If the house is not safe, leave it. That is the whole first paragraph.
Gas smell, active fire, standing water near electrical panels, a roof that is open to the weather, a ceiling that is coming down — those are 9-1-1 problems, not housing-search problems. Get people and pets out. If someone is hurt, say so when you call. If it is safe to shut off gas or electricity because the fire department or the utility told you how, do that. If it is not safe, do not go back in for photographs, laptops, or the box of papers on the desk. Papers can be replaced. You cannot.
Once you are outside and accounted for, you need a bed for this night. Jubilee Homes is a furnished, pet-friendly home in Dallas–Fort Worth for as long as the repairs take. We are not an emergency shelter, we do not run cots, and we do not have a public lobby you can walk into after midnight. Please do not wait on us for tonight. Use the organizations whose job is tonight.
Call the people whose job is tonight
2-1-1 Texas is the state’s free information line for food, shelter, and local help, including during disasters. Dial 2-1-1, or 877-541-7905, or start at 211texas.org. Texas Health and Human Services explains the disaster options on its 2-1-1 disaster assistance page: option 1 for local services such as housing and food, option 2 for benefits questions. In North Texas you can also use 211 North Texas. 2-1-1 can tell you whether a city or county shelter is actually open this evening. Lists change with the weather. We will not print a street address here that may already be closed.
The American Red Cross North Texas Region opens shelters when local emergency plans call for them, and they publish the live map rather than a static list. Start at Red Cross North Texas — Get Help. Find an open shelter at redcross.org/shelters or the Find an Open Shelter page. Call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767). Red Cross says its disaster assistance is free, that pets are welcome at Red Cross shelters, and that you do not have to show identification to come in — just your name and where you were living. Believe their page, not a stranger in a parking lot.
If your city has opened a warming or cooling center, or a short-term overnight shelter, 2-1-1 and your city’s emergency management office are the current list. Do not trust a social-media pin without checking it against 2-1-1 or the Red Cross map.
A hotel is a normal first night
If you can pay for a hotel, or if a family member can put a room on a card until the claim is open, that is a normal, decent first move. Save the folio. Chapter 6 is the receipt kit; tonight, just keep the paper or the email. Tell the front desk you were displaced by home damage so they know you may need a late checkout or a second night — they are not the insurance company, but they can be kind.
If you cannot pay for a hotel, that is exactly what 2-1-1 and the Red Cross are for. There is no shame in a shelter night while you wait for daylight and a claims line.
Pets, medicines, and the bag you can grab
If it is safe and you have two minutes: medicines, glasses, phone chargers, pet leashes and a small bag of food, school IDs, and whatever proves who you are. If it is not safe, leave it. Tell the Red Cross or the shelter staff if someone in the household uses durable medical equipment or has a service animal.
Do not sign a repair contract tonight. Do not give your claim number — you may not even have one yet — to a person who appeared in the yard. Chapter 7 is the longer warning. Tonight, say “I will call my insurance company in the morning” and go somewhere with a door that locks.
In the morning
When the sun is up and everyone has slept, even badly: call your insurance company and open the claim. That is Chapter 2. If you are a North Texas household and the contractor later says the house will be unlivable for a month or more, that is when a furnished, pet-friendly Jubilee home becomes a conversation with the adjuster — not a substitute for tonight.
If you just need a human being to tell you that the next chapter exists, Jaclyn answers at (817) 518-2399 or inquiries@jubilee.homes. She will still send you back to 2-1-1 if you do not have a bed for this night.
Informational, not legal or insurance advice. Check your own policy and ask your claim professional what applies to your loss. If a source page and this library ever differ, the source page wins.
This page is not legal advice. We do not interpret insurance policies. Coverage decisions belong to your claim professional. For questions about insurance in Texas, call the Texas Department of Insurance Help Line at 800-252-3439. Jubilee Homes does not cold-contact families after fires or storms.