How does the Wolf River reach a home in Collierville?
The river leaves its banks across the low ground, and the water reaches the houses nearest the channel first. From there it enters through doors, garage doors and the lowest openings, and it spreads along the floor.
The gauge record for the river at the city describes flood impacts at stated stages, including road flooding on the Arlington Road south of the bridge, where the water was recorded under about four feet at one stage. A house beside the same reach can take water within the same hours.
Water that stands for a while soaks in. The longer it stays, the more the subfloor and the framing take, and the drying time grows with it. A flood that drains in a day is a smaller job than one that stays for three.
Why does the drying take weeks, not days?
Because the subfloor and the framing hold water deep inside, and the ground outside keeps releasing it after the river falls. The drying runs until the readings reach standard at every measured point.
The first week is pumping, removal and the first readings. The next weeks are the bulk of the drying, with equipment moved to the wettest points as the readings change. The last phase is a check at each point until the trend is flat.
The homeowner should be able to see the readings and ask for the trend at any time. A dry-looking floor with a high reading in the subfloor is not finished, and the repair waits until it is.
Which materials come out, and which can be kept?
Carpet pad and porous insulation that stood in river water are generally removed. Solid wood, sealed tile, concrete and framing are often cleaned and dried in place. Each decision is made per material and recorded with its reason.
River silt holds moisture and odour, and it does not come out of porous material. A drying plan that tries to save carpet pad or loose insulation usually ends with the same material coming out later, after more time and more damp.
Hard surfaces can be scrubbed and disinfected, and framing can be dried to readings. The record shows what was cleaned and what was dried in place, so the repair trade knows what it is working on.
What should a homeowner photograph first?
The water line in each room, the silt on the floor, the garage and the entry point if it is visible, and the rooms from the doorway before anything is moved. Put the date on each photograph.
A wide photograph of each room with the line visible is worth more than a perfect list written later. Keep the photographs in the same folder as the notes on the times the river rose and fell.
If any item has to go to the curb before the crew arrives, photograph it first and write down what it was. A discarded item with no record is hard to claim for, even when it was ruined.
Does a standard policy cover river flooding?
Many standard homeowner policies exclude flood water from rivers, and flood cover is often a separate policy. Ask the insurer in writing which part of the loss it is covering, and keep the record that shows where the water came from.
The source of the water is the question that decides the claim. Water that came over a river bank may fall under a different part of the policy from water that came through a drain, and the record should show which it was.
Tennessee homeowners with a dispute can take a written complaint to the state's Department of Commerce and Insurance, which assigns an investigator. The written record makes that complaint specific.
