How To Find Volunteers To Clear Out Your Flooded Home, and How To Volunteer To Help Clear Out Flooded Homes

This just-launched map tool from civic-minded hacking co-op Sketch City is meant to help homeowners who could use help clearing out soggy carpet and other materials from their flooded homes connect with people willing to volunteer their time and effort to help with that work. It’s called the Texas Muck Mapmuck being a useful term in Houston these days. Mucking, in this context (and context truly is everything), means removing carpet or flooring, stripping drywall that was exposed to moisture and is at risk of growing mold, clearing out dirt, furniture, and other junk, and generally getting a flooded home ready to dry out.

Harvey has made sure a lot of homes around these parts will need mucking — over the next several weeks at least. Is that work you or someone you’re helping needs doing? Or work you or people you know are able to help with? The map above identifies the locations of homes people have added to it that need mucking — and the approximate locations of would-be volunteer mucker teams or individuals. (The map might appear sparsely populated now, but if you spread word about it it’s likely to fill up quickly.) Click on any of the icons to see details and contact info, which you can use to make your own connections.

To add your ready-to-be-mucked home to the map, click here and fill out the form. If you’d like to volunteer to muck homes, click here and fill out the form. To see the map in its own browser window, click here, or just go to muckmap.harveyneeds.org. Also on that site: some guidelines for using the map, a disclaimer, and links to several helpful resources about mucking and related issues.

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Yes, Sketch City is the same group that put together 2 other interactive Harvey maps featured this week on Swamplot: a find-me-an-open-shelter map and texting robot and another map that indicates which Hurricane Harvey shelters need specific supplies or volunteers. The Muck Map was put together (quickly! — they plan to keep improving it) by a team of local and not-so-local volunteers led by Tanweer Rajwani, Nathan Eror, Brian Allen, Steele Xia, and Alyssa Patmos, building on a mapping tool created by a different Sketch City team.

Got questions or comments about using the map, or mucking in general? Post them in the comments below.

Since our last report, Sketch City’s Harvey-recovery-related maps and databases have been updated and added, along with links to other resources, to the organization’s growing harveyneeds.org website.

Map: Sketch City

A Harvey Muck Map

14 Comment

  • I tried adding three house don’t see them on the map please advise.

    Richelle Brasher
    12 Earlham drive, Friendswood, TX, 77546

    Jeanine Galeaz
    4431 saffron Ln, Friendswood, TX, 77546

    Ray Trapman
    16902 creekline drive, Friendswood, TX 77546

  • I tried offering housing available but it didn’t work either.
    .
    Though I noticed some people in Montrose that are offering help have Katy addresses. So the system has a few bugs.

  • I had trouble getting it to post my post through my computer but it worked on my I-phone. Old browser maybe? Also, I managed to goof up on the input – twice! And I can’t figure out how to edit my post. A bit buggy perhaps, but hopefully it helps people connect! I’m ready to help anyone who needs help Mucking!

  • Asking for 4 digit pin to fill out volunteer form

  • I will need help 1705 County Road 244A Brazoria Texas 77422 as soon as the San Bernard River goes down

  • Thanks everyone for the feedback! A crew of software developers have been working nonstop incorporating your feedback and fixing the bugs. Please keep the feedback coming and thank you for all that you are doing to aid the relief and recovery process.

  • How can I delete my information from the muck map?

  • @kat, please email the contact form at sketchcity.org and we’ll take care of it right away

  • Please send someone to help us.

  • Thanks so much to the volunteers who built these maps, they are great!

  • I would like to edit the information I left on The Muck Map. How do I do that?

  • My elderly parents need help at 12203 Drakemill drive.

  • I’d like to mark my home as muck out complete. 12838 gladden dr 77049 . But I don’t have a pin. Thanks to all those volunteering and helping the clean out efforts.

  • 70 year old man still needs help cleaning out house still from Harvey at: 13026 Maple St, Crosby, TX 77532