smell gas, leave and call the gas utility from outside.
Structure. A ceiling that is sagging, bulging or dripping is holding weight it was not designed to hold. Stay out from under it. Standing water upstairs travels down through cavities you cannot see.
The water itself. If it came from a sewer line, from beyond a toilet trap, or in from outside, treat it as contaminated. Keep children and pets out. See sewage cleanup for what that changes.
Slip and cut hazards, and anything sharp in the water you cannot see.

If any of these are in doubt, leave the building and make the rest of the calls from outside. A house can be dried. The decision to stay in an unsafe one cannot be undone.

2. Stop the source

Drying a building that is still getting wet is not restoration. Find the valve.

Where the water is coming from	What to shut, and where it usually is
Under a sink	The two small valves on the supply pipes at the back of the cupboard. Turn clockwise.
A toilet	The valve on the wall or floor behind the pan, usually on the left. Clockwise.
A washing machine or dishwasher	The valves behind or beside the appliance. Pull the machine out only if the power is off.
A water heater	The cold inlet valve on top of the tank, and the gas or electrical supply to it.
A burst or hidden pipe	The main shut-off for the whole property.
You cannot tell	The main shut-off. Then work it out with the water off.

The main shut-off is usually where the supply enters the building: on a basement or crawl-space wall on the street side in cold climates, or on an exterior wall, in a garage, or in a utility cupboard in warmer ones. There is normally a second valve at the meter in the pavement or verge, which usually needs a meter key. Your water utility can tell you where yours is.

If the source is the roof or the envelope rather than a pipe — wind damage, a lifted section, a broken window — the equivalent of shutting the valve is covering the opening. That is emergency board-up and tarping, and it is mitigation rather than repair.

3. Document before anything moves

This is the step people skip, and it is the only one that cannot be done later. Five minutes now.

Video first, walking slowly through every affected room, narrating what you are looking at and the time.
Then stills: wide shots of each room, then close-ups of damaged materials, water lines on walls, wet flooring, and the underside of anything that has been dripped on.
Photograph the source if it is visible and safe to approach — the split pipe, the failed hose, the missing shingles. What caused the loss frequently decides whether it is covered.
Photograph rooms you think are fine. Water travels. A dry-looking room today may be the one in dispute next week, and a timestamped photo of it dry is useful either way.
Capture serial numbers and model plates on appliances and equipment before they are moved or scrapped.
Back it up. Phone to cloud, or phone to email. Phones get dropped in wet houses.

Start a written log at the same time — a note on your phone is fine. Date, time, what you did, who you spoke to, what they said. Every subsequent step on this page becomes easier if that log exists.

4. Notify your insurer

Call the claims number on your policy, not the branch that sold it, and do it the same day. Standard policies commonly require prompt notice of a loss. Reporting a loss is not the same as committing to claim it — you can decide later, once you have a scope, whether it is worth filing against your deductible. Our should I file a claim walkthrough sets out the trade-off.

Have ready, or find while you are on the phone:

The policy number and the property address.
When it happened, when you found it, and what caused it as far as you know.
Which rooms are affected.
Whether the source is stopped.
Whether the property is habitable.

Ask four questions and write the answers in your log: what is my deductible on this peril; is this claim being handled on an actual cash value or replacement cost basis; does the policy include additional living expenses if we cannot stay here; and am I authorised to begin emergency mitigation now. Write down the name of the person who answered and the time. See how the claim process runs and the difference between ACV and RCV.

5. Mitigate, but do not repair

Standard homeowners policies commonly place a duty on the policyholder to protect the property from further damage, and commonly cover reasonable costs of doing so. That duty is about stopping the loss spreading. It is not permission to start rebuilding.

Do now (mitigation)	Wait (repair)
Extract standing water	Replacing drywall
Move undamaged contents to a dry area	New flooring
Lift rugs off wet floors; foil or blocks under furniture legs	Repainting
Open windows only if outside air is drier than inside	Cabinetry and joinery
Run dehumidifiers and air movers	Replacing a roof covering
Tarp or board an opening in the envelope	Permanent roofing repairs
Remove obviously ruined saturated carpet pad, after photographing	Rebuilding anything

The reason for the split is simple. Mitigation costs are generally recoverable and are expected of you. Reconstruction done before the scope is agreed is work the adjuster never saw, priced by nobody, and it is the single most common way a claim ends in an argument. How restoration works sets out where the line falls at each phase.

One caution about opening windows: it helps only when outdoor air holds less moisture than indoor air. On a humid day it makes the building wetter. Dehumidification is a measured process, which is what structural drying is about.

6. Keep everything

Keep receipts for anything you buy or hire — fans, wet vacuums, tarpaulins, a hotel room, meals if you cannot cook. Keep them even if you are unsure they are claimable.
Keep the failed part. The split section of pipe, the burst washing-machine hose, the failed water heater. It is the physical evidence of what caused the loss, and it is routinely thrown away by whoever fixes it. Ask the plumber to leave it and photograph it.
Keep samples of what is removed — a carpet offcut, a cabinet door, a length of skirting — so grade and finish can be matched later.
Keep the paperwork: every estimate, every scope, every work authorisation, every invoice, every text message.

Build the contents list while the damage is in front of you rather than from memory in six weeks. Our contents inventory guide sets out what to record per item. Contents restoration explains what happens to the things that can be saved.

7. Understand what your cover actually is

Read your declarations page today, not next week. Three distinctions decide most of what follows.

Cause matters more than damage. Standard homeowners policies commonly cover sudden and accidental discharge of water from a plumbing system, and commonly exclude flood and long-term seepage. The same wet carpet can be covered or excluded depending on where the water came from.
Flood is a separate policy. Surface water entering the building from outside is generally not covered by a standard homeowners policy; that is what the National Flood Insurance Program and private flood policies exist for. See flood damage restoration.
ACV or RCV. Actual cash value settles at depreciated value; replacement cost value pays the depreciation once the work is actually done, and often only then. This changes your cash flow, not just your total. See ACV versus RCV.

Then find your deductible for this peril — wind and hail deductibles are commonly different, and are sometimes a percentage of the dwelling limit rather than a flat sum. The deductible walkthrough and what is commonly covered go through it peril by peril. Only your own policy governs your claim; everything here describes what policies commonly do.

8. Be careful what you sign

Losses attract people. Some of them are the company you would have chosen anyway. Some are not, and they arrive fastest.

A work authorisation for emergency mitigation is normal. It should name the work, the equipment, the rate basis and a stopping point. Ask for the scope in writing before signing, not after.
An assignment of benefits is not the same document. It transfers your right to claim payment under your policy to the contractor, which changes who negotiates with your insurer and who controls the claim. Several states regulate these specifically. Read the assignment of benefits page before signing one.
Do not sign a blank or open-ended scope, and do not sign anything with the words "any and all" where the work should be.
Anyone offering to waive or absorb your deductible is offering you something that is a problem rather than a favour. See avoiding restoration scams.
Pressure to sign immediately is information. Genuine emergency work can begin on a limited written authorisation. Nothing about a wet building requires you to sign a full-rebuild contract at the door.

9. Watch for the moisture you cannot see

Surface water is the visible part and rarely the expensive part. In the days after the loss, watch for:

A musty smell in a room that looks dry.
Flooring that cups, buckles, lifts or feels soft underfoot.
Paint or wallpaper bubbling, or nail heads and joints showing through.
Skirting boards separating from the wall.
Ceiling stains spreading, or spots appearing in a room below.
Condensation on the inside of windows in a room that did not have it before.

Any of these means moisture is still in an assembly. Whoever is drying the building should be taking daily meter readings at fixed locations and should give you the log rather than describe it. Drying is finished when readings reach a goal set from undamaged material in the same building — not when the equipment has been there a week. The drying time guide explains what drives the duration.

What this page cannot tell you

Whether your specific loss is covered, how much it will cost, or how long it will take. Those depend on your policy wording, the category of the water, how much material absorbed it, and local rebuild costs. HyreRestore publishes no average restoration price for that reason, and explains the reasoning on the cost page. Anyone quoting you a figure before seeing the building is guessing.

HyreRestore is an independent information resource. It is not a restoration contractor, not an insurer and not a public adjuster. It dries nothing, rebuilds nothing and adjusts no claims. What it can do is help you find a local restoration company through find a restoration company, and explain what it does and does not check on how we vet.

Sources

Mold Cleanup in Your Home, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — the 24 to 48 hour response window and cleanup guidance. Checked September 18, 2026.
Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — drying and moisture control principles. Checked September 18, 2026.
About Mold, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Checked September 18, 2026.
Flood Safety, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — electrical, gas and contaminated water hazards after a flood. Checked September 18, 2026.
FloodSmart, National Flood Insurance Program, FEMA — why flood is a separate policy. Checked September 18, 2026.
What to do if you have a homeowners claim, Insurance Information Institute — notice, documentation and the duty to protect the property. Checked September 18, 2026.
IICRC standards, including ANSI/IICRC S500 for water damage restoration, Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification. Checked September 18, 2026.

This page is general information about property damage response and how homeowners policies commonly work. It is not legal advice, not an engineering opinion and not a statement about your policy. Read your own declarations page and speak to your own insurer.

Keep researching

How restoration works takes the story on from here to a closed claim. Choosing a restoration company is the ten checks worth making before you sign anything, and what drives the cost explains the two invoices you are likely to receive.

Questions

What should I do in the first hour after water damage?

Three things, in this order. Kill the power to the affected area at the breaker if water is anywhere near outlets, appliances or the panel — and if reaching the panel means standing in water, do not, call the utility instead. Shut the water off at the main. Then photograph and video every affected room before anything is moved or removed. Only after those three do you start calling anyone. The documentation step takes five minutes and is the one you cannot go back and do later.

Where is my water shut-off valve?

Most homes have a fixture valve at the appliance itself — under the sink, behind the toilet, behind the washing machine — and a main shut-off for the whole property. The main is usually where the supply enters the building: a basement or crawl space wall on the street side in cold climates, or an exterior wall, garage or utility cupboard in warmer ones. There is also a street-side valve at the meter, often under a metal or plastic lid in the pavement or verge, which typically needs a meter key. If you cannot find any of them, your water utility can tell you where yours is, and that call is worth making before there is an emergency rather than during one.

Should I take photos before or after cleaning up?

Before. Photograph and video everything first, from several angles, including rooms you think are unaffected and including the source itself if it is visible. Insurers assess what they can see, and the condition at the moment of the loss cannot be reconstructed once the carpet is out and the fans are running. Photographing first does not mean waiting to mitigate — it means spending five minutes on the record, then starting.

Do I have to stop the damage getting worse before the insurer arrives?

Standard homeowners policies commonly place a duty on the policyholder to protect the property from further damage after a loss, and reasonable costs of doing so are commonly reimbursable. That duty is about mitigation — stopping water, extracting, drying, covering an opening — not about repairs. Waiting days for an adjuster while a building stays wet tends to work against you on both fronts. Check your own declarations page and policy wording, because only your policy governs your claim.

What is the difference between mitigation and repair?

Mitigation is stopping the loss getting worse: shutting the source, extracting water, removing saturated material, running equipment, tarping a roof, boarding an opening. Repair is putting the building back: new drywall, new flooring, paint, cabinetry. Mitigation should start straight away. Repair should generally wait until the scope is agreed with the insurer, because work done before the scope is settled is work you may be arguing about afterwards.

Should I throw away wet carpet and furniture?

Do not dispose of anything until it has been photographed, listed and, where practical, seen by the adjuster or the restoration company. If something must come out for health or safety reasons — sewage-contaminated material, for instance — photograph it, note it on an inventory, and if you can, keep a physical sample such as a carpet offcut or a cabinet door. Proving what was there is your job, and a skip is where that proof goes.

Is it safe to stay in the house?

That depends on the water, the electricity and the structure, and nobody can answer it from a web page. Grossly contaminated water, sagging ceilings, gas appliances that have been submerged and any doubt about the electrical supply are all reasons to leave and get somebody qualified to look. Standard policies commonly include additional living expenses cover when a home is uninhabitable because of a covered loss, so ask your insurer about it early rather than assuming you are paying for the hotel.

Do I have to use the restoration company my insurer recommends?

Insurers commonly maintain preferred vendor programmes, and using one can be quicker because the billing relationship already exists. You are generally free to choose your own contractor, subject to the terms of your policy and your state law, and the insurer still owes what the policy owes. What matters more than who recommends the company is what the company does: a written scope, documented moisture readings, and a bill you can read.

How quickly does mould start growing after water damage?

The EPA advises acting within 24 to 48 hours of a water intrusion, because mould can begin growing on damp materials in roughly that window when moisture, temperature and material are favourable. That is guidance about how fast to respond, not a countdown to disaster — drying a building properly inside that window is the whole reason the sequence on this page is ordered the way it is.

What should I not sign in the first 24 hours?

Anything that transfers your insurance benefits to a contractor, anything open-ended on price, and anything you have not read. A work authorisation limited to emergency mitigation, with a defined scope, is a normal document. An assignment of benefits is a different thing entirely and changes who controls your claim. If somebody at your door needs a signature immediately, that urgency is about them, not about your house. See our page on assignment of benefits.

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