When you experience flooding or water damage in your home or business and have carpeting, you can't ignore the wet carpet - and in fact you shouldn't ignore water damage at all. 

If you ignore water damage, you're only going to end up with mold. It can begin to grow in as little as 48 hours after an unaddressed water leak! That's why it's important to take the right steps when you're faced with a flooded carpet - whether it's from summer storms, broken pipes, or leaking appliances.

What To Do With A Water Damaged Carpet

1. Start to remove water as fast as possible. Time is against you when a carpet is wet since it is so susceptible to mold growth. Use a wet-dry vacuum to get up as much water as you can. You can usually buy these at places like Lowes or Home Depot. If there's a lot of water, you can call a flooded carpet company to come and extract water with their specialized equipment. 
2. Utilize fans to help dry out the carpet. There are a few different strategies of doing this, and it depends on the carpet and amount of water damage. When there is very little water damage, moisture has been extracted from the carpet, and there is no pad underneath, fans can be placed just on top of it to complete the drying process. Other times, the pad will be removed, carpet pulled back, and fans positioned underneath the carpet to "float" it and dry it from underneath. Other times, the carpet will unfortunately have to be thrown out.
3. Set up a dehumidifier. This will help take extra moisture out of the room the carpet it is as well as the carpet. This will also help dry out the carpet further. 
4. Clean & sanitize. You should steam clean and sanitize the carpets and replace the pad underneath if needed. If there is subfloor or another flooring below the carpet, sanitize that as well. 

If you take these steps with your flooded carpet, you should be able to dry it in a matter of days while preventing mold growth in your home or business. 

But, if these steps seem overwhelming and you have a large amount of flooding or water damage, it may be better to call a professional water damage company. They have professional grade equipment & sanitizers to quickly restore your carpet and prevent mold. Many times, they will even directly bill your insurance instead of paying out of pocket.