Flooding is not just destructive and chaotic while it happens. It’s in the aftermath that the hidden dangers to your health and well being emerge. When flood waters recede, they leave behind a wall of mud, a sea of mess and a breeding ground for hidden health risks. Chemicals, poisons, bacteria, viruses lurking in flood waters now inside your home. But by knowing how to clean up after a flood you can eliminate these hidden dangers. So in this article, we help you navigate the clean up with ease and make your home your sanctuary once again.

A 10 step summary on how to clean up after a flood

In 5 seconds and 10 steps, by reading this article you’ll learn how to:

1. Protect your personal safety
2. Assess your home for damage
3. Salvage documents and valuables
4. Contact your home insurer
5. Gather supplies
6. Remove flood coverings and upholstered furniture
7. Remove water and mud
8. Dry out your home & treat for mold
9. Remove items from damaged cupboards
10. Salvage personal belongings

We also share in 7 steps how to eliminate mold after flooding. Now lets get you prepared for or on the road to recovery…

What damage can flooding cause?

Our property has been flooded before. Multiple times. And the insidious brown seeping mess left behind can seem endless.

When floods roll in, they don’t just bring water; they bring danger and destruction. In more ways than one. You see, at first its about the overflow from heavy rains, rising rivers, backed up stormwater, broken creek banks, seeping water.

But then you face the aftermath—the silent, lurking dangers that remain when the waters recede.

Picture this: Your home, once a sanctuary, now bears the scars of the flood’s fury. The walls that once housed and protected you are now swollen and sodden. Your floors are warped, trims and base boards stained. Everything coated in a thick mud left by receding flood waters.

The flood’s legacy doesn’t end at your doorstep. Beyond the immediate wreckage, it silently sabotages your home environment putting at risk the health and safety of anyone living there.

Floodwaters are more than just water

How is receding flood water so dangerous?

When flood water rises, it brings more than just water. It carries a cocktail of hazardous substances, from raw sewage and chemicals to harmful bacteria. These aren’t just words of caution; they’re a call to action. Your health and that of your loved ones could be at stake.

Picture this scene: As flood waters surge, an overwhelmed chemical plant systems spills it’s contents, mingling with the deluge. A local dumpster washes down your street, upended in the flood waters. The contents of your neighbour’s garage – oils, paints, and fertilizer – floats in through back door and across your lounge room.

This isn’t just murky water; it’s now a health hazard teeming with poisons, bacteria and viruses. A simple touch could lead to skin issues, infections, and illness not to mention the dangers of long term exposure.

Hidden pollutants don’t just vanish when the waters recede; they seep into the earth, the walls, the very fabric of your home, leaving a lasting imprint on the environment.

So protecting yourself goes beyond just avoiding floodwaters; it means cleaning up properly after them. Both inside your home and out. To avert long term illness or health issues that can develop from the mess they leave behind.

What damage can flooding cause to your home?

Here is a sample of what damage to expect post flooding event, when you return to a flooded home:

• Structural damage – to footings, underpinnings, slabs etc
• Damage to electrical systems
• Burst or broken plumbing
• Backed up sewage system
• Burst natural gas lines
• Mold and bacteria growth
• Water and mud damage to furniture, built in cupboards, flooring, drywall, soft furnishings, appliances, belongings.

Some of this, like mold, mildew, water and mud damage can be cleaned up directly. Other damage, such as structural damage or problems with utilities – electricity, plumbing, sewage and gas – needs to be repaired by builders and trades. Most likely ones selected by your home insurer.

In this article we’re going to focus on the immediate aftermath of flooding. The urgent cleaning needed to prevent further damage and health issues in the near and longer term.

Things that you can do, to get your family’s recovery underway.

A word about natural disasters and trauma

Flooding causes extensive damage to homes. And there’s significant trauma wrapped up in that. Seeing your prized possessions damaged or ruined. The stench left behind. Your family home inundated and reduced to a muddy wreck.

Nothing can prepare you for the shock of that. The terrible sense of loss. The feeling that it’s ‘unfixable’. The despair about what to do next. We know. We’ve been there.

So please, if you’re about to go through the cleanup process after a flood, tap in to local support networks. Friends and family. Community organisations. Neighbours, banding together.

If you’re just thinking about how to prepare for the aftermath of flooding, consider for a moment the mental health impacts too. Have an idea of who you can lean on for help.

It’s not a task you’ll want to front up to alone.

Immediate Steps to Take After a Flood

When the flood waters begin to recede, it’s crucial to act swiftly to minimize further damage and ensure your safety.

After experiencing a flood, the aftermath is often overwhelming. But you still need to find a way for these immediate priorities, to get through the recovery safely.

1. Protect Your Personal Safety

a. Check for structural damage

Your personal safety – and your family’s – should always be your top priority.

So before reentering your home, make sure it’s safe to do so.

Inspect the outside of the building for any visible signs of damage, such as cracks in the foundation or structurally compromised walls. If you have any doubts about your safety, contact a professional to assess the situation.

b. Turn off Utilities

Now it’s time to think about the power. Or making sure there is none, that is.

Flood waters can damage electrical systems, leaving danger in their wake. The best way to eliminate this risk is to turn off the power supply at the power board, before entering your home. The power board is generally oustide your home so you can do this safely.

If you are unsure about the condition of your electrical system, call an electrician in due course for a proper inspection.

The same goes for gas. Flooding can burst gas pipes or mains so turn this off at the connection point, before going into your property.

If you are prepared and you’ve evacuated your home during the flood, chances are you will have a Go Bag (emergency evacuation bag) with you. If needed, use the multi-tool from your Go Bag to turn off gas taps or open your power board.

Don’t be tempted to enter if you haven’t taken care of these first.

2. Assess Your Home for Damage

Once you’ve determined that it’s safe to enter your home, take a good look at the damage done. Take photographs, video and document anything visible. You’ll need this for insurance claims. Because that is what will come next.

These are the types of things you’re looking for as you inspect the inside of your home. Move from room to room starting at the front door and document what you find.

We talk about how to safely go about clean and repair, of these later.

3. Salvage Documents & Valuables

Hopefully, your Go Bag also contained all of your most important documents – the hard copy versions included.

If you do have important documents that were affected by the flood, now is the time to salvage them. You may need them to deal with government and your insurer during the recovery process.

Handle any documents with care if they’re water damaged. Place them in a zip lock bag until you can get somewhere to lay them out to dry.

Salvage any valuable possessions at the same time. Unfortunately, looting and theft does happen in the wake of natural disasters when homes are damaged. Grab any valuable artwork, jewellery, and photos.

4. Contact Your Home Insurer

Armed with the information collected from this initial visit, it’s time to contact your insurer. The aim here is to start the claim process. But you also need to find out the insurer’s requirements for the clean up and repair of your damaged home.

You see, some insurers will not want you to clean up at all.

Instead, they require professional cleaners of their choosing to do the cleaning for you. Make sure you know what your insurer specifies, before heading in to clean things up yourself.

How to Clean up After a Flood

It’s time to turn your mind to how to clean your house after a flood. Where do you start with all the damn mud?

Now that you’ve addressed immediate safety concerns and assessed the damage, and spoken to your home insurer, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and begin the exhausting cleanup process. Here’s what you’ll need at hand, to get started:

5. Gather Supplies

What supplies do you need to clean up after a flood?

Mostly you need personal protection gear, cleaning gear, rubbish bins and storage – for salvageable items. Here’s the list:

1. Gloves
2. Eye mask
3. N95 face mask
4. Rubber boots, wellingtons, gumboots, galoshes
5. A mop and bucket
6. Scrubbing brushes
7. A stiff bristled broom
8. Garden hoses (high powered hoses or guerneys are best)
9. Garbage bags, bins, a skip bin
10. Waterproof storage – bags and containers – for salvageable items.
11. Transfer pumps.

6. Remove floor coverings & upholstered furniture

Floor coverings – like carpet, rugs, linoleum, and even timber floating floors – will all have to go if they’ve been under flood waters.

There is no saving them. Why?

Once flooded, these items become a safe harbour for the growth of mold, which we address down below.

Porous materials, such as carpets and upholstered furniture, may be difficult to fully restore and could pose health risks due to mold and bacteria growth. It’s best to consult with professionals specializing in water damage restoration for guidance on salvaging these items.

Muddy, wet carptes can be pulled up, rolled up and dragged outside. You’ll need some elbow grease for thise job. Sodden carpets are heavier than you think. Time to recruit family and friends to help with the clean out.

Timber floating floors will swell and buckle with flood water inundation and will likely need to be ripped out. This is a big job. Decide whether to do it first or wait until you’ve removed as much water and mud as humanly possible.

Of course, you’ll need a skip bin for carpets and rugs and sodden floor covers to go in. But with everyone in the same boat, these may not be available. So in some cities and suburbs the local government lets you pile unwanted items on the nature strip in front of your home. Ready for collection by city garbage trucks.

7. Remove Water and Mud

The next step in cleaning up after a flood is to remove stagnant water from your home.

I remember as a child our sunken lounge room flooding in a monsoon deluge in Darwin. We literally used buckets to bail out the water through the windows. There was no other way to do it without flooding the rest of the house.

So use whatever you have to get any remaining flood water out of your home.

Use transfer pumps, wet-dry vacuums, or even buckets.

Sweep any mud outside using a stiff-bristled outdoor broom.

Push, pump and coax the water and mud into local stormwater drainage, where it can flow away from your home.

Next you may want to hose out your home.

It sounds counter intuitive, but I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Hosing is the only way you can rid your home of the mud caked on everything.

Before you move onto the next step, make sure you open all doors and cupboards inside your home. Water will make these swell over 24 to 48 hours. As they do, they’ll be difficult to open and close. If your doors are left open, you’ll at least have access to all rooms in your house. And avoid the inconvenience of having to take doors off their hinges to get in somewhere.

8. Dry out your home

After hosing, grab a mop and bucket and mop the floors as dry as you can.

Once the majority of the water has been removed, focus on drying out the inside of your home. Open windows and doors to promote air circulation. Use dehumidifiers to reduce moisture levels. Turn on heaters and fans if you have power to help dry everything out.

Mold and mildew grows more quickly than you think in damp environments. So it’s essential to dry out your home within the first 24 to 48 hours after flooding, to prevent further damage. We talk about how to kill mold and mildew after flooding down below.

Hidden areas such as crawl spaces and wall cavities are a priority in drying out your home after a flood. These too can retain moisture and become breeding grounds for mold. So how do you go about drying these out?

There’s no easy way to go about it and the options are limited.

Either you remove baseboards and drill small holes in walls to facilitate air circulation. This is only possible if there is no insulation inside the walls.

The more likely option is to remove all drywall down to the studs where flooding has been through. Here’s a simple way to go about removing drywall after a flood:

1. Make a mark on your wall around a foot above where the water has wicked up to. You can generally see water stains up the wall to tell you this. You will remove all drywall or gyprock below this line.
2. Cut through the drywall along the entire line with a stanley knife or utility knife.
3. Use a hammer to punch through the drywall beneath this line.
4. Use the back of the hammer to begin prising the drywall off the timber studs and noggins.
5. Once the drywall is gone pull out any insulation inside the wall cavity. This will likely have to be replaced.

We recommend you make sure of 2 things before you start this process:

1. You have clearance from your home insurer to do it – some insurers prefer it to be done by builders during repairs under insurance
2. You have your N95 mask on and your protective eyewear on.

9. Remove items from flood damaged cupboards

As you try to dry your home, your attention will turn to the inside of cupboards.

Wet cupboards can collapse with the weight of their contents. Structurally, the water compromises their strength. Especially with MDF and chipboard built-in cupboards in kitchens and laundries.

These types of cupboards often have to be ripped out and replaced in the repair of your home.

So to save from further damage to to kitchenware, it’s a good idea to empty any cupboards with noticeable swelling. Pack away your belongings in water proof storage containers.

You may need to move these off site or outside when it comes time for your home to be repaired.

10. Salvaging Personal Belongings

As you continue to clean up, salvage as many personal belongings as possible.

Pull everything out of water-logged cupboards. Sort through your belongings and separate salvageable items from those that are beyond repair.

For items that can be saved, clean them thoroughly using a mild detergent and warm water. Avoid using harsh chemicals or bleach, as they can damage your things.

Once cleaned, allow everything to air dry in a well-ventilated area.

Remember to document the damage for insurance purposes as you go. Take photographs and make a detailed inventory of damaged items. This documentation will help streamline your claims process and so that you are fully compensated.

How to stop mold from colonizing your home

Mold deserves its own section in this article. Why is that though?

Because it’s a living human health hazard.

Some molds are allergens and can cause problems some serious issues with your health. It’s definitely not to be messed with if you want to avoid any of the following:

• Eye irritation – burning, watery, redness
• Respiratory stress – wheezing, asthma
• Nasal and sinus congestion or dry, hacking cough
• Skin irritations – rashes or hives
• Nose or throat irritation – sneezing fits, bloody noses
• Aches and pains
• Nervous system – headaches, memory loss, mood changes

Babies, children, the elderly, pregnant women, immune compromised individuals, and people with respiratory conditions can get sick easily from mold exposure.

Where does mold grow after flooding?

After flooding, mold typically shows up in the timber, drywall, insulation, chipboard, fabric, upholstery, and cardboard around your home.

It doesn’t matter what type of flooding you have, mold can grow within 24 to 48 hours after water damage. And it spreads quickly from there with the right growing conditions.

How do you know if you have mold after a flood?

You can see mold – it discolors or stains most surfaces it grows on. Turns them black or brown. Typically in a dotted pattern but it come sometimes look like a spray.

You can also smell mold. It’s a stale, earthy aroma. Quite strong and off putting.

You can also presume mold exists. If your home is flooded and the conditions are right for mold to grow, you should assume it will. Particularly in hidden areas like wall cavities or crawl spaces. Mold only needs, moisture, temperature, time and the right surface to spread like wildfire.

Mold and mildew thrive in damp environments, and a flood-damaged home provides the perfect breeding ground. Preventing mold growth is crucial to protect your health and the integrity of your home.

The key is to act quickly. Next we’re going to give the knowledge about how.

Step by step mold removal process – post flooding

If you discover mold after flooding or damp in your home, take immediate action. Here’s what to do:

Step 1 – Supplies

Get your supplies together, covering these 4 stages of the cleaning process:

1. Personal preparation – gloves, respirator masks, googles or protective eyewear.
2. Cleaning – scrubbing brushes, buckets, rags, sponges
3. Disposal – sealable garbage bags.
4. Mold treatment – phenolic cleaner / pine-oil cleaner and Disinfectant Chlorine bleach

Step 2 – Get prepared

Wear protective gear, such as gloves and masks, to start the cleaning. It’s important you don’t expose your skin, eyes and lungs to the mold. Or to the power cleaning products we’ve gathered to clean it

Step 3 – Ventilate

As you get cleaning make sure there is good airflow through the room. For the same reason you need protective gear, ventilation will help protect your lungs and eyes from exposure to mold or cleaning chemicals.

Step 4 – Clean hard surfaces

Mix your cleaner with warm water and wipe over non porous surfaces like metal, timber or drywall. You’ll need to scrub porous surfaces like concrete with your cleaning solution

Step 5 – Dry off the cleaning solution

Dry the newly cleaned surfaces – with a cloth or wet vacuum if you have one.

Step 6 – Treat with bleach

Mix up bleach and water. Check out the FAQs below for the right ratio of bleach to water to kill mold. Spray the mixture over the area and leave it to sit for 10 minutes. Then wash it down with clear water and let it dry.

This step will disinfect the area killing mold spores.

Step 7 – Dry thoroughly

Ventilate the disinfected areas and let them dry out thoroughly before covering up or repairing around them. The only way to prevent mold from recurring is to remove the conditions it thrives in – moisture causes mould.

Can you use a mold removal service?

Yes, mold removal services do exist! And your home insurer might pay for one after flooding.

If mold growth is really severe or you have existing health issues (respiratory, skin, allergies etc), you may want to hire professionals. There are companies that specialise in thorough mold removal to ensure safe remediation of effected areas in your home. Equally, your home insurer may insist on you using a mold removal service.

Mold growth is such an insidious and dangerous concern after any type of flooding we have an entire FAQ dedicated to cleaning up mold at the end of this article.

In a nutshell

Cleaning up after flooding is a daunting task. The shock of seeing such mess can be traumatic. But there are things that you can do, to regain control. By following the steps in this article, you can navigate the clean up with greater purpose and more confidence. Remember to always discuss your plans with your home insurer first. And let friends and family know what you’re going through – so they can lend a helping hand. Lastly, don’t skimp on supplies that protect your personal safety. Time is of the essence after a flood. With a little cleaning know how, you can restore your home and move on from the muddy devastation caused by flooding.