What to do in the first hours of nor'easter flooding

Step one: people, then safety

Move everyone to a higher, dry room and stay out of standing water near outlets, cords, the panel and the boiler. Check everyone is accounted for before anything else is done.

A nor'easter often brings water for hours, and the rise can continue after the wind has dropped. Check the lowest rooms every hour or so while the storm is running, and keep the family or the occupants together in the highest dry room of the house.

If the water is near the panel or the boiler, do not wade toward it. Leave the power off at the meter or the main from a dry place if you can reach it, and if you cannot, stay out of the water and call the utility from outside the building.

Step two: the power, the gas and the structure

Keep off wet electrical equipment, leave the panel alone if it is wet and watch for a gas smell. A house that has been under moving water can have weakened supports and loose boards, so stay off soft floors and away from sagging ceilings.

Once the water is out of the room, the outlets and the appliances still need checking before they are used. Do not switch on anything that stood in the water, and do not run a generator inside the house or in a garage with the door shut.

If you smell gas, leave the building at once and call the gas utility from outside. Do not switch lights or appliances on or off in the building while the smell is present.

Step three: the photographs and the note

Photograph the water line before anything is moved, and write a short note of the times and the rooms affected. The tide line is the most useful single piece of evidence, and the note is the start of the file.

Take a wide photograph of each room with the line visible, and a close one of the line against a measuring object. Photograph the damage on the floors and the walls, and the entry point if you can see it safely.

Keep the note on paper if possible, because a phone can be damaged by the water. The note should give the time the water was first seen, the rough depth, the source as far as you know it and the times of each call.

• A wide photograph of each room with the tide line in frame
• A close shot of the line against a door frame or a measured object
• The entry point, from a safe position, if it is visible
• A note of the time the water rose and the time it went down

Step four: silt, sewage and protection

Street water leaves silt and can carry sewage. Wear waterproof boots and gloves when you are near it, keep children and pets out, and wash your hands before eating. If the water smells of sewage, close the room off and tell the crew.

Silt dries into a fine dust that is easy to breathe, and it can cut the skin when it hardens on the hands and feet. Keep the room closed off until the crew arrives, and keep the doors and windows in the same position so the air does not move from the flooded room into the rest of the house.

A drain that is backing up through the floor is a sign of sewage. Leave that room and call, and tell the crew about it when you do, because it changes the removal plan and the protective gear.

Step five: move what can be moved

Move valuables and small items to a higher, dry place if it is safe to reach them. Do not lift heavy furniture that is standing in water, and do not carry items through water deeper than the knee.

Lift items onto tables, shelves or the upper floor, and keep electronics off the floor. Do not switch on electronics that were in the water.

Keep a list of what was moved and where it went, because the list is part of the record. A discarded item with no note is much harder to claim for later.

Step six: call, and keep the call notes

Call the 24/7 line once it is safe to reach the house. Give the address, the floor, the source if you know it and whether water is still coming in. Note the time of the call and the name of the person you spoke to.

Ask the operator for the first steps, and follow them while you wait for the crew. A crew is sent as soon as one is free, and no fixed arrival time is promised over the phone.

Keep a short notes file with the times, the names and what you were told. It will be useful if the claim or the repair is discussed later, or if the job passes to another company.

The first night and the morning after

The first night is about safety and rest. Keep the flooded rooms closed off, keep the power off to them and check the rest of the house for water that moved after the afternoon.

Water can keep moving through a house for hours after the peak, especially through the cellar and the lower walls. Mark any new water line with a pencil so the crew can see how the water behaved overnight, and photograph the rooms again in the same positions as the first photographs.

In the morning, check the neighbours on the same street if you are able, and compare the water lines. Shared information about the street helps the crew plan the route, helps each claim and is useful to the city if it asks what happened.

Step seven: what to tell the crew on arrival

On arrival the crew wants the basics first: where the water came from, when it was found, what has been moved and what has been photographed. Having those answers ready shortens the first visit and makes the scope more accurate.

Hand over the photographs and the note you wrote in the first hours, and show the crew the water line and the items you have already moved. Tell the crew about any electrical or gas problem you have seen, and about any person in the house with a breathing condition.

The crew will ask about the drains, any sewage smell and the cellar, so have those details to hand. A short, honest account is more useful than a long one with guesses in it.

Step eight: the upper floors and the people who live there

The upper floors are usually dry, but a flooded house can change the air and the humidity above the water line. Move small items up if there is room and keep the upper rooms ventilated.

Keep wet clothing and bedding out of the upper rooms, because damp fabric in a closed room can grow mold within days. Use the bathroom exhaust fan and open the upper windows when the outside air is drier than the inside air.

If anyone in the house has asthma, a breathing condition or a weakened immune system, tell the crew on arrival and consider staying elsewhere until the air is checked. The crew can advise on which rooms are safe to use while the drying runs.

Step nine: the claim, the city and the record

Within the first days, report the loss to the insurer in writing and note the city's response to the storm. Keep the letters, the notices and the photographs in one dated folder.

Write to the insurer as soon as the loss is known, giving the time, the place and a short description, and attach the first photographs. A written notice in the first days is the simplest proof that the claim was raised promptly.

If the city has issued a notice or a statement about the storm, keep it with the file. It helps show when the water arrived and what the public authorities knew at the time.