Flash Flood Cleanup in Hurst, TX

Flash flooding in Hurst is a runoff problem more than a river problem. The city is almost fully built out, so roofs, driveways, parking lots and streets send heavy spring rain into Calloway Branch and other channels quickly. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lists a Calloway Branch channel improvement project in Hurst, and the USGS keeps a stream gauge on the creek at Melbourne Rd, which shows how closely the channel is watched. When water rises around a low lot, it comes in at door thresholds and garage slabs. Because basements are rare here, every inch of flood water lands directly on the living floor of a slab home.

In the first hour, muddy water spreads across tile, carpet and the slab, and it starts wicking up drywall and baseboard. By 24 hours, carpet pad is saturated, base cabinets and door casings have swelled, and the smell of mud and sewage is strong. By 48 hours, bacteria in the flood water and the summer humidity can start mold growth inside walls. After a week, drywall, insulation and cabinets usually have to be cut out much higher than the original water line, and odor sets into the framing and slab.

Very little that flood water touches gets dried in place, but the structure itself usually can be. A concrete slab, wood studs, top and bottom plates and the bottoms of door frames are cleaned, treated and dried with air movers and dehumidifiers. Ceramic and porcelain tile set on the slab often survives once the grout lines are cleaned and the slab beneath dries. Solid wood furniture, metal shelving and hard plastic bins can be cleaned and kept. Moisture readings at the slab and in the bottom plates tell the crew when the building is truly dry, which in clay-soil North Texas can take longer at exterior walls.

Carpet and pad soaked by flood water are removed, since category 3 water carries bacteria that cleaning will not reliably reach. Drywall is flood cut, usually at least a foot or two above the water line, because it wicks contamination upward. Wet insulation, particleboard cabinet bases, laminate flooring and baseboard come out too. Upholstered furniture, mattresses and stuffed items that sat in the water are usually not worth saving. Removing these early speeds drying and keeps odors from settling into the framing.

Flood risk in Hurst follows the creek channels, not one neighborhood. Calloway Branch runs through the city, and low streets near the creek can take on water fast in a hard storm. Homes in neighborhoods such as Shady Oaks near Hurstview Dr, Simpson Park Addition and Oakwood Park Addition sit among older streets and channels where a heavy storm can push water toward a low lot. Around Chisholm Park and the Norwood Dr area, yard and street runoff is the more common way water reaches a door.

Richland Hills has its own flood history: a USGS report calls the September 7, 1962 Big Fossil Creek flood the greatest there since at least 1900, and the Corps lists a Calloway Branch project at Airline Drive Park. In Euless, low areas along Big Bear, Little Bear and Bear Creek can see high water in hard rain. Bedford homes see runoff at garages and patios. Wherever you are, one call connects you with a local crew that can pump out, clean and dry the home.