A big storm reaches a Queens home from every direction. Wind drives rain sideways through window frames, vents and gaps on the top floor. Branches come down on porches, gutters and cars. Streets flood when catch basins clog, and on the shoreline the bay can rise into the houses. This page covers water damage from storms in Queens: what to do while the weather is still bad, what to do once it passes, and how the cleanup works.
Queens Water Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving Queens, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them.
While the storm is on
- Follow NYC Emergency Management’s instructions. If you live in a hurricane evacuation zone and an evacuation is ordered, leave. Find your zone with the city’s Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder or by calling 311.
- Stay out of flooded basements. At least a third of the people who drowned at home in Sandy were found in a basement or lived in a basement apartment, and most of Ida’s deaths in the city were drownings in basement apartments.
- Put towels and buckets under leaks from above and move what you can out of the way, but do not climb onto anything in the dark or in high wind.
- Stay well away from downed wires and fallen trees.
- If the power goes out, run any generator only outside and at least 20 feet from the building, as the EPA advises. Never inside, never in a garage.
Water from above
In a storm, the top floor is where water from above shows up first: a stain spreading on the ceiling, a drip at a light fixture, wet plaster around a window. A sagging ceiling is holding water; do not stand under it, and switch off the lights on that circuit from the panel if you can do it from a dry spot. Never touch switches or fixtures while standing in water.
The restoration industry’s standard has a useful position here. The ANSI/IICRC S500 consensus body says top-down water ingress, wind-driven rain and water from weather events are not automatically Category 3 water. The restorer decides the category on inspection. That matters, because clean rainwater that is dried quickly can often be dried in place, while contaminated water means more has to be removed. The EPA’s target is to dry water-damaged areas within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth.
Water from the street
DEP names four kinds of flooding in New York City, and a storm can bring all four: street flooding from blocked catch basins, coastal flooding when high tide and surge send water back into the sewers, groundwater through foundation cracks, and sewer backups when heavy rain exceeds the pipes. During Ida, rain fell at up to 3.5 inches an hour in some areas, against a sewer capacity of 1.75 inches an hour.
Floodwater from the street or the bay is a different matter from rain from above. The S500 lists all forms of flooding from seawater and rising water from rivers or streams among its examples of Category 3 water. If your basement took water from outside, read flood cleanup in Queens; if it came up through a drain, read sewage cleanup.
Once it passes
- Check safety. Gas smell: the CDC says to turn off the main gas valve, open the windows and leave at once. Water near outlets or the panel: keep out and switch power off only from a dry place. After a flood, an electrician should check the system before the power goes back on.
- Stop more water. Cover broken windows and openings if you can do it safely from the ground or inside.
- Photograph everything. Outside damage, the water line inside, each room and each damaged item, before anything is moved.
- Start drying. Remove standing water and begin drying as soon as it is safe. See water removal in Queens.
- Tell your insurer. Ask what they need. Check your own policy or ask your agent.
Storm damage and insurance, in general
How a storm loss is treated often depends on how the water got in. FloodSmart says most homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage, and that flood insurance covers losses directly caused by flooding, which it defines as an excess of water on land that is normally dry, affecting two or more acres or two or more properties. Rain blown in through a broken window is not the same event as the street flooding the basement. This site cannot tell you what your policy covers. Photograph everything, keep damaged items until they are listed, and check your own policy or ask your agent.
Storm-prone parts of Queens
The shoreline takes the surge: the Rockaways, Broad Channel and Howard Beach. Inland neighborhoods take the rain, and the Health Department notes that low-lying areas and basement apartments are at higher risk. Keeping the next storm out of the basement is on the basement waterproofing page.
Storm water in a Queens home? Send the form with your neighborhood and an independent local restoration provider can contact you.
Questions people ask
Who do I tell about a clogged catch basin before a storm?
Report it to 311. DEP cleans and maintains 150,000 catch basins across the city, and a blocked one can put street water at your door.
Is rain coming through the ceiling Category 3 water?
Not automatically. The IICRC S500 consensus body says wind-driven rain and weather water are not automatically Category 3; the restorer decides on inspection.
Is this site a storm damage company?
No. Queens Water Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving Queens, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them.
Water damage in Queens? Tell us your neighborhood and what happened.