Houston is flat, low and laced with bayous: Buffalo, Brays, White Oak, Greens, Sims and more. Heavy rain has few places to go. The city has been through major floods many times, including Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017, when rain fell for days and water reached homes that had never flooded before. Even an ordinary summer storm can put water in streets and garages within an hour.
Why extraction comes first in Houston
The searches we see most from Houston are for water extraction and water removal, and for good reason. In Houston's humidity, wet drywall, carpet pad and wood don't dry on their own. Leave them for a couple of days and mold is likely. Getting the water out and the dehumidifiers running quickly is the difference between drying a room and gutting it.
A typical extraction job means pumping out standing water, pulling water from carpet and pad, checking walls and the slab with moisture meters, removing what can't be dried, and running air movers and dehumidifiers with the house closed up and the AC on if it's safe.
Not every Houston water call is a flood
- Slab leaks under homes on the region's shifting clay soils.
- Water heaters in garages and attics that rupture.
- AC condensate lines that overflow in attics, which is common after months of constant cooling.
- Roof leaks during tropical storms and summer downpours.
- Burst pipes during rare hard freezes, as in February 2021.
- Sewer backups when city lines are overwhelmed in heavy rain.
After a storm or power outage
Long outages, like the ones after Hurricane Beryl in 2024, add another layer. Without AC, houses heat up and humidity climbs, so a small leak that would normally dry becomes a mold problem. If you've had water in the house during an outage, have it checked once power is back.
Houston neighborhoods and flood history
Flood risk in Houston depends a lot on where you are relative to the bayous. Homes near Brays Bayou in Meyerland, along White Oak Bayou in the Heights area, and near Greens and Halls bayous on the north side have flooded in past storms. Areas that rarely flooded before took water in Harvey because the rain simply had nowhere to go. Knowing your flood zone and your home's elevation helps you decide what to protect first.
Older and newer housing
Inner-Loop neighborhoods like the Heights, Montrose and the Third Ward have many older homes, often on pier-and-beam foundations with cast-iron or clay sewer lines that crack with age and tree roots. Postwar neighborhoods across the city sit on slabs over expansive clay, so slab leaks and foundation movement are common. Newer townhomes have three or four floors stacked on small lots, and a leak on the top floor can damage every floor below.
Houston through the year
- June to NovemberHurricane season. Tropical storms and hurricanes bring heavy rain, wind-driven water and long power outages.
- Spring and fallSlow-moving storms can stall over the city and drop very heavy rain on flat ground.
- SummerConstant AC use means attic condensate overflows. Humidity makes any leak a mold risk.
- WinterMostly mild, with rare hard freezes that burst exposed pipes.
Local resources
Houston Public Works runs the city's water and wastewater systems. Call 311 to report a water main break or a sewer backup from the city side. The Harris County Flood Control District publishes flood maps and real-time rain and bayou level data through its flood warning system. It's worth checking during heavy rain.
A typical Houston call
One example: after a night of heavy rain, a homeowner in a slab house finds a quarter inch of water across the living room and kitchen. It came in under the back door from the yard. Because it's outside water, the crew treats it as contaminated: carpet and pad come out, the lower drywall is cut above the wet line, surfaces are cleaned, and dehumidifiers run with the house closed up. The homeowner checks whether flood insurance applies.
Areas and ZIP codes
We connect callers across the City of Houston, including central ZIPs 77002 to 77011 and neighborhoods inside and outside the Loop. Call with your ZIP and we'll confirm.
South of the city we also take calls in Pearland and Friendswood.