How guides are written
Every guide is researched from primary or authoritative sources: the U.S. EPA, FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program, the CDC, the IICRC S500 water damage restoration standard and its published position statements, the Insurance Information Institute, the NAIC and state insurance departments. Cost figures come from published cost surveys such as HomeAdvisor and are labelled with their source and year. Sources are listed at the end of each page.
We do not publish invented statistics, testimonials or reviews, and we do not promise response times. Safety advice errs on the side of caution.
How city pages are built
- Population: U.S. Census Bureau, City and Town Population Estimates, Vintage 2025.
- Housing age, ownership and value: American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020-2024 (tables B25034, B25035, B25003, B25077).
- Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, from the nearest station with complete annual precipitation and freezing-night normals.
- Disaster history: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries since January 2000, by the city's main county.
The method for combining these into a score is on the risk index page.
Updates and corrections
Pages show the date they were last updated. If you spot an error, email hello@waterdamagecrews.com with the page address and what is wrong. We check and correct confirmed errors promptly.