There is a plethora of reasons for both finished as well as unfinished basements getting flooded. Most of the times the downspouts and storm gutters are clogged with holes and the water flow over these and down to the perimeter of the house instead to the corners of the house or away from the house.

There are many people who know that their house has this problem and has taken recourse to installing a sump pump to take care of the situation. However if it is that your house is undergoing settlement at the moment or there are settlement cracks or stress fractures in its very foundation, there might be a flooded basement even before you become aware that there might be a problem.

On discovering that the basement is flooded, the very first thing that you should do is to remove the water. If it is only a minor flooded basement, you would do well to just mop the area with a towel or a mop. However when it is a major flooded basement, you would have to use some equipments.

If your basement is prone to getting flooded it is imperative that your house has one of these: wet shop vacuum, portable sump pump, or wet vacuum. If you do not own either of these you can buy one from the local store or borrow it from someone you know. You can also get these at rent from some places.

There are a few things that you would have to know before you opt for any particular equipment. While using a sump pump it is required that there is an outlet for removing the excess water in your flooded basement. Since the outlets in the basement area would be inaccessible, you would have to attach a long hose to the sump pump and drain the water from out of the house.

If it is the wet vacuum that you would be using, you would have to empty the holding receptacle every few minutes. While it is true that the wet shop vacuum is able to carry more water, it would also become heavier and therefore more difficult to carry, and this is especially true when you are carrying the water out of the house for emptying it outside. Hence you would have to choose properly the method you would adopt for removing the water out of the house or out of your flooded basement.

After you have decided on the equipment the next step is to start removing the water. It is good to start from the pace that is most likely to be damaged the most if the water stays there for a longer duration of time. You can also begin from the highest part of the room where the water is not much and then move forward to the areas where there is less water.

Once the rain stops you can open all the windows to aid in the drying process. After the removal of the water you can start to dry the areas as quickly as possible especially in your flooded basement.

While drying the flooded basement area you can use a dehumidifier. While using it you would have to keep the doors and the windows closed so that it works properly. Also you would have to empty the holding container of the dehumidifier and empty it at regular intervals. After the dehumidifier has finished extracting moisture from a particular region, take it to another part of the room to begin work again.