Monsoon Flood Damage in Arizona How to Dry Out Your Home After a Storm

Arizona’s monsoon season runs from June 15 to September 30. Most days are dry heat, then a storm cell can drop an inch of rain in under an hour onto ground too hard to absorb it. The water sheets across yards and streets and finds the lowest way into the house, usually the garage, a sliding door or a patio that slopes the wrong way.

Here is what to do once the storm passes and how to dry the house out before mold takes hold.

How Monsoon Water Gets Into Arizona Homes

• Runoff under garage and patio doors when the yard grades toward the house.
• Wind damage to the roof, which lets rain into the attic and through the ceiling. Flat roofs with clogged scuppers can pond water until it finds a seam.
• Doors and windows at ground level, and gaps around them.
• Storm drains and washes that back water up into low streets.
• Evaporative cooler openings and roof penetrations that leak in wind-driven rain.

Where the water came in matters for insurance. Rain through a storm-damaged roof is often covered by a homeowners policy, while surface water that flowed in at ground level is flood and needs a separate flood policy. Get it in your photos.

Safety Before You Start

• Stay out of rooms where water touches outlets, cords or appliances until the power is off at the breaker.
• Treat floodwater as contaminated. Runoff carries soil, fertilizer, animal waste and sometimes sewage from overloaded lines, so wear gloves and boots.
• Keep away from sagging ceilings. Drywall holding water can drop without warning.
• Don’t drive or walk through running washes. Under Arizona’s Stupid Motorist Law, drivers who go around barricades into a flooded wash can be billed for their rescue.

The First 24 Hours After the Storm

1. Photograph everything, outside and in, including the waterline on walls.
2. Remove standing water with a wet vac or pump. For more than a few inches, or water across several rooms, call for emergency water extraction.
3. Pull up area rugs and move furniture out of the room or onto blocks.
4. Remove wet carpet pad. Pad soaked by floodwater is usually thrown out because it can’t be cleaned.
5. Open cabinet and closet doors so air reaches wet corners.
6. Call your homeowners insurer and, if you have one, your flood insurer.

Why Floodwater Needs More Than a Fan

Restorers sort water into three categories. Storm runoff that crossed the ground is Category 3, the same class as sewage, because of what it picks up on the way. Porous materials it touched, such as carpet, pad, the bottom of drywall and insulation, usually have to be cut out and replaced. Hard surfaces get cleaned and disinfected before drying starts.

Fans also miss water inside walls. Drywall wicks water upward above the visible line, and a wall cavity can stay wet behind paint that looks dry.

How We Dry a Monsoon-Flooded Home

Our flood and monsoon damage restoration process is the same whether the call comes from Phoenix, Queen Creek or Tucson:

1. Extract standing water and remove contaminated pad and debris.
2. Make flood cuts in drywall a little above the highest wet reading.
3. Clean the framing and slab and apply an antimicrobial.
4. Set air movers and LGR dehumidifiers and record moisture readings daily.
5. Remove equipment once readings match unaffected materials, then rebuild.

Humidity climbs during monsoon season, so open windows dry a house far more slowly than they would in May. Dehumidifiers do most of the work, and most homes dry in three to five days. Our structural drying page explains the equipment.

What Monsoon Flood Cleanup Costs

Flood and monsoon restoration in Arizona typically runs $3,000 to $10,000 or more. It costs more than a clean water leak because of material removal and disinfection. Wet furniture and boxes add contents cleaning and pack-out to the bill. Our cost guide breaks down each factor.

Getting Ready for Next Monsoon Season

• Clear roof scuppers, gutters and downspouts in late spring.
• Check that soil and landscaping slope away from the house.
• Keep sandbags ready for the garage door. Many Valley cities hand them out free before and during the season.
• Seal gaps around doors and low windows.
• Price a flood policy in spring, since NFIP coverage normally starts 30 days after purchase.

Frequently Asked Questions