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Emergency Water Damage Help in Louisiana: Who to Call First

When water is spreading through your home, the hardest part is often not the water. It is deciding who to call first. The plumber? The insurer? The landlord? A restoration company? The emergency services? Each one has a part to play, but they do not all need to be called at the same moment, and calling the wrong one first can waste the minutes that matter most. The order is simple once you know it, and it starts with safety, not with a phone book.

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This guide lays out who to call first, in order: safety, the water shut-off, a restoration professional, and when to call 911. It makes no promise about availability, because that still needs to be verified at the time. Homeowners in New Orleans and Lafayette face the same question, and the emergency water removal page explains what the first professional visit generally covers.

Safety first

Before you call anyone, make sure everyone is safe. Do not enter a flooded room, do not wade through standing water, and do not touch electrical items in or near standing water. Keep children and pets out of the affected rooms, and keep everyone in a dry part of the house. If the water may be contaminated, from a toilet overflow, a sewage backup or floodwater, keep everyone away from it entirely. If you smell gas, leave the property and call 911 first, then the gas utility. Safety is not a phone call. It is the thing you do before you pick up the phone.

Once everyone is safe, shut off the water if it is safe to do so from a dry place. The main shut-off valve is usually where the water line enters the house, near the water meter, in a utility area or along an outside wall. Turn it clockwise until it stops. If you cannot reach it safely, do not go looking for it in standing water. Call for help instead. The order matters: people first, then the water, then the phone calls. A person who is safe and a house with the water off is a situation that can be dealt with. A person in a flooded room is not.

Call a restoration professional

The first professional call is to a water damage restoration company. They are the ones who inspect the loss, remove the standing water, dry the structure and repair the damage, and they are the ones who can tell you what the job involves. Describe what happened in plain terms: where the water is, how much you can see, where you think it came from, and whether anyone is at risk. Ask what the visit covers and what you should do while you wait. A restoration professional is the right first call because the water itself is the problem, and the water is what they deal with.

A plumber is the right call for the source of the water, such as a burst pipe or a failed fitting, but the water that is already in the house is a restoration job, not a plumbing job. In practice, the restoration professional can advise you on the source as well, and the two jobs often overlap. The water damage restoration page describes the general sequence a visit follows, from inspection through drying and repair, and it is the sequence that puts the house back in order.

Emergency Water Damage Help in Louisiana: Who to Call First — Louisiana water damage guide

When to call 911

Call 911 when a person is at risk, when there is a smell of gas, when there is an electrical danger such as sparking, buzzing or burning, or when there is a risk of fire. Call 911 before you call anyone else in those situations, and call from outside the house if you can. The emergency services are the ones who deal with danger to people, and they are the right call when the danger is immediate. Do not call 911 for the water itself. A flooded room is a restoration job, not an emergency services job, unless someone is at risk in it.

If you are unsure whether a situation counts as an emergency, the cautious answer is to call. A smell of gas, a person who has been in contact with contaminated water and feels unwell, or a ceiling that is sagging and may fall are all reasons to call for help from outside the house. The emergency services would rather be called for a situation that turns out to be safe than not called for one that turns out to be dangerous. Once the danger is dealt with, the restoration professional can deal with the water.

Who else to call, and when

After the restoration professional, the next call is usually to your insurer. Tell them promptly what happened, share your photographs and the inspection report when you have them, and ask what they need from you. General guidance only: coverage is a matter between you and your insurer, and no one can promise what a policy will cover. If you rent, call the landlord or property manager first, before anyone else, because the building is theirs and the repair is arranged through them. If you live in an apartment or condo, call the building manager first, for the same reason.

Keep a record of every call: who you called, when, and what was said. For homes in Baton Rouge and Alexandria, as across Louisiana, the order is the same: safety first, shut off the water if you safely can, call a restoration professional, call 911 when a person is at risk, and then the insurer, the landlord or the building manager. The flood damage cleanup page describes the sequence that follows a flood. Knowing who to call first is the preparation that costs nothing and matters most.

A short list to keep by the phone

Keep a short list by the phone, or on your phone, with the order of calls for a water emergency. First, safety: make sure everyone is out of the flooded rooms and away from standing water. Second, the water: shut it off at the main valve if you can do so safely from a dry place. Third, the restoration professional: describe what happened in plain terms and ask what the visit covers. Fourth, 911, if a person is at risk, if there is a smell of gas, or if there is electrical danger. Fifth, the insurer, the landlord or the building manager, once everyone is safe and help is on the way.

The list does not need to be long, and it does not need phone numbers written on it from memory, because the numbers themselves are the part to keep in the phone. What the list needs is the order, because the order is what matters when the water is spreading and the thinking is hard. For homes in Baton Rouge and Alexandria, the flood damage cleanup page describes the sequence that follows a flood, and a list by the phone is the preparation that makes the first minutes calmer.

Key Takeaways

Before you call anyone, make sure everyone is safe.
The first professional call is to a water damage restoration company.
Call 911 when a person is at risk, when there is a smell of gas, when there is an electrical danger such as sparking, buzzing or burning, or when there is a risk of fire.
After the restoration professional, the next call is usually to your insurer.
Keep a short list by the phone, or on your phone, with the order of calls for a water emergency.

Questions About Emergency Water Damage Help in Louisiana: Who to Call First

Who should I call first when my house floods?

Safety first, then shut off the water if you can do so safely from a dry place. The first professional call is to a water damage restoration company, because the water itself is the problem. Call 911 first only if a person is at risk, there is a smell of gas, or there is electrical danger.

Should I call a plumber or a restoration company first?

Call a restoration company first, because the water already in the house is a restoration job. A plumber deals with the source, such as a burst pipe, but the standing water, drying and repair belong to restoration. In practice the two jobs often overlap, and the restoration professional can advise you.

When should I call 911 for water damage?

Call 911 when a person is at risk, when there is a smell of gas, when there is sparking, buzzing or burning, or when there is a risk of fire. Call from outside the house if you can. Do not call 911 for the water itself unless someone is at risk in it.

When should I call my insurer about water damage?

After you have called a restoration professional and everyone is safe. Tell your insurer promptly, share your photographs and the inspection report, and ask what they need from you. Keep a record of every call, with dates and names.

Your Next Step

If this guide matches what you found at home, the next step is a visit — not a guess. Call and describe what you found, and the visit is arranged from what you describe. The Emergency Water Removal page explains what that service covers, and the water damage restoration page explains how the full sequence works when water has reached more than one room.

Do not enter flooded rooms while you wait, and if water is leaking, turn off the shut-off valve for that fixture where you can reach it safely from dry ground.

Keep the guides on this site bookmarked: the first guide, the signs guide, and the preparation guide cover the checks worth repeating — after moving in, and after bringing used fixtures home.

Water damage help is available across Louisiana. See water damage restoration in Jennings, LA for one local example, or find your town on the service areas page.