CLEANUP: TAKE PRECAUTIONS WHEN REENTERING/CLEANING OUT HOMES AND BUILDINGS
Wear Protective Gear for Cleanup Work
The CDC recommends wearing hard hats, goggles, heavy work gloves and watertight boots with steel toes and insoles (not just steel shank). Wear earplugs or protective headphones to reduce risk from equipment noise.
Prevent Mold Growth
Be careful when entering a flood-damaged building. Loose, wet ceiling plaster is heavy and dangerous, so knock down hanging plaster before moving around.
Clean up and dry out flooded buildings within 24 to 48 hours if possible. Open doors and windows and use fans to speed drying. To prevent mold growth, clean wet items and surfaces with detergent and water. To remove mold growth, wear rubber gloves, open windows and doors, and clean with a bleach solution of one cup of bleach in one gallon of water. Throw away porous items – like carpet, mattresses and upholstered furniture – that cannot be dried quickly.
Everything that floodwater has touched should be disinfected. Scrub down walls and any other smooth, hard surfaces with the same bleach-water solution.
Do not rush to move back into your home. Before a house is habitable, it must be dried and thoroughly cleaned, since floodwaters pick up sewage and chemicals as they travel.
Avoid/Identify Structural Damage
Do not pump the basement until the water has gone down, as pumping a water-filled basement could result in the walls collapsing.
Contact your local code enforcement officer to inspect homes and other buildings for structural damage.
A maintenance company or Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry inspector should inspect:
- Flooded buildings with elevators.
- Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanks that were under water.
- Any boiler that was under water.
- Service stations with dispensing equipment (gas pumps, etc.) that were under water.
Safely Dispose of Hazardous Materials
When cleaning up, dispose of chemicals or other hazardous materials safely – never in creeks, streams or rivers. Do not put hazardous materials in large community dumpsters or in your household trash. Follow local municipal authority guidance regarding hazardous material collection points.
Avoid Electrocution
Once inside a flood-ravaged building, turn off the gas and electricity. Wear rubber-soled shoes or boots and rubber gloves and turn off the main switch using a piece of rubber, plastic or dry wood while standing on a dry board to avoid electrocution.
Do not touch downed power lines or other wires, and do not touch any water into which a power line has fallen.
