Storm surge on Mobile Bay, Dog River, Fowl River, Dauphin Island and Bayou La Batre puts breaker boxes, outlets and wiring under water. Submerged electrical equipment is replaced, not dried out, and the new panel goes in above the flood line. Licensed electricians, permitted work, inspection and reconnection handled, paperwork written for your adjuster.
Call (251) 680-7500 Request Storm ServiceA breaker that has been under water may still flip on. That is the problem. The trip mechanism, the contacts and the bus connections behind it are full of silt, salt and whatever else the surge carried, and corrosion keeps working after the water is gone. The industry guidance manufacturers publish for water-damaged equipment is blunt: circuit breakers, panelboards, receptacles, switches, GFCIs and most wiring that were submerged are replaced, not cleaned. Insurers and inspectors in Mobile follow the same position.
Saltwater is worse than fresh. A panel that sat in bay water for an afternoon will fail months later, usually under the summer load, sometimes as a fire. So the honest answer to “can you just dry it out and reset it” is no, and the honest plan is to replace what the water touched and put the new equipment where the next surge cannot reach it.
If you see downed lines, smell burning or hear buzzing, stay away, keep people and pets clear, and call 911 or the power company first. Then call us.
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The main panel, subpanels, the main breaker and every branch breaker, plus the HVAC, water heater and pool disconnects that stood in water. New panel, new breakers, new grounding and bonding.
A meter base that flooded is corroded inside the jaws. Replaced, with the service entrance cable checked and replaced if water ran inside the jacket.
Every device at or below the waterline, including the boxes behind them where mud settles. GFCI and AFCI protection restored to current code on the new circuits.
Standard household cable has a paper filler that wicks water up inside the jacket well above the visible line; it is cut back to dry copper or replaced. Conductors in conduit are evaluated and flushed or replaced.
Dryer and range receptacles, the condenser whip, the air handler disconnect, well and pool equipment, dock and boat-lift power.
Smoke and CO detectors, thermostats, doorbells and door openers that flooded are replaced so the house is protected again, not just powered.
Before anything is removed we photograph the panel, the devices and the line on the wall, so your claim has the proof it needs.
Service released, flooded equipment removed, affected circuits identified and cut back to dry cable.
The new panel is mounted higher, often in a different location, following the floodplain elevation for the lot, so this is the last time it happens.
New devices, boxes and cable where the water reached, with GFCI and AFCI protection the code now requires and surge protection against the restoration flicker.
Permit pulled, inspection passed, release sent to the utility. We make the calls.
Itemized invoice, photos and cause-of-loss notes in the format adjusters accept.
Submerged breakers are a fire risk, not a reset. We replace what the water touched and put it above the next flood line.
On the bay, the rivers and the island, the question is not whether the water comes back; it is how high. We mount the replacement panel and the devices on the affected circuits above the base flood elevation for the lot where the structure allows it, which can mean a new location on an interior wall, a raised disconnect for the condenser, and receptacles set higher than the ones they replace. It costs a little more in wire the first time and saves a second replacement.
Homes in Dauphin Island, Bayou La Batre, Coden, Theodore, the Dog River and Fowl River neighborhoods and along the Eastern Shore get this conversation on every flooded-panel job. If your home is in a mapped flood zone, we coordinate the elevation with the permit so the inspection goes through the first time.
Electrical replacement happens before drywall and after the water is out, so we coordinate with your remediation crew: the panel and the devices come out while the walls are open, and the new circuits go in before the walls are closed. Saltwater jobs get moved up the schedule because the corrosion clock is running.
Pricing is written before the work starts and depends on how high the water went and how many circuits it touched. A single flooded garage panel is a day; a slab house that took two feet of bay water through every room is a rewire of the lower circuits. Either way you get an itemized number, the permit and inspection included, and a one-year workmanship guarantee on the work.
An electric water heater that flooded above the lower element has a ruined element, thermostat and wiring; a gas unit with a flooded control valve is replaced under the gas code.
The condenser disconnect and whip, and a crawlspace or closet air handler, are usually the first electrical equipment under water. Our HVAC division tests and replaces them in the same visit.
Feeders and receptacles at the water are submerged first and longest, and a dock circuit with a failed GFCI is a drowning hazard, not a nuisance.
Pumps, heaters, timers and the bonding at the equipment pad, which an inspector will look at closely after a surge.
Openers, the freezer circuit, the welder receptacle and the subpanel on the back wall. Low, flooded and forgotten.
Flooded detectors are replaced, and the new ones are interconnected to current code while the walls are open.
"A storm came through and messed up the electric in our house. We got a quote quickly and they got us up and running fast! The guys did a great job and even helped us save money."
— Devan H., Google review"Came home late afternoon to find my power off. I called after hours and Robby was over in 15 min. It was a bad circuit breaker. From the time I saw I had no power til the time I had power back on was around 30 min. Amazing. Super nice guys as well."
— Gary S., Google review"They diagnosed a power issue that other companies weren't able to. The technician was extremely knowledgeable and professional, and explained everything very well. Also, I called them at 8 at night and got a human being on the phone!"
— Laura B., Google reviewNo. The breakers, the bus and the connections hold silt and salt that keep corroding after the water is gone, and a breaker that has been submerged cannot be trusted to trip. Manufacturers, insurers and inspectors all treat submerged panels and breakers as replacement items.
The wiring that was under water, yes. Standard household cable wicks water inside the jacket above the visible line, so it is cut back to dry copper or replaced. Circuits that stayed dry are tested and kept.
Any receptacle, switch, box or panel that the water reached. On a slab house that can be an inch at the outlets; in a raised house the first flooded equipment is usually the condenser disconnect, the water heater or the dock.
Worse. Salt accelerates corrosion and conducts, so equipment that looks dry fails sooner and more dangerously. Surge from Mobile Bay or the Gulf is treated as saltwater exposure.
Flood damage is usually excluded from a standard homeowners policy and covered by a separate flood policy, while wind-driven rain damage may be treated differently. We cannot say what your policy pays; we provide the photos, the cause as we found it and an itemized estimate so the claim is complete.
As soon as the water is out and the walls are open, before any drywall goes back. Saltwater jobs move up the schedule because corrosion keeps working while the house dries. Call us the same week you call the remediation company so the two crews can sequence the work.
Usually the house is already without power if the panel flooded. The replacement itself is a day for most homes, and we can get temporary power to a refrigerator and lights where that helps.
Something we didn't cover? See our full FAQ page or call (251) 680-7500.
Photos, itemized estimates and cause-of-loss statements for flooded panels and wiring.
Insurance documentationElectrical, HVAC and generator repair after a storm, from one Mobile crew.
Storm damage hubNew panels sized for the house, with the protection current code requires.
Panel upgradesLicensed electricians replace flooded panels, devices and wiring across Mobile and Baldwin County, above the flood line, with the permit, the inspection and the insurance paperwork handled.
Call (251) 680-7500 Request Storm Service