(TX) House flooded in multiple rooms. Landlady wants us to use towels to dry the floor.
Lease began March 10th, 2026. On May 11th, 2026, the water filter inside the refrigerator broke and cracked causing water to constantly flow and fill up the refrigerator and leak into the freezer and then out onto the kitchen floor. The flooding went on for hours and flooded the kitchen, washer & dryer room, living room and went through the walls out to the garage and front driveway. The water was even leaking through the walls out to the back yard foundation.
None of our property was damaged. just the floors, kitchen cabinets, and possible drywall. The damage is on one side of the house, but our landlady is instructing us to use towels to dry up any water that comes up through the floors when stepping on the tiles.
I know water damage is one of the worst things that can happen to someone's property, but the lady doesn't even live in Texas. She lives in California, but something has to be done about the water damage, right?
I'm confused why she hasn't sent someone out here to assess the water damage with a moisture meter or anything. It only happened yesterday but all she did was send someone over to see what may have caused it.
The filter in the refrigerator doesn't have a date on when it was installed but we've only lived here for 2 months. The filter says it's supposed to be good for 6 months. The refrigerator is the one that came with the property, and no one has replaced the water filter since we've lived here. I would assume that the house was completely move in ready but there have been things that need fixing on the property that she has also not been in a rush to fix such as a broken ceiling fan in one of the bedrooms.
From what I've been told, this is not our fault, and the landlady is responsible for paying for the damage to the property, but I know that if she doesn't replace the floors, mold will start to grow and will lead to more extensive damage. I've provided her a detailed account of what happened but unfortunately, my boyfriend didn't take very good pictures before we started cleaning.
I don't want to be responsible for paying for mold or any repairs to the house, but I'm not quite sure where to go from here.