If you’ve ever woken up to a broken water pipe in your home, a busted water heater, or have suffered through a flash flood that turns your basement into a swamp, you know that water can be one of the most destructive and damaging elements. If you own a home, you will eventually come to the realization that water damage is one of the worst things that can happen to it—and that you need to react pretty fast if you’re going to avoid bigger (and more longterm) problems. Here’s what to do when water invades your home in unwanted and unwelcome ways.

First things first: If you’re standing in your living room in shock as water pours from a broken pipe, turn off the water. You do know where your water shutoff valve is , right?

Once the immediate problem is solved—e.g., shutting off the water or waiting out a storm—your next step is to figure out what kind of water you’re dealing with. If it’s from a broken water pipe, leaking shower, or rain, you can clean it up yourself with minimal protective gear. If it’s “gray” water from a toilet, washing machine, or dishwasher , you can still clean it up yourself, but you should be careful to wear rubber gloves and to sanitize yourself thoroughly afterward.

If it’s “black” water from sewage or street flooding, however, you probably need professional help. Floodwater usually contains a lot of bacteria and fecal matter that can make you ill, as sewage is, well, sewage. If that’s the source of your water problem, call a restoration professional.

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If your water damage stems from clean or gray water and isn’t too extensive, here’s what to do:

If your water damage is relatively contained and you reacted swiftly to it, chances are you’ll get through this without too much trouble or expense. But there are scenarios when panic is the appropriate response to water damage:

The key to dealing with any water damage in your home is speed: The faster you cut off the source of the water and start drying things out, the more positive the outlook becomes.