Emergency flooded basement help in northern Delawarestay on the stairs

This is the moment people get hurt, so it comes first. If water is at or near the panel, do not wade across to it, and do not try reaching it with a broom handle or any other improvised tool. Phone Delmarva Power or an electrician and explain that the panel is in a flooded basement. If the panel is on a dry wall and you can reach it from dry footing, switch off the basement circuits, standing to one side and using one hand. Ready.gov's advice is to turn off electricity only when it is safe to do so and never to touch electrical equipment while wet or in water ^[1].

Keep clear of the furnace, boiler and water heater as well. A burner that has been under water should not be relit, however dry things appear later, and a qualified technician needs to look at it first. If you notice the smell of gas at any point, get out and call the gas utility from the street.

A broken pipe or split water heater tank usually gives itself away: a hiss or a steady spray, clean water, and a level that rises whether or not it is raining. The main valve stops it, so close it if you can get to it without entering the water. See the emergency burst pipe page next.

A sump failure is quieter. There is a pit, the pump is silent, and water is spreading out from that corner during a long rain. Note whether power to the pump was lost, and read about sump pump failure later on. Seepage comes in at the seam where the walls meet the floor or through the block, and is usually slow and fairly clean at first. Water through windows and doors, on the other hand, comes from outside and is dirty by definition. And if a floor drain is the source, particularly with any smell, assume sewage and go straight to the emergency sewage backup page.

Some basements in this part of Delaware flood because of the river and not the house. During Ida in 2021 the Brandywine reached a record crest of 23.14 feet in Wilmington, with the worst of the impact in a stretch along the creek ^[3]. In Newark, Tropical Storm Isaias closed roads and forced a motel evacuation in 2020 ^[4]. In New Castle, DNREC notes the city can flood from upstream flow, downstream tidal surge or both together, and that much of it lies in the coastal floodplain ^[5].

If that is what is happening where you are, the basement is not your priority tonight. Follow local evacuation instructions, and leave early if you are told to. Do not drive through water on the road. Ready.gov is blunt about staying out of floodwater ^[1]. Calling about the basement can wait until you and your family are somewhere safe and the water has begun to drop, since cleanup cannot usefully begin while it is still rising anyway.

Open with your ZIP code, because that is what connects you to an independent contractor who works your area. Then tell them how many inches you can see against the stairs, counting up from the bottom step if that is easier. Say what you think the source is, and whether the water is rising, steady or falling. Next, say what is down there: finished walls and carpet, or a bare slab; furnace, panel, water heater, washer. Finally, say whether the power is off and how you know.

Good questions to ask in return: can they deal with this depth, what do they want to see before pumping, and would they go in tonight given the weather? If the whole street is under water, ask them plainly how stretched they are. Calls bunch up after a big storm, and contractors can be honest about that only if you ask. This site makes no promise about when anyone will reach you, so get that answer from the person on the phone.

Call tonight when the level is climbing and you cannot stop it, when finished space is involved, when sewage might be mixed in, when mechanical equipment is at risk, or when it is the sort of summer night that will turn the basement into a sauna by morning. Call too if you are just unsure, since talking it through takes only a few minutes on the phone.

Tomorrow can do for a small seepage puddle on bare concrete that has stopped spreading, with nothing stored on the floor. Put a fan on it if the outlet is safe, watch the level and take a dated picture. Tomorrow is also the right time for the jobs that feel urgent but are not: sorting boxes, tearing out carpet and deciding what the room will be afterwards, all of which the flooded basement cleanup page can help with. EPA's flood guidance on what to discard from a basement is worth reading in daylight ^[2].

A dead pump during a long rain is the classic northern Delaware basement call, and sometimes you can bring it back from a safe position. If the outlet is above the water and you can get to it without stepping in, check whether the plug has come out, and whether a breaker has tripped. A float can jam against the pit wall. If the power is out across the neighborhood, a battery backup is either running or it is not, and there is little you can do tonight without one.

Do not lean over a pit in water to poke at a pump, and do not run a portable generator inside the house or in an attached garage, since the carbon monoxide it gives off can kill within minutes ^[7]. Should the pump restart, watch the level for a while before you relax. If it does not, stop trying and call. Trying again and again in the dark is how people end up in the water.

Basement water sits awkwardly across insurance policies, and the source can decide which policy applies, if any. Surface flooding, seepage, a failed pump and a burst pipe can all be treated differently, so write down what you actually saw and resist the temptation to label it on the phone. Say what happened in plain words, then let the adjuster work out the rest.

Report it as soon as you reasonably can. Separate flood insurance is its own product, and the Delaware Department of Insurance has information on it ^[6]. Take your photos from the stairs before the level changes, since a shot of the water against a marked step is hard to reproduce later. Ask the plumber or electrician who attends to put their findings in writing, particularly anything about the pump or the cause of the failure.

Close the basement door to stop moist, musty air from rising through the house, and shut any registers you can reach that connect to ductwork running through the wet area. Turn the heating and cooling off if the unit or its ducts were reached by water, since running it can push contaminated air upstairs. EPA's flood guidance specifically raises flooded heating and air conditioning systems as something to check before use ^[2].

Keep children and pets from the stairs altogether, and put something across the doorway if you have to. If the basement holds the only washer, the only working drain or the water heater, plan on a night without them. Fill a few containers with drinking water before you close the main valve, in case you need it. Those small things make a difficult night easier, and there is not much more to be gained by going downstairs again before morning.