Emergency flood cleanup in The Hammocks, 33196

The Hammocks Community Association manages more than 6,500 homes across 40 sub-communities, the largest homeowners association in Miami-Dade. Most houses follow a Spanish Revival look with stucco walls and barrel tile roofs, mixed with townhouses and lakeside single-family lots.

The condo side is mostly garden-style walkups and lakefront mid-rises. Banyan Tree and Royal Palm Place are three-story buildings, Lakeview uses two-story blocks, and Villas at the Hammocks went up in the 1990s. The population jumped from about 10,900 in 1990 to more than 47,000 in 2000, so most of the housing and its plumbing dates from that one decade.

Biking trails wrap around the community's lakes, and many homes sit right at the water's edge. The land sits roughly 7 feet above sea level; with groundwater close beneath it across Miami-Dade, a heavy storm can raise lakes and fill streets faster than the drainage can clear them.

It has happened more than once. On September 22, 2012, cars in The Hammocks drove through water covering much of their wheels, and the 10.11 inches recorded here on December 5, 2015 fell the same day West Kendall-Tamiami Airport set a gauge record of 8.77 inches. Ground-floor condos and townhomes with doors at grade usually take water first.

If your sub-community has a gate or guard post, share the code or let security know a restoration truck is coming. In condo buildings we check with the manager on where trucks can park and whether hoses may run through common walkways.

Water that comes in from outdoors counts as contaminated. That usually means the carpet pad, baseboards and lower drywall come out before any drying starts. We keep moisture logs and photos for your insurer and, where the association repairs common elements, for the manager as well.

Mold found during the job is contained and removed with the wet materials. If you want air sampling or clearance testing, an independent assessor handles it, so that check stays apart from our crew.

Kendall West and Kendale Lakes sit to the north, The Crossings to the east, and Kendall lies about 6 miles beyond. We cover each of them, along with Tamiami farther north.

Tell us your sub-community or the nearest landmark, such as Hammocks Town Center, Wild Lime Park or Hammocks Community Park, and we route the truck straight there. When all our crews are tied up on other jobs, which is rare, another trusted local restoration provider steps in and the water still gets handled.