You hear it before you see it — that low rumble rolling in from the west, the sky going green-gray over Denton County. Ten minutes later, rain is coming down sideways and water’s creeping in under the back door. If you’ve lived in Pilot Point through a few summers, you know this drill. What you do in the next hour matters more than almost anything that happens after.
Here’s exactly what to do, in order, if a summer storm just sent water into your home.
1. Make sure everyone’s safe first
Before anything else — check for downed power lines near standing water, and if there’s any chance water has reached an outlet, breaker panel, or anything electrical, don’t wade in. Shut off power to that area at the breaker if you can do it safely, or call an electrician if you can’t. No amount of water damage is worth a shock.
2. Stop the source, if you can
If the water is coming from a burst pipe, an overflowing gutter backing up into the house, or a failed appliance connection made worse by the storm, shut off the water at the source or the main shutoff valve. If it’s rainwater or flooding coming in from outside — through a window, a roof leak, or under a door — there’s often no “shutting it off.” In that case, your job shifts straight to damage control.
3. Document before you touch anything
Grab your phone and take photos and video of everything — the water itself, how high it got, what it’s touching, any damaged belongings. Do this before you start moving furniture or mopping up. Insurance adjusters lean heavily on this kind of documentation, and it’s a lot easier to take five extra minutes now than to try to reconstruct it later from memory.
4. Get water and valuables out of harm’s way
Move furniture, rugs, electronics, and anything irreplaceable off the wet floor and away from the affected area. If it’s safe to do so, you can start removing standing water with towels or a wet-vac. This isn’t about avoiding calling a professional — it’s about buying your home a little time.
5. Call for water damage restoration — sooner than you think
This is the step people underestimate. Drywall, insulation, and subfloor can start absorbing water within minutes, and mold can begin growing in as little as 24 to 48 hours in Texas summer humidity. The clock doesn’t wait for business hours, and neither should your call.
When we get a call for storm or emergency water cleanup in North Texas, day one is always about stabilizing the situation: extracting standing water, applying antimicrobial treatment to slow mold growth, and setting up drying equipment to start pulling moisture out of the structure — not just what you can see, but what’s soaked into the walls and floors underneath. Then, within 24 to 48 hours, we reassess with moisture meters and thermal imaging to build a full picture of what actually needs to happen next. That rhythm exists for a reason — it stabilizes things fast, and it gives you (and your insurance company, if you’re filing a claim) time to catch up before bigger decisions get made.
A quick word about the drying equipment
Once drying equipment is running, it needs to stay running until the structure actually reads dry — not just until it looks dry or the noise gets old. I won’t pretend those fans aren’t disruptive; they are. But turning them off early to get a quiet evening can let moisture linger where you can’t see it, and that’s exactly how small water damage turns into a mold problem. If the noise is wearing on you, take the family out for the evening and let the equipment do its job undisturbed. That’s a much better trade than shutting it down.
Why fast action actually matters
Storm damage restoration in Pilot Point isn’t just about mopping up rainwater. It’s about catching the moisture that’s already migrated into places you can’t see — under baseboards, inside wall cavities, beneath flooring — before it turns into swelling, warping, or mold. A fast response is genuinely one of the biggest factors in whether a storm costs you a few days of inconvenience or a few weeks of rebuilding.
If you’re dealing with water damage in Pilot Point right now, I’d rather you call than wait and wonder. And if today isn’t an emergency but you want to be ready before the next storm rolls through, we put together a free guide, The First 24 Hours After Water Damage, that walks through this same process in more detail.
Merlene Mitigation is a small, local operation — Josh handles the water damage and inspections himself, so you’re getting one accountable person who knows your name and your house, not a call center. Lower overhead means fair pricing, and being local means we’re already close when the sky turns green over Denton County.
If a summer storm has water in your home right now, give us a call. We’ll walk you through it.
-Ally