Winter Storm Uri brought record cold temperatures and interruptions to electricity and water services in February this year. Storm Uri swept from the Pacific Northwest across the Central U.S., including a few states that were unused to harsh winter conditions. And if the extreme temperatures and snowfall weren’t enough, it also caused an interruption of services like heat, electricity, and water for millions of people in the southern states.

Texas had such a hard time because the state has its own power grid, and every part of the power generation was impacted by the cold. The coal froze, the ice blocked natural gas pipelines, and wind turbines were iced over. And, of course, the electricity demand shot up so everyone could keep warm. Many saw their water pipes freezing, and a loss of power as the state instituted rolling blackouts to ration energy supply.

As we at Restoration 1 know so well, frozen pipes can lead to cracking and, once the pipes thaw, bursting. Burst pipes lead to flooding, leaving residential and commercial buildings susceptible to the risk of mold growth. Luckily for those affected by Storm Uri, Restoration 1 teams were mobilized and on the ground, operating 24/7 to help residential and commercial property owners. Available crews tackled water damage cleanup and restoration efforts to fix any interior water damage due to burst pipes, roof leaks, and ice.

In this post, we share how Restoration 1 dealt with Storm Uri and the steps we took to ensure all franchisees were mobilized and ready to help as many people as possible.

How Restoration 1 Dealt with Storm Uri

As with all-natural disasters, the quicker you can handle the situation, the better. Restoration 1 was quick to mobilize, being available and responding within less than 24 hours after the storm hit. With our vast network of franchisees, Restoration 1 pulled all its staff from unaffected areas to help at branches that needed support and where Storm Uri had caused havoc.

The Breadth of Our Service

With Restoration 1’s proprietary system, the company was able to prepare and connect with all franchisees. Our proprietary tool, in turn, was able to alert the support team throughout our network of franchisees.

Once we knew what each franchisee needed, the national disaster team could tie them to available resources. This national disaster response team used its proprietary tool to mobilize quickly during the disaster.

In less than 24 hours, we could connect a multi-state effort to support the affected areas and franchisees.

Senior Management

Our senior management team gathered all their efforts promptly and held a daily hotline with all locations. The hotline outlined best practices in responding to storm Uri’s aftermath and how to utilize our rapid response messaging system to communicate with people in the field in real-time. The senior management team also traveled to the worst affected areas and provided support 24/7.

The Home Office

The home office support team stepped up their availability and was on-call 24/7 during this entire event. They held meetings and check-ins during the middle of the night, if necessary, and waiting lists for each affected location were quickly and effectively addressed.

The Two Most Common Types of Damage Faced During Storm Uri

Restoration 1 helped the affected homes and businesses with water mitigation, water damage restoration, decontamination, debris cleanup, disaster response, commercial and industrial roofing, interior restoration, and construction services to rebuild properties. But the main types of property damage being faced were:

  • Water damage and flooding resulted from frozen and broken water pipes.
  • Snow and ice wreaked devastation outside of residential and commercial structures.

Testimonials

We’d like to share just three testimonials we have received for restoration efforts directly linked to Storm Uri.

I had a pipe burst and flood my downstairs during the winter storm. Restoration 1 came out and did a fantastic job cleaning up the water, cutting out wet walls, and placing fans and dehumidifiers all throughout my house. They were extremely professional, knowledgeable, they all wore masks and everyone was very polite! They also stayed in contact with my insurance company which helped me tremendously because I had so much going on. I highly recommend Restoration 1. They truly are angels and helped me out so much.

K.P., San Antonio Northside

Restoration 1 really delivered. Thanks! I had a busted pipe (Feb 2021 freeze). While waiting for help, I removed the walls and ceiling of a third-floor shower which obviously had wet insulation. I needed a professional assessment of other areas, including the lower floors, where the water damage was not as obvious. Restoration 1 arrived, checked it out, and helped me get moving forward. Thanks again!

William Hicks, Central Houston

Andres and his team were very dependable and professional. Our house was hit hard by the extreme cold temperatures brought on by the Texas winter storm. Duff and Dylan worked together as team leads for this job and the communication amongst everyone was superb! We had called ServPro initially but they weren’t responsive and honestly we would still probably be in a state of chaos if we had gone with them. Restoration 1 Central San Antonio jumped into demolition mode the day after we called them. Thank you guys for all your hard work.

Ian Wolfe, Central San Antonio

In Conclusion

The response and reach that Restoration 1 had during Storm Uri shows the company’s commitment as a whole. At Restoration 1, we truly believe we are in this together. Evidence of this is highlighted by the whole network of franchisees stepping in to help wherever they could – even outside of their response area. We saw teams responding to water mitigation and restoration requests from schools, hospitals, hotels, churches, resorts, commercial and residential properties with emergency teams and professional equipment to help.

Restoration 1 is proficient in mitigating this kind of water-related damage; with the experience and certification in water damage repair and water extraction and drying, we could help with ease and expertise.

How Restoration 1 Can Help

Specializing in disaster response and water damage restoration, the water damage experts at Restoration 1 are your best bet when facing a natural disaster. There is no way to perform safe and successful water restoration without training. With all the expenses of water damage restoration remediation, it does not pay to do it yourself.

There is no substitute for professional restoration experts. It may be possible to restore some of the storm damage on your own – but the bigger problems are better left to the experts.

Play it safe. Call the professionals at Restoration 1. If you have any questions about water damage restoration, please contact us 24/7.