A deployable flood shield, and associated method, prevents ingress of water through an opening. An outer frame is positioned to surround the opening and has a top channel, a bottom channel, a left channel and a right channel. A flexible shield is stored within the bottom channel prior to deployment and has a left edge retained by the left channel and a right edge retained by the right channel. Seals are configured with each of the bottom, left, and right channels for sealing between the bottom, left, and right channels and the flexible shield when deployed. A controller deploys the flexible shield to prevent the ingress of water into the opening. A deploy command is received and a motor is driven, for a predefined period, to deploy a flexible shield to block the opening and preventing the flexible shield from retracting.