After The Flood: Clean Up, Precautions To Take
DETROIT (WWJ) - Following record flooding, Consumers Energy is urging home and business owners in the metro Detroit area with appliances that were affected by Monday's rainstorms to have them inspected by a qualified contractor before attempting to restart and use them.
Consumers Energy spokeswoman Debra Dodd says it's also important that your home is water-free before calling for assistance.
"For safety reasons we don't want our employees entering homes or businesses that have standing water in them, so once the water is out and you need us to come in to turn gas off or on we can certainly do that."
Dodd says the most important thing for homeowners to remember is to not relight pilot lights on water heaters and furnaces on your own.
"The first thing that we would recommend is that you not attempt to relight those appliances if they have pilot lights or otherwise restart them until you have a qualified heating and cooling contractor come in and inspect them," said Dodd. "And this can include water heaters, furnaces and clothes dryers."
Ken Potter with Great Lakes Ace Hardware says first pump the water out and go back with a mop or shop vac to get rid of all the residual water. Then disinfect with a quarter cup of bleach to a gallon of water solution.
"Another thing to do would be to use a dehumidifier to eliminate the last of the moisture that's in the air - especially on concrete surfaces - if it's a basement - that water would have soaked into the concrete and it's going to need to come back out and it will come out in the form of condensation or evaporation into the air, so the dehumidifier will take that out," he said.
Potter says it's important to let hard surfaces dry for 24 hours after disinfecting.
You are cautioned not to enter a basement that has standing water - when power is still on in the house.
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