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Flood Cleanup After Record Rain in Lafayette, LA

Cleanup and drying for rain floods across Lafayette and Lafayette Parish, planned around the rain event and the water it left.

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  • Flooded homes, burst pipes and roof leaks
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Record-Rain Cleanup

Record-Rain Flood Cleanup: what it covers

Quick answer

Rain flooding leaves water in homes and shops through doors, garages, low entries and drains as well as through roofs. In Lafayette the August 2016 rain, a record two-day total at the Lafayette station, is the reference for a flood of that size. Lafayette Water Damage Restoration responds to rain floods around the clock and sends a crew as soon as one is free.

Record-Rain Flood Cleanup illustration for Lafayette, LA, with a country church and the river in the background

The Lafayette station of the US Climate Reference Network recorded 22.89 inches of rain over 11 and 12 August 2016, an all-time record two-day total for that station. A rain of that size fills drains, floods streets and pushes water into buildings at the lowest point it can find. The cleanup that follows is larger than most rain losses, and it has to be planned around the water that came from outside as well as the water that came from the roof.

Most rain floods are smaller than 2016, but they follow the same pattern. Water enters through the door, the garage, the crawl space vent or the drain, then spreads across the floor and up the wall. The cleanup is done in the same order each time: find the entry, remove what is wet, dry the structure and record the readings.

If rain water is still coming into the building, the first call is to tell the crew where it is entering. Call (833) 490-5225 at any hour, and say whether the water is still rising, which rooms it has reached and whether the power is on. A crew is sent as soon as one is free, and Lafayette Water Damage Restoration does not give a promised arrival time.

Service area
Lafayette & Lafayette Parish
Availability
Phones answered 24/7
Warning signs

Signs you need record-rain flood cleanup

Do not drive or walk through moving water on a street or a flooded driveway. Do not enter a flooded garage or crawl space until the power has been confirmed off, and do not use a generator or a gas appliance inside or in a closed garage. Wear boots and gloves around rain-soaked debris and silt, and wash after contact. Do not remove wet drywall or insulation without a mask, because the dust and the growth in it can irritate the lungs.

  • Water across a garage floor or in the room next to it, after the rain has stopped
  • Mud or silt left on the floor, the lowest shelf or the bottom of the wall
  • A damp smell and a stain line on drywall that climbs above the floor
  • Carpet or pad that squelches, and a floor that feels spongy underfoot
  • Water coming up through a floor drain, a laundry drain or a toilet during heavy rain
  • Doors that stick or trim that has swelled after the water has been standing
Job stories

Typical jobs for record-rain flood cleanup

Typical job
Illustration: Rain comes under a garage door and across a ground-floor room

Rain comes under a garage door and across a ground-floor room

What homeowners notice
After a heavy rain, the owner of a single-family home finds a shallow sheet of water across the garage floor and a wet line creeping into the laundry room next door. The garage door seal has worn at one end, and the water has come in under it.
What we do
The crew confirms the power to the laundry area is off, then pumps the standing water out of the garage and the laundry room. The wet carpet pad in the laundry room is removed, and the lowest section of drywall on the shared wall is cut so the cavity can dry. Air movers and a dehumidifier are set, and the readings are taken at the same points on each visit.
What to expect
The garage floor and the laundry room are dried to the dry reference over several visits, and the owner receives the readings, the photographs of the door seal and a list of the materials removed, for the house file and for the insurer.

4-6 hours typical visit

Options

Types and options for record-rain flood cleanup

Water through a garage or a side door

Rain that enters through a garage or a side door usually reaches the floor first and then moves under the walls and into the framing. The crew works from the door inward, and it checks the wall base and the garage side of the house as well as the room that was obviously wet. Garages often hold stored items, so the crew records those too.

Water through a crawl space or a vent

Where a home has a crawl space, rain can enter through the vents or the access door and soak the insulation and the floor framing from below. The crew checks the crawl space as part of the cleanup, because a floor that looks dry from above can still be wet from underneath. This is covered in more detail on the crawl space page.

Water through a drain or a low fixture

Heavy rain can push water back up a floor drain, a laundry drain or a toilet, and that water is treated as contaminated. The crew handles it with the same care as sewage, which is set out on the sewage backup page. It is recorded separately from the rain water that entered through the door.

Water that reached the roof line

Rain that came in through the roof, a flashing or a ceiling is usually cleaner than river or street water, but it can soak the attic insulation and the ceiling below. The crew checks the ceiling and the wall cavity under the leak, and it records how far the water traveled before the cleanup begins.

One call and it gets handled.

A crew is dispatched as fast as one is available, and you approve the estimate before any work starts.

Call (833) 490-5225Get a quote

What did the August 2016 rain leave behind in Lafayette?

The August 2016 rain was an all-time record two-day total at the Lafayette station of the US Climate Reference Network, and it flooded buildings across the parish. A city-parish public works estimate put more than 1,500 homes, businesses and other structures under water in the first week, and a ten-year retrospective later reported nearly 2,000 homes.

Those two figures are not the same measure, and they are not added together. The first is an estimate made in the week of the flood by the city-parish public works department, and it counts homes, businesses and other structures. The second is a retrospective reported by a regional news outlet ten years later, and it counts homes. A reader should keep them apart, and this site does not combine them.

The figures describe the scale of the event. They are not a measure of any one street, and they are not a schedule for any one cleanup.

How do rain floods differ from a burst pipe?

A rain flood comes from outside and usually reaches many rooms, while a burst pipe usually starts inside one room. Rain water can carry mud and debris, so its cleanup has more steps, and the source has to be closed off before the drying can work.

A burst pipe is a single source with a known starting point, and the crew can stop the water at the valve. A rain flood can have several entry points at the same time, and the water keeps arriving while the crew works. The first task is therefore to find and close the entries, which is different work from shutting a valve.

Rain water also reaches the wall cavity and the crawl space in ways that a pipe leak rarely does. The crew measures the water at each level, and it does not assume that the wet area it can see is the whole loss.

Why is the first week after a heavy rain so important?

The first week decides how much material can be dried in place and how much has to be removed. Wet drywall, insulation and flooring that are left for days can soak through, and the cavity behind them can stay damp long after the room looks dry.

Within the first few days, the crew can often save more material than it can later, because the wet layers have not yet taken up as much water. Carpet and pad that are dried quickly sometimes survive, and the wall can be opened in a small area instead of a large one.

Waiting also gives time for the air in the building to hold moisture, which slows drying and can help mold start in closed cavities. The sooner the water is out and the drying begins, the smaller the list of materials that have to be replaced.

What should a shop owner do after a rain flood?

Move stock and equipment up off the floor if it is safe, keep the power off to the wet area, and call the line so the crew can plan around the business. Photograph the stock and the damage before anything is moved, and keep a list of what is lost.

Shops often hold goods, shelving and tools at floor level, and rain floods reach those first. Remove what can be moved without putting yourself at risk, and leave heavy items in place until the crew has looked. A list of what was lost, with photographs and invoices if you have them, makes the claim and the restocking easier.

The crew can work in stages so that the parts of the shop that are dry can keep trading. The commercial flood page explains how that is planned, and the crew discusses the schedule with the owner on site.

What does the cleanup cost, and who pays?

Lafayette Water Damage Restoration does not publish a price for a rain flood cleanup, because the size of the water, the materials it reached and the time it stood decide the work. The price is explained on site and approved by you before any equipment runs. Whether an insurer pays depends on your policy.

A price given over the phone would be a guess, and a guess is not useful after a flood. The crew measures the work first, and then explains the steps and what each one is for. The owner decides whether to go ahead, and nothing is started on a price that has not been explained.

Insurance is a separate question. A homeowner's or business policy decides what it covers, and the insurer decides what it pays. The records made during the cleanup are what the insurer reads, so keep them. The insurance guide on this site explains how a complaint about a claim is made in Louisiana.

Our process

How our record-rain flood cleanup visit works

  1. Find the entry points

    The technician walks the building from the outside entry inward. Doors, garage openings, low windows, vents and drains are checked, because the cleanup can only be finished once the water is no longer coming in. Where water is still entering, the crew tells the owner what to close or block before the work continues.

  2. Power and safety

    Electrical outlets, a panel and wiring in the flooded area are checked, and the power is turned off to any zone that has water near it. The crew does not enter standing water near live circuits. The electrical check happens before any pumping or removal.

  3. Extraction and removal

    Standing water is pumped out, and the wet carpet, pad, insulation and lowest drywall are removed where the readings show they cannot be dried in place. Each removal is recorded with a photograph and a note of what was taken out and why.

  4. Cleaning and structural drying

    Hard surfaces and framing are cleaned, then dried with air movers and dehumidifiers. The crew reads moisture in the floor, the wall and the cavity at the start, and returns to read it again until the building is dry.

  5. Records and handover

    The owner gets a written record of the entry points, the readings, the materials removed and the photographs from each visit. That record explains the work and supports any insurance claim, so it is kept together and dated.

Lafayette Parish

Why record-rain flood cleanup is different in Lafayette and Acadiana

The Lafayette station of the US Climate Reference Network is the source of the 22.89-inch figure for 11 and 12 August 2016. That record describes one station. It explains the scale of the event, and the crew's readings explain your building in Lafayette, Lafayette Parish.

The Surrey Street gauge on the Vermilion River crested at 17.62 feet on 15 August 2016, three days after the rain was recorded. The river reading and the rain reading are separate measures, and both are worth keeping in the claim file.

The local reference point is the scale of the 2016 record, and the reminder that the first hours after a flood still decide how much work follows.

Where we work

Record-Rain Flood Cleanup across Lafayette Parish

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

Related

Emergency Water Extraction

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

Vermilion River Flood Damage

Cleanup and drying for homes and shops that take river floodwater, with the water categorized before any work starts.

Crawl Space Flood Drying

Pumping, cleaning and drying a crawl space and the floor framing above it after flood water has come in from below or through the vents.

Insurance Claim Moisture Records

The moisture readings, photographs and written logs kept on every visit, so that an insurer can see what the water did and what was done about it.

Guides

Read before you book

River Flood Stage and Your Home

The Vermilion River gauge at Surrey Street crested at 17.62 feet on 15 August 2016, against a minor flood stage of 10 feet.

What to Do in the First Days After a Flood

In the first days after a flood, make the building safe, stop the water still coming in, photograph everything before it moves, and then let the crew remove the wet material in order.

FAQ

Record-Rain Flood Cleanup FAQs

Is a rain flood covered by a homeowner's policy?

That depends on the policy, which decides what it covers and what it excludes. Many standard policies treat flood water from outside differently from water that comes from a pipe or a roof. Read your policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it says about rain and surface water.

How much rain fell during the August 2016 flood?

The Lafayette station of the US Climate Reference Network recorded 22.89 inches over 11 and 12 August 2016, which was an all-time record two-day total for that station. The station describes the rain at one point, so the figure is the scale of the event, not a measure of your street.

Why did the cleanup take so long after the 2016 rain?

Heavy rain can leave many buildings wet at once, and a crew can only work one building at a time. Materials that stay wet for days can soak through, and damp air slows drying, so the sooner the water is out the less has to be removed. That is the reason to call early.

Should I pump the water out myself?

Only if you can do it safely and with the power off. A household pump can lower the level, but it can also spread water into new areas, and it does not replace the crew's work on the materials and the cavities.

Will the crew come during the night?

The line is answered 24 hours a day. A crew is sent as soon as one is free, and Lafayette Water Damage Restoration does not promise an arrival time or a time of day.

Can I stay in the house during the cleanup?

It depends on how much of the house is wet and whether the power and the air can be kept safe. The crew explains which rooms can stay in use, and it does not promise a timeline for the rest of the work.

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