West Palm Harbor and Ozona Appliance Service, 34683

Land along the sound, Ozona included, is in evacuation Zone A, and Helene's surge put about three feet of water into the Ozona Village Hall. Older frame houses on low lots took water as well.

Salt water is harder on appliances than rain. It leaves conductive residue on control boards and keeps corroding connectors for weeks after it dries. A flooded washer, dryer or range should stay unplugged until inspected, and the honest answer is sometimes replacement. Near the water, outdoor kitchens and vent hoods also corrode faster in ordinary years.

Inland from the sound, 34683 is mostly 1970s and 1980s single-family subdivisions with garages, plus condos and some manufactured homes. Laundry is usually in the garage or a laundry room off it. Older houses in Ozona often have small kitchens and older outlets, which limit what fits and what a circuit will carry, so mention the age of the house when you book.

In the subdivisions, a common summer complaint is a garage refrigerator or freezer that cannot keep up. Garage heat, dust on the coils and a gasket stiffened by age add up quickly. Cleaning the condenser and checking the fan and gasket resolve many of these calls. If the unit is old and the sealed system has failed, the honest advice is to replace it rather than put a new compressor in it.