Cleanup for surge floods on the Gulf coast towns on this site's list, with the work planned around the storm record of 2018.
Fastest: call (833) 490-5225. Or send this and we call you back.
Surge flood cleanup in the Gulf coast towns is the removal of silt, debris and wet materials after storm surge, followed by drying of the structure. The work is planned around how surge behaves on this coast, which Hurricane Michael's 2018 record shows most clearly at Mexico Beach. Calls are answered 24/7 from Panama City and the towns around it.
A coastal surge flood is more than a deeper version of a rain loss. It arrives with sand, silt, shell and debris, it can push against a house from the outside as well as fill it from below, and it leaves the lower walls, the floor framing and the ground outside the house all wet at once. Hurricane Michael's landfall on October 10, 2018, near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base, is the storm record that most clearly shows this on the Panhandle coast.
Mexico Beach is on the list of towns served, and it is where Michael's surge was highest, according to NOAA's post-storm summary. A surge cleanup on that stretch of coast, and in the towns that sit along the Gulf beaches near it, is planned around the same pattern. The first question is where the water came from, the second is how far up the building it went, and the third is what it carried in with it.
The crew does not treat a coastal surge as one loss. It separates the outside of the building, the lower walls and the floor framing, and the contents, and it writes each one up as it goes. If the water is still around a building when you call, keep out of it, shut off the power at the panel if you can reach it safely, and call (833) 490-5225.
Do not enter a building with standing water or sand packed against the doors until the power is off at the panel. Stay clear of the foundation and the skirting if they look undermined, and do not walk under a deck or a structure that has been moved by the water. Wear boots and gloves when you move debris, and keep children and pets away from the silt, which can hide sharp objects.
A single-level home with surge on the main floor usually loses the lower wall, the floor covering and the cabinet bases. The work is measured by the tide line, and the drying is focused on the lower wall and the subfloor.
Surge that passes under a raised floor fills the void and soaks the insulation and the underside of the subfloor. That space is drained and dried from below, and the floor above is measured separately before anything is closed.
A garage or a ground-level space takes the surge at its door, and the water can run into the house through a shared wall or a threshold. Both spaces are measured, and the boundary between them is written into the scope.
A commercial building close to the shore takes surge at the glass and the loading doors. Stock and fixtures on the ground floor are often lost first. The building structure is assessed in the same order as a house, and the scope is written on site.
If it's an emergency, call now. For non-urgent surge flood cleanup in coastal towns, send the form and we'll call you back.
A coastal surge brings sand, shell and debris, pushes against the outside of the building, and leaves the lower structure wet from several directions at once. The cleanup starts outside and works in, and it treats the silt as a material to remove, not only as water to dry.
Surge water leaves sediment behind. It settles into the cracks in the floor, the gaps under the baseboard and the openings in the subfloor, and it stays there after the water is gone. A cleanup that only dries the surface leaves that sediment in the building, where it holds moisture and makes the next wet season worse.
The water also comes from outside. Walls, doors and crawl-space vents can be forced open by the water, and the outside of the building can be damaged in ways that let rain in later. The crew notes the openings it finds, so the building can be closed up properly once it is dry.
The height of the tide line is the best guide, and it is measured on the building rather than guessed. Materials below that line are assessed for removal, and materials above it are checked for wicking, which can carry moisture upward.
On the Panhandle coast, Michael's surge was reported at 9 to 14 feet above normal along parts of the coast, with the highest surge at Mexico Beach, according to NOAA's post-storm summary. That is a coastal figure. It does not describe the surge at any single house, and the tide line on each building is the only real measure of what happened there.
A crew marks the tide line on the walls and the framing as it works, so the removal and the drying are planned from the actual height of the water. Materials above the line can still hold water that wicked up, and that is measured, not assumed.
The price follows the height of the surge, how much of the building was under it, the amount of silt and debris, and how much structure has to be opened. No figure is given on this site. The scope and the price are explained and approved on site before work starts.
The amount of debris and silt is the first cost driver on a coastal job. A small amount on a hard floor is a short clean-up. A deep layer in a crawl space, or sand packed into a wall cavity, is a longer job, and it is priced after the crew has seen how far it goes.
The number of separate spaces matters too. A house with a garage, a raised floor and a main living area is three jobs with three sets of readings, not one. Each is measured and written up on its own, and the scope shows each part so you can follow it.
The main cleanup covers the building and the structure under the water line. Fences, decks, sheds, landscaping and exterior finishes are outside the scope unless the job says otherwise, and they are noted in the write-up so they can be dealt with separately.
A crew will tell you about outside damage it sees, because that damage can let water back into the building. A torn door seal or a displaced vent is part of the house work. A fence or a shed is not, and it may be a separate claim.
Keep a record of the outside as well as the inside. Photograph the fences, the sheds and the yard before anything is moved, so the claim file shows what was there before the storm.
The building is dry when the readings in the framing, the subfloor and the lower walls reach the dry target for each material. The crew reports the readings on each visit, and the last reading is the one that decides when the walls can be closed.
Coastal air is humid, so a building that looks dry can still hold moisture in the framing and the subfloor. A wall that is closed while it is still wet can grow mold behind the finish, and that is hard to find later.
Ask for the final readings in writing, along with the materials they were taken from. That record is what a contractor who closes the walls will need, and it is the clearest answer to whether the job is finished.
Before anyone enters, the crew looks at the outside of the building to see the tide line, the debris and any damage to the foundation, skirting or doors. The power is checked before the inside is entered.
Sand, shell and silt are removed from the floor and the crawl space by hand or by machine. Heavy debris is taken out before the structure is opened, so the crew can see what the water did underneath.
Drywall and insulation below the tide line are opened where the readings show the wicking has reached. Subfloor and joists under the building are checked from below, where access allows, because that space often stays wet longest.
Air movers and dehumidifiers are placed to move air across the wet framing. Readings are taken each visit, and the drying continues until the structure reads dry, which can take longer in humid coastal air.
The tide line, the readings, the removal list and the photographs are written up for each part of the building. The write-up is kept with the scope so the claim file has the same picture the crew saw.
Panama City sits on the Gulf coast of Bay County, and the towns on this site's list run along the coast to the east and west of it. The storm record for that stretch is Hurricane Michael's landfall on October 10, 2018, near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base. A crew working in the coastal towns starts from that record, because it is the best documented surge the area has seen.
The Gulf beach towns on the list, including Mexico Beach, Port Saint Joe, Panama City Beach, Ebro and the Walton County beach communities, sit on different parts of the same coast. They have their own tide lines and their own debris, so each job is measured on its own building rather than against a single town's pattern.
Humid coastal air slows drying in every one of these places. The crew logs readings on each visit, and the humidity is taken into account when the drying is planned, so a wall is not closed while the air is still holding moisture in it.
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Surge water pulled out of Panama City homes, then the wet materials sorted and the structure dried before anything is closed up.
Water in a crawl space or under a floor is drained, measured and dried from below, so the subfloor is dry before it is closed.
Air movers and dehumidifiers dry wet walls, subfloors and framing in Panama City, with readings logged until the structure is dry.
Furniture and household contents moved out of wet rooms in Panama City, photographed and listed before the drying starts.
Hurricane Michael made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane on October 10, 2018, near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.
This site's service list names Panama City's downtown postal areas and 17 towns on the Panhandle, from Panama City Beach to Chipley and Alford, each placed by straight-line distance from Panama City's anchor point, up to about 60 km.
Surge carries sediment that settles into floors, crawl spaces and wall gaps as the water drains. Some of it does not come out with the water. The crew removes what it can reach and notes what is left, so the cleanup is finished and not just dried.
The steps are similar, but the coastal version usually brings more sand and debris, pushes against the outside of the building, and leaves the lower structure wet from several directions. The crew plans the work around those points rather than treating the job as a simple inland flood.
No, not before the crew has seen the building. Pressure washing pushes silt and water into the gaps and into the wall cavity, which can make the drying harder. The crew decides what needs to be cleaned, and when.
Yes, where access allows. Crawl spaces and under-floor voids hold water and silt, and they are a common place for a surge loss to stay wet. The crew checks the readings there and notes any damage to the vents and the skirting.
That depends on the policy and on what caused the damage. A standard homeowner policy generally does not cover flood, and flood is often insured separately. The crew can record the outside damage and give you photographs, but it cannot say how a claim will be decided.
Calls are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as soon as one is free. No arrival time is promised, because a coastal storm can leave many buildings to attend to at once, and the crew has to check each one for safety first.