For Waxahachie and Ennis homeowners
For water damage restoration in Waxahachie, TX, close the main valve, photograph each wet room and begin drying inside a day or two. Flood water is usually left out of homeowners policies. Requests come in from Ellis County towns.
Which Waxahachie addresses do you take requests from?
Requests come in from Bardwell (75101), Ennis (75119, PO box 75120), Ferris (75125), Palmer (75152), Red Oak (75154), Waxahachie (75165, 75167, PO box 75168), Forreston (76041), Maypearl (76064), Midlothian (76065), Avalon (76623), Italy (76651) and Milford (76670). Providers set their own reach, so one confirms your address on the first call.
Waxahachie is the Ellis County seat and sits south of Dallas. For water damage restoration in Waxahachie, TX, the long drive from the city is the first thing to settle with a provider. Ask whether your road is inside their range before you plan anything else.
If you live nearer the Dallas line, DeSoto, Cedar Hill and Duncanville, Oak Cliff or Grand Prairie may fit your address better.
How big is Ellis County, and why does distance matter?
The county is large and mixed. Wikipedia lists 952 square miles, of which 935 are land, and 192,455 residents at the 2020 census. About 69.3 percent live in urban areas and 30.7 percent in rural ones, so an address can be a subdivision or a long gravel drive.
Wikipedia counts 68,531 housing units in the county, 5.2 percent of them vacant, and says 74.3 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied. Most claims here therefore belong to owners. A second home or a barn apartment that sits empty can leak for a long time before anyone checks it.
Ennis is 15 miles by US 287 from Waxahachie and 35 miles from Dallas by Interstate 45, per Wikipedia. Give the provider your road name and the nearest highway, because a town name alone covers a lot of ground.
What do Waxahachie's Gingerbread houses mean for leaks?
Old houses leak in old places. Wikipedia says Waxahachie was founded in 1850, incorporated in 1871, and is known for Victorian architecture and Gingerbread-style homes, several now run as bed and breakfast inns. Ornate trim, tall roof lines and original plumbing give water many routes.
The city had 41,140 residents in 2020, with 14,596 households and 15,645 housing units, 6.7 percent vacant. Most of those units are not Victorian, so check the age of your own house instead of assuming. The signs of water damage guide works for any age.
Freezing is a Waxahachie risk too. At DFW Airport the National Weather Service counts 29.2 days a year at or below 32 F. Read the frozen pipe prevention page before the next hard freeze.
Do Waxahachie and Ennis flood?
The sources are thin. Wikipedia's articles on both cities describe no floods or floodplains, so this page will not name any. They do point to water nearby: Lake Waxahachie, about five miles south of Waxahachie, was formed in 1956 by impounding Waxahachie Creek and covers about 650 acres.
Lake Bardwell, southwest of Ennis, is a flood-control reservoir in the Trinity River Basin run by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Its existence says nothing about whether your lot is at risk. Wikipedia places Ennis in the Blackland Prairie and gives no flood history for it.
Look up your address on the FEMA map through our flood zone page, and ask neighbors about past water. A tornado on May 15, 2013 left four Ennis homes uninhabitable and damaged as many as 55 businesses along Ennis Avenue, per Wikipedia, so wind and rain deserve attention as well.
How did the railroad shape Ennis housing?
Ennis was founded because a railroad arrived. Wikipedia says the line reached the site in 1871, and the city was established that year. Between 1874 and 1890 the population grew from about 300 to 3,000, with many settlers from Czech and Slovak lands.
Cotton money paid for grand houses. The Templeton-McCanless Residential Historic District, created in 1986, protects Neoclassical, Craftsman and Folk Victorian homes in the northwestern part of the city. Wikipedia says many original houses were lost to neglect, fire and careless renovation, so surviving ones may have patched plumbing.
Ennis had 20,159 residents in 2020, with 6,901 households and 7,303 housing units, 5.5 percent vacant. If you own a Craftsman bungalow, ask a plumber about the supply lines, and see the water-damaged floor page for what soaked wood needs.
How do Waxahachie, Ennis, Midlothian and the county compare?
They differ in size, age and vacancy. The table lines up what Wikipedia reports from the 2020 census, so you can see which place looks most like yours. It leaves out flood history because the sources give none for any of these places.
| Place | Setting | 2020 population | Housing units, 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waxahachie | County seat; founded 1850 | 41,140 | 15,645, 6.7% vacant |
| Ennis | Railroad city; 28.2 sq mi | 20,159 | 7,303, 5.5% vacant |
| Midlothian | 25 miles southwest of Dallas | 35,125 | 11,978, 3.4% vacant |
| Ellis County | Rural and urban mix; 952 sq mi | 192,455 | 68,531, 5.2% vacant |
Vacancy matters because an empty house is where a leak runs longest. The vacation rental leaks page has a shutoff routine that works for any house you leave empty.
What is different about Midlothian and the small towns?
Midlothian is newer and growing fast. Wikipedia reports a population of 18,037 in 2010 and 35,125 in 2020, with housing units rising from 6,138 to 11,978. Most of its homes are therefore far newer than Waxahachie's old core, which shifts the likely leaks toward appliances.
It sits in the northwest corner of Ellis County, next to Cedar Hill and Grand Prairie, and Wikipedia calls it the hub of North Texas cement production. The same article says a family built a house near the mouth of Waxahachie Creek in 1848.
Small places such as Bardwell, Palmer, Italy and Milford are listed above, though the sources give no housing figures for them. Treat distance as the main question. For a newer house, the appliance leak page covers hoses, dishwashers and ice maker lines.
Will insurance pay when storm or lake water gets in?
Flood is the gap. FEMA states that most homeowners policies leave out flooding, and Triple-I explains that flood protection is sold separately, through the NFIP or a handful of private insurers. Sewer backup also needs its own endorsement, usually at a nominal cost, per Triple-I.
A pipe failure or roof leak sits on the other side of the line. The NAIC describes damage from a home's plumbing or roof leak as typically covered, with ground water and rain runoff typically excluded. Mold is often excluded as well, so quick drying helps the house and the claim.
Call your agent before work starts and ask what the policy calls flood. The insurance claims guide covers the paperwork, and the mold guide explains the drying window.
What should I do in the first 24 to 48 hours?
Stop the source, protect yourself, then dry. To head off mold, the EPA recommends drying wet areas and belongings in a window of 24 to 48 hours. The countdown starts when the water stops, and a rural address makes any delay in reaching help count for more.
- Turn off the main water valve, and cut power to wet rooms only when it is safe.
- Film each room before you move a thing.
- Phone your insurer and ask what paperwork it needs first.
- Ring a restoration provider and ask if they drive out to your road.
- Open windows if the weather allows, and hold indoor humidity below 60 percent.
The emergency page has more. IICRC S500 classes rising river water and outside surface water as Category 3. Ready.gov adds that six inches of moving water can knock a person down.
Sources: Waxahachie, Texas, Ennis, Texas, Midlothian, Texas and Ellis County, Texas (all Wikipedia, citing the 2020 Census); the National Weather Service DFW normals; FEMA; Triple-I on covered disasters; the NAIC consumer page; the EPA mold guide; IICRC S500; Ready.gov.