SERVPRO of University, SE Orlando: Storm, Flood, and Water Cleanup Near the Econlockhatchee
The neighborhoods on Orlando's east edge near the Econlockhatchee River basin, out along Econlockhatchee Trail and the streets between the Little Econ and the Econ itself, sit on some of the lowest, wettest ground in the metro area. The water table here is high in a normal summer. In a bad one, when a tropical system stalls over Central Florida and drops fifteen inches of rain on ground that was already saturated, the water has nowhere to go. Hurricane Ian in 2022 made that plain: the Econlockhatchee system rose well out of its banks and low-lying streets across the east side flooded, some for days. SERVPRO of University, SE Orlando serves these neighborhoods, and storm response on this side of town is a core part of what we do.
Two kinds of water, two kinds of insurance
This is the single most important thing a homeowner near the Econ basin can understand before the next storm, so it is worth stating plainly.
Water that enters your home from above or from inside, rain through a roof opened by wind, a failed supply line, an overflowing AC condensate pan, is generally the territory of a standard homeowners policy. Water that rises from outside and comes in at ground level, a swollen river, a retention pond over its banks, sheet flooding across a yard, is generally excluded from standard homeowners policies. Rising exterior water is what flood insurance exists for, whether through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private flood carrier. Plenty of east Orlando homeowners learned during Ian that these are two different policies, and that the difference is decided by how the water got in, not how much damage it did.
We are a restoration company, not an insurance agency, and we do not decide coverage. What we do is document the loss thoroughly, the water line on the wall, the direction of entry, moisture readings through the structure, and coordinate directly with adjusters, which matters even more when a claim involves the flood question. Good documentation from the first day is the best thing a policyholder in this basin can have.
What floodwater does to a house on low ground
Flood cleanup is not the same as clean-water cleanup. Water that has moved across yards and streets is contaminated by definition, and materials it touches are handled accordingly: saturated drywall and insulation come out to a consistent height, contents are triaged for what can be cleaned versus what cannot, and everything gets dried and treated before rebuild. The high water table around the Econlockhatchee adds a complication most of Orlando does not deal with, the ground under and around the slab stays wet long after the street is dry, so drying has to be verified with moisture meters and infrared imaging, not declared by eyeball. Humidity trapped in a closed-up flooded house will start mold within days in a Florida summer. When growth has already taken hold, our crews run full mold remediation with containment and HEPA air scrubbers rather than fogging over the problem.
The same low, wet conditions drive non-storm losses here too. Slab moisture and hard-working AC systems mean condensate lines and air handlers are steady sources of interior water damage, and homes in the 1980s and 1990s subdivisions east of the river are reaching the age where original supply lines and water heaters fail on their own schedule. Water damage restoration, fire damage restoration, and mold remediation in this area all get handled by the same IICRC-certified crews.
When the loss is bigger than one house
Stalled storms do not flood one address at a time; they flood streets and subdivisions. As part of the SERVPRO system, this franchise is backed by the SERVPRO Large Loss Division, which exists for exactly the kind of event the Econ basin produces, widespread flooding, apartment communities, schools, and commercial buildings hit all at once. Local crews with truck-mounted extraction handle the individual homes; the larger network stands behind them when an event outgrows any single operation.
What does storm season demand from the Econ corridor?
Living near the Econ rewards preparation more than anywhere else in east Orlando, and the preparation that matters is specific. Flood insurance typically carries a thirty-day waiting period, which means the week a storm is named is too late to buy coverage, the decision belongs to a calm June afternoon. An elevation certificate tells you how your slab sits relative to base flood elevation, and it can change both your premium and your understanding of your own risk. Photographs of the home, dated and stored somewhere other than the house, turn a coverage argument into a formality. And a simple habit, checking that gutters, yard drains, and the swale at the street are clear before the wet season, keeps the first inch of a storm outside where it belongs. None of this is our product. We offer it because the households that do these things recover faster, and because flood recovery goes better when the paperwork was ready before the water was.
When preparation runs out, response begins, and ours is built for this basin. Crews stage before named storms, extraction starts as soon as streets allow, and contaminated floodwater is handled with the sanitation protocols it demands rather than treated like rainwater. The neighborhoods out toward Bithlo and the river's edge, where properties sit larger and drainage is more informal, get the same response as the subdivisions, and our fire damage restoration and mold crews carry the after-storm work, generator mishaps, lightning strikes, and the growth that follows any flooded structure, through to a finished, verified dry. Water damage restoration near the Econlockhatchee is not seasonal work for us. It is the territory, in every season. If you are unsure how your street fared in past storms, ask a longtime neighbor, and then ask us, because there is a fair chance we worked it.
SERVPRO of University, SE Orlando is owned by Susan and Vern Boatman, Central Florida SERVPRO franchise operators for over 15 years, long enough to have worked more than one major storm across these east-side neighborhoods, from the Little Econ Greenway corridor out toward Bithlo and the river itself.
If the water is rising, or if it already came and went and you are staring at wet floors and a damp smell, call us. SERVPRO of University, SE Orlando answers the phone live, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, storm nights included. Talk to a person, not a machine, and get help moving toward your door.
