A flood is perhaps one of the most troublesome disasters that could ever happen to your home. The flood could be triggered by heavy rains, overflowing drains, or plumbing leaks, and depending how big of an area is damaged, things can get costly.

As little as an inch of water in places inside your home where water shouldn’t be can cost tens of thousands of dollars in damage. Worse, flood damage is almost never covered by your typical home insurance policy. You have to take out a separate policy just to have coverage for any damage a flood would cause.

The water damage from a flood will also get worse if you don’t do something about it as soon as possible. Even if you have already contacted specialists, you still have to know how to clean up after a flood in your house to mitigate the damage immediately. Here are some tips on how to do just that.

Pull out things hit by the flood

Water soaked appliances are effectively rendered useless, but furniture, carpets, rugs, and other electronics damage might still be restored, so pull them out of the affected area as soon as you can. Also, don’t forget to wear waterproof boots and gloves before doing any of this, because you have to assume that the water flooding your home is dirty.

Remove the flood water

Once the area is clear of your belongings, you can start removing the standing water. You can use a water pump if you have one. If you don’t, buckets or a homemade syphon will do. The important thing is you get all the water out before it causes any more damage. The sooner and faster you do this, the faster you can start the drying process, and avoid mold from starting to grow.

Dry out the place

You can begin drying your home once you’ve removed most or all of the water. Before you turn on all the fans at your disposal, open all the windows first to facilitate the escape of all that accumulated moisture. Then the fans on to circulate air all over the house.

Dealing with possible mold

The thing with floods is that it increases moisture levels inside your house and makes it an ideal breeding ground for mold, which can cause more problems, health-wise and otherwise. Considering that black mold and some other types of mold can be deadly, you must do whatever you can to make sure mold does not start to grow.

Then again, it takes mold about 24 to 48 hours to form, so you still have time to wait for the restoration specialists you called to get there and take care of that problem for you. By the time the flood damage restoration experts arrive at your place, you will have already helped mitigate the mess the flood has caused, paving the way for a faster recovery for your home.