Can heavy rain alone flood a Bossier City home?
Yes. In March 2016 more than 20 inches of rain fell across northwest Louisiana in a few days, and local news coverage reported that Bossier City neighborhoods were flooded. A river crest is not needed for storm water to reach the inside of a house.
Rain that falls faster than the ground and the drains can take it runs across the surface until it finds a low point. A house on that low point takes in water at the foundation, the sills and the crawl-space vents, even if the river is well below its banks.
The lesson is practical. A homeowner should not assume that a dry river means a dry house. Storm water is a separate source, and the first visit has to look at the rain path as well as the river path.
Why does storm water spread under a house without showing?
Storm water runs along the lowest paths in a building, which are the slab edge, the bottom plates of the walls and the crawl-space ground. It can travel a long way along those paths before the wet area shows on the finished floor.
A floor can look dry while the subfloor and the framing under it still hold water. Carpet can feel dry on top while the pad beneath is soaked. The only reliable way to know is to take readings in the places water travels, and the crew does that.
Once the source is closed, the drying has to follow the same paths. A dehumidifier in one room does little for a crawl space that is still wet, so the equipment is placed where the readings are highest.
What should I do with my belongings after a storm flood?
Move what is wet and can be moved, off the floor and out of the water, and keep a written list of what was affected. Photograph items before they are moved, and keep damaged belongings until the crew or the insurer has seen them.
Soft goods such as rugs, upholstery and bedding that have been wet with storm water are often removed, because they hold silt and cannot be dried back to a safe state. Hard goods can often be cleaned and dried, and the crew will say which is which.
Keep receipts for any emergency measures, such as temporary covers or a rented pump, and note the date and the cost. Those records help the claim file, even though the policy decides what is paid.
What makes the cost of heavy rain flood damage go up or down?
The volume of water, how far it travelled, how many entry points there were, the materials that must be removed and the number of visits the drying takes all change the cost. No figure is published on this site, and the price is explained and approved before any work starts.
A house with one entry point and a finished floor that only needs its wall bottoms dried costs less than a house where storm water reached the crawl space, the garage and several rooms. The number of removals is usually the largest single factor.
Closing the entry point is part of the job, and it is priced separately from the drying. Ask the crew to show the reasons for each line of its estimate, in writing, before work starts.
When is a storm-flooded house ready for repair?
A house is ready for repair when the readings in the wall bottoms, the subfloor, the insulation and the crawl space have reached the dry goal and stayed there across more than one check. Repairs before that point can trap moisture behind new finishes.
The crew's report sets the readings and the dry goal, and it is the basis for taking the equipment out. Closing a wall too early is one of the most common reasons a storm job comes back as a stain or a smell.
Some repairs need a permit. The Bossier Parish and City of Bossier City permit offices answer repair-permit questions for their own jurisdictions. This page has not checked their fees or permit types, so confirm the requirements before work starts.
