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Storm surge water in Panama City homes, handled in the right order

Surge water pulled out of Panama City homes, then the wet materials sorted and the structure dried before anything is closed up.

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  • Hurricane and storm surge water
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Surge Water

Storm Surge Water Damage: what it covers

Quick answer

Storm surge water damage is water pushed in from the Gulf or the bay during a storm, often carrying silt, sand and debris into a home. Treat it as contaminated until a technician has looked at it. In Panama City, the job runs in order: standing water out, wet materials sorted, then the structure dried under controlled air. Calls are answered 24/7.

Storm Surge Water Damage illustration for Panama City, FL, with a lighthouse in the background

Surge is a different loss from a burst pipe. A pipe fills a room from one source that can be closed at a valve. Surge comes in from outside, pushes against walls and doors, and leaves behind silt, wet sand, leaves and whatever the water carried through the opening. Hurricane Michael's surge along parts of the Florida Panhandle reached 9 to 14 feet above normal in October 2018, with the highest surge at Mexico Beach, according to NOAA's post-storm summary. That record describes the coast. This page gives no surge figure for Panama City itself, because none is sourced for it here.

A surge call in Panama City usually comes down to three jobs that have to happen in sequence. The standing water comes out first, because nothing dries while it sits on the floor. The wet materials that cannot be saved come out next, which often means carpet pad, baseboard, lower drywall and anything that soaked up silt. Last, the structure is dried with air movement and dehumidification until the readings show a dry baseline. A crew is dispatched 24/7 as soon as one is free, and the scope is explained before the first pump starts.

Before anyone walks into the water, keep clear of the electrical. Standing water can carry current from outlets, extension cords and a panel that was submerged. If the power is still on at the breaker, do not wade in to reach it. Call (833) 490-5225 from a dry spot, and be ready to say whether the power has been cut. That answer decides what the first visit can safely do.

Service area
Panama City & Bay County
Availability
Phones answered 24/7, emergencies first
Warning signs

Signs you need storm surge water damage

Do not wade into standing water until the power is off at the breaker or the panel, and do not use a wet vacuum on a live outlet. Do not run a generator indoors, and keep it well away from doors and windows. Do not pull wet drywall or insulation from a wall before a technician has measured it, because the wet zone is often larger than what you can see, and what is behind the surface can be a hazard in itself. Wear boots and gloves if you have to move debris.

  • A brown or grey tide line on the walls, often a few inches above the floor, that marks where the water stood.
  • Sand, silt or a fine grey film on the floor, on baseboards, along door bottoms and inside the cabinet kickboards.
  • A musty smell in rooms that were under water, which is an early sign of moisture trapped behind finished surfaces.
  • Carpet or pad that squelches underfoot or feels cool and damp days after the water has gone down.
  • Interior doors that rub or stick, trim that has swollen, and cabinet bases that have lifted away from the wall.
  • Outlets, switches or appliances that were in the water and now show scorch marks, a burnt smell or a flicker.
  • Storm debris such as sand, leaves or shell tracked into rooms that were not directly exposed to the water.
Job stories

Typical jobs for storm surge water damage

Typical job
Illustration: Storm water comes under a garage door into a Panama City home

Storm water comes under a garage door into a Panama City home

What homeowners notice
After a heavy storm, water runs down the driveway and collects at the garage door. By morning the garage floor is under standing water, and the water has begun to creep under the wall plate toward the kitchen next door.
What we do
The power to the garage is confirmed off before anyone wades in. Submersible pumps take out the standing water, the carpet and pad in the kitchen are lifted, and the lower drywall on both sides of the shared wall is opened where the meter reads high. Air movers and dehumidifiers are set for the garage and the kitchen as two separate spaces, with the door between them kept closed.
What to expect
The scope lists each zone, the materials removed and the readings for each visit, and the homeowner has the log to check the drying against the target before the wall is closed.

4-6 hours typical visit

Options

Types and options for storm surge water damage

Surge that reached the main living area

Water that came over the threshold and across the main floor is the most common version. Most of the work sits in the lowest two feet of wall, the subfloor, the carpet and pad, and the cabinet bases. Upper walls are checked for wicking, because drywall can carry water higher than the tide line suggests.

Surge that reached a crawl space or an under-floor void

Where a home has a crawl space or an open under-floor area, surge can enter from below and soak the insulation and the underside of the subfloor. That space is drained, opened where it is safe to open, and dried before the floor is closed. It is one of the places a cleanup most often misses.

Surge with rain through the same opening

A storm often brings wind-driven rain in through the same door, window or damaged wall that let the surge in. The rain entering from above is treated as a roof or ceiling leak, and the surge on the floor is treated as a separate loss. Both are measured, and the readings are kept apart.

Surge in a shop or office at ground level

A ground-floor commercial space takes surge through the loading door or the front glass. Shelving, displays and stock are often the first losses, and the building itself is assessed in the same way as a house. The scope is written on site for the space as it stands.

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What moves the price of a surge cleanup in Panama City?

The price follows how much water came in, how long it stood, what it carried, how many rooms and floors it reached, and how much material has to come out. No figure is given on this site. The scope and the price are explained and approved on site before work starts.

Depth and time matter more than floor area. Water that stood for a short while on a tile floor is a different job from water that soaked into carpet, drywall and a wall cavity for several days. The crew measures where the water actually went, not only where it was seen, because the tide line on the wall is the first place to look and rarely the last.

Access changes the work too. A single-level house with open walls is simpler than one with a closed stairwell, a finished garage or cabinets built over a wet subfloor. Material that has to be carried out through a narrow door takes longer, and that time is part of the scope you approve before the removal starts.

Why does surge water have to come out of the walls and not just the floor?

Silt and salt water sink into the materials they touch and sit inside the wall after the floor looks dry. Taking the water off the floor does not dry what is behind the baseboard, and the wall is where mold tends to start if it is closed too soon.

Drywall and insulation draw water upward by capillary action, and they hold it even when the surface looks dry. A technician checks the wall with a moisture meter a foot or two above the tide line, because that is where wicked moisture usually stops, and where the readings tell you whether the job is finished.

Silt does not rinse out of a porous material. Once it has dried into the fibers, it stays there, and surface cleaning does not reach it. That is why the removal list is written during the visit, when the material can still be looked at, rather than after the drying has finished.

How long does drying take after surge water in a Gulf coast house?

Drying time depends on how wet the materials were, how much has to be opened up, and the air in the building. The crew logs moisture readings on each visit and stops when the readings reach the dry target, not when a set number of days has passed.

Humid Gulf coast air slows drying. The dehumidifier has to remove moisture from air that is already carrying a lot of it, so the readings can stay high longer than a homeowner expects. A crew that dries by feel, rather than by numbers, tends to close a wall that is still wet behind the surface.

Air movers and dehumidifiers run around the clock until the readings fall. You may hear them and feel the air move, and the room may feel warm and close while they work. That is expected. Ask to see the log, which should show the readings from each visit side by side.

What should a homeowner move before the crew arrives?

Move small valuables, medicines, papers and electronics out of the water's path, and keep wet items out of closets. Do not start tearing out wall or floor material before a technician has measured the wet zone, since that can hide how far the water went.

Photograph each room before anything is moved, including the tide line, the standing water and the damaged contents. Those photographs are useful later for the claim file, and they show where things were before the storm moved them.

Keep children and pets out of the water. Lift what you can reach safely off the floor and onto a dry surface, and stop there. The heavier removal is the crew's job, and it is done in an order that keeps the rest of the house from getting wetter.

Can a surge cleanup be done by a homeowner alone?

A homeowner can remove what is easy to reach and run a fan, but the wet zone behind surfaces has to be measured to be dried properly. A surge cleanup done without readings often closes a wall that is still wet, and the damage shows up months later.

Doing it yourself is a reasonable first step for a small wet area, such as a laundry corner or one room with a little water on the floor. Once water has reached the walls or under the floor, a meter is the only way to know when the material is dry.

If you decide to handle part of it yourself, keep a record. Note the time, the room and what was removed, and photograph the material before it goes out. Tell the crew what you did when they arrive, so the readings are read against the work that has already happened.

Our process

How our storm surge water damage visit works

  1. Make the building safe

    The first check is the electrical. The power should be off at the panel, and the panel should be dry. If either is not true, the crew stays out until a qualified electrician has cleared the circuit. Nothing else starts until this is settled.

  2. Remove the standing water

    Submersible pumps and truck-mounted extractors take out the bulk of the water. Surge water is not the same as a clean supply leak, so the technician decides where the water is discharged and how it is handled, based on what it carries and what the local rules allow.

  3. Sort the wet materials

    Porous materials that took on silt or sat in water usually come out, because cleaning the surface does not reach the inside of drywall, insulation, carpet pad or particleboard. Solid wood, tile and sealed metal are assessed, cleaned and kept if they can be dried and sanitized.

  4. Open and dry the structure

    Wall cavities and any under-floor space are opened where moisture readings stay high. Air movers and dehumidifiers are placed so that air crosses the wet surfaces, and the readings are logged on each visit until they reach the dry target for that material.

  5. Clean, sanitize and write it up

    Surfaces that stayed in silt are cleaned, then sanitized. The moisture readings, photographs and the list of removed materials are written up during the job, not reconstructed afterward. Those records are what an insurer, a landlord or a lender usually asks for.

Bay County

Why storm surge water damage is different in Panama City and Bay County

Panama City sits on the Gulf coast of the Florida Panhandle in Bay County. Hurricane Michael made landfall as a Category 5 storm on October 10, 2018, near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base, and the surge was highest on that stretch of coast. So a surge cleanup on this coast is planned around water arriving from more than one direction, and the crew asks where the water came from before it plans the removal.

The humid Gulf air that this area gets for much of the year keeps materials damp for longer than the same loss would take in a drier setting. A crew working here measures more often, reads the readings against the room conditions, and does not treat a surface that feels dry as a dry wall.

The towns on this site's service list run from the Gulf beaches to the inland Panhandle. Surge is a coastal hazard, and the inland towns on the list are more likely to see water arrive as rain or as a flooded building from above. The page on the Panhandle towns explains which places sit closest to that exposure, so you can judge your own situation.

Where we work

Storm Surge Water Damage across Bay County

Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.

Related

Hurricane Roof and Ceiling Leaks

Water that came through a storm-damaged roof, pulled out of the ceiling space and dried before the ceiling is closed.

Emergency Water Extraction

Pumping and vacuuming standing water out of floors, stairwells and lower rooms across Panama City, around the clock.

Mold After Water Damage

Mold after a flood or leak in Panama City is assessed and handled under Florida licensing, kept separate from the drying work.

Guides

Read before you book

FAQ

Storm Surge Water Damage FAQs

Is surge water always contaminated?

Treat it as contaminated until a technician has looked at it. Surge carries silt, soil, debris and sometimes sewage from a lifted line or a septic system, along with whatever the storm picked up on the way in. The crew decides how each material is handled based on the water and on how long it sat.

Will insurance pay for the surge cleanup?

That depends on the policy and the insurer. A standard homeowner policy generally does not cover flood, and flood is often insured under a separate policy. The crew can give you a written scope and photographs to help your claim, but cannot promise how the claim will be decided.

Should I shut off the electricity myself?

Only if you can reach the breaker from a dry spot without standing in water. If the panel is wet, or the breaker is hard to reach, leave it alone and call. The first question on the call is about the power, and the answer shapes what the crew does first.

Do I need a mold test after surge water?

Not every surge loss needs one. Visible growth, or a musty smell that comes back after drying, is a reason to have the building assessed. In Florida, mold assessment and remediation are licensed through DBPR, and that work is covered on its own page.

Does the cleanup include the outside of the house?

The crew works inside and on the structure below the water line. Fences, sheds, landscaping and exterior finishes are outside the scope unless the job says otherwise, and the scope is written on site before the work begins.

How soon can a crew start?

Calls are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as soon as one is free. No arrival time is promised, because the first thing the crew needs is the current state of the building, and that depends on the storm and on how many calls are open.

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