Do not put fans on suspected sewage
If the water came from a drain, toilet, or floor drain, air movement spreads contamination through the house as aerosol. The same goes for a household shop vac, which is not sealed for contaminated water.
Emergency Guide | Minnesota Water Damage Resource Center
The First Hour After Water Damage: What To Do, Step by Step
The first hour after water damage decides two things: how far the water spreads into your home, and how smoothly your insurance claim goes afterward. Water moves fast through Minnesota homes, wicking up drywall, soaking into subfloors, and finding finished basements, and the documentation you capture before anything gets moved is the evidence your claim will rest on.
This guide walks through the full protocol in order. The short version: make the area safe, stop the water at its source, document everything before you touch anything, protect what the water has not reached, call your insurance carrier, and call a certified restoration team. Each step below explains what to do and why the order matters.
The Six Steps, In Order
The sequence is the point. Safety comes before the source, and documentation comes before cleanup, because a photo you did not take cannot be recreated after the carpet is in the driveway.
Make the area safe before anything else
Water and electricity share your walls. If water is near outlets, cords, appliances, or a ceiling light fixture, cut power to that area at the breaker panel, but only if you can reach the panel without standing in water. If you cannot, stay out of the room and wait for help.
Watch for sagging or bulging ceilings, which mean water is pooling above the drywall, and keep children and pets out of the affected area. If the water is coming from a drain, toilet, or floor drain rather than a supply line, treat it as contaminated and do not let anyone touch it. Our sewage backup guide covers that situation specifically.
Stop the water at its source
Most supply leaks can be stopped at a local shutoff: the oval handle under a sink, behind a toilet, or behind the washing machine. Turn it clockwise until it stops. If the source is inside a wall, a burst pipe, or you cannot find it, go to the main shutoff, usually on the basement wall facing the street, near the water meter in most Twin Cities homes.
If the main valve is stuck or broken, your city utility can close the curb stop at the street. In winter, a burst frozen pipe often releases water only after it thaws, so shut off the main before the thaw finishes the job.
Document everything before you touch anything
This is the step people skip, and the one adjusters care about most. Before moving a single item, capture a slow video walkthrough of every affected room, then take photos: wide shots that show each room in context, and close shots of the source, the waterline, and each damaged item. Photograph the make, model, and serial plates of damaged appliances and electronics.
Your phone timestamps everything automatically, which establishes when the loss happened. Capture standing water depth against something recognizable, like a stair riser or door frame. Ten minutes of documentation now prevents weeks of dispute later.
Protect what the water has not reached
Once the scene is documented, work outward from the water. Move rugs, boxes, electronics, and documents to a dry room. Put aluminum foil or plastic under the legs of furniture too heavy to move, which stops wood stain and rust from wicking into wet carpet. Pin up or remove curtains and skirts that touch the floor.
Leave the carpet itself alone. Pulling saturated carpet and pad is heavy, risks tearing, and destroys evidence the adjuster may want to see in place.
Call your insurance carrier
Open the claim while the details are fresh. Note your claim number and the adjuster's name and direct line. Ask two questions: what the policy requires of you right now, and whether emergency mitigation is authorized. Nearly every homeowner policy requires you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage, which means mitigation is not just allowed, it is expected.
Keep receipts for anything you buy or rent during the emergency. Those costs are typically part of the claim.
Call a certified restoration team
Household fans and towels dry surfaces. They do not dry wall cavities, subfloors, or insulation, and mold begins colonizing wet organic materials within 24 to 48 hours. Professional drying means extraction, structured air movement, dehumidification, and moisture meters that prove the structure is dry rather than guessing. Our guide on preventing mold after water damage explains why that window matters.
Look for IICRC certification and Direct Insurance Coordination, meaning the restoration team documents the loss to carrier standards and communicates with your adjuster directly. For active emergencies across the Twin Cities metro, the 911 Restoration of Minneapolis service team responds 24 hours a day.
What Not To Do in the First Hour
A few well-intentioned moves make water losses worse. These are the ones we see most often when crews arrive.
Do not wait until morning
Water keeps traveling while you sleep, and the mold clock keeps running. A loss addressed at midnight is routinely smaller than the same loss addressed eight hours later.
Do not rip out carpet or drywall
Demolition before documentation weakens the claim, and much of what looks ruined can be dried in place with the right equipment. Let the adjuster and the drying plan decide what comes out.
Do not throw anything away yet
Damaged items are evidence. Photograph them, list them, and set them aside until your adjuster confirms they can go. Discarded contents are the hardest part of any claim to recover.
After the First Hour
Once the source is stopped and the calls are made, the job shifts to drying, and the next 24 to 48 hours determine whether the loss stays a water problem or becomes a mold problem. Professional crews will extract standing water, set drying equipment, and take moisture readings daily until the structure hits dry-standard targets. Your role is simpler: keep the equipment running, keep the affected area closed off, and keep your documentation and receipts in one folder. Turning drying equipment off overnight to save on noise or electricity is the most common way a three-day dry becomes a six-day dry, so let it run.
If your loss involves a backup rather than a supply leak, read the sewage backup first steps guide, because the safety rules and the insurance coverage both change. For everything that happens after the water stops, the mold prevention guide explains what real drying requires, and the restoration FAQ answers the most common questions about coverage, timelines, and what comes next.
Water Damage Happening Now?
Our Minneapolis team responds 24 hours a day across the Twin Cities metro, and we can walk you through these steps while a crew is on the way.