OK Flood Restoration Crews Working Around The Clock To Fix Damage

Flood waters are receding in most local neighborhoods, and the work of getting homes and businesses back to normal is underway.

Local restoration crews said they're getting slammed with calls and are working non-stop.

PCC Restoration let News On 6 crews tag along to a job in midtown Tulsa, where water poured into one home's basement, flooding it by about two to three feet.

By the time crews arrived, three inches of standing water and sewage greeted them.

It's not the most glamorous job, but it's an important one. Crews are working long hours to get homes livable once again.

"At this point, with the weather the way it's been, we've been running pretty much around the clock," said Roger Fisher with PCC Restoration.

Workers will have to rip the walls apart and disinfect the entire basement.

"[We'll have to] remove damaged materials - as in sheetrock, insulation, things like that," Fisher said, "and remove it out of here so we can dry the main framing of the structure."

ServPro of south Tulsa said it's the same story with their crews. They spent much of Tuesday at a home in Owasso, where water seeped in through the floor panels.

Crews had to rip out the laminate wood from the home's living room and a guest bedroom. It will take days to dry everything out.

Fisher said it's been a long few days for his crews, who have seen a lot of ruined homes and emotional homeowners.

"That is tough, seeing that on people," he said. "Their emotions run."

But he and the workers try to focus on the positives — fixing the damage, rather than dwelling on it.

"What's done is done. We can't reverse what has happened here," Fisher explained, "so let's focus on the good things that's going to come out of this. Do you want this room painted a different color of paint? You can do it."

Fisher said the typical flooded home with structural damage takes an average of a few weeks to complete, and several thousand dollars.