Buckets of Rain

They say if you live in Oklahoma and don't like the weather here, just wait five minutes and it will change!
Actually we did have to wait a little longer than that the other day, but when the thunderstorms moved in, I guess they thought we needed to make up for our extra dry weather and they meandered slowly across the expanse of our state leaving a trail of destruction behind.

We ended up with over ten inches of rain in some parts of the state.Numerous little towns and cities had massive flooding problems. Governor Henry ended up declaring a State of Emergency in 56 counties! Some of the farmers who were in the process of bringing in their wheat may end up losing their crops.In Oklahoma City and Edmond, there were areas where streets became raging rivers of water and there were many people who ended up having to be rescued from stalled vehicles. Many buildings of our State Capitol complex have received extensive damage.

Now the process of cleanup begins and much of it will fall directly on the shoulders of the homeowner  because many people will not have flood insurance coverage on homes.Of course rain like we had only happens about once every 500 years and unless you live in a flood plain area, where flood insurance is mandatory, one doesn't usually add that coverage onto their insurance policy.

If your home received interior water damage, it is going to be imperative that you start the drying out process immediately in order to keep from getting mold damage. You have water in your home, all your carpet and the bottom of your furniture is wet, who do you call? I would suggest that you contact a fire restoration company immediately! Most likely you will have to pull up all the padding and carpet, but you may be able to save your sheet rock walls if you can get them in there quickly enough with some of their huge fans. If not, you will be pulling out the walls of your home also. Do not think that they are just going to dry out on their own. You will need to take immediate action. Once black mold forms you will have a very toxic situation on your hands! If electrical sockets got wet, be sure to have an electrician come check things out to be sure that you are safe.
 
If you have a vegetable garden and flower beds, you probably will need to be checking them to see if too much water is standing in the beds. If possible, remove retaining borders to allow excess water to run out of them. There is a good chance you will need to purchase some new top soil to mix into the existing soil in order to help absorb some of the excess moisture.

If you ended up driving through high water, chances are the floor coverings in your car will need to be replaced.  Don't forget to also do the trunk area while you are at it. Depending on how deep the water was, you may need to have your mechanic check out your vehicle's mechanical and electrical systems.

When all is said and done, we were extremely fortunate that even though the losses will be into the millions if not billions of dollars and it may take time to recoup from these losses, we will in deed recover with time.