It doesn't get simpler than this.

Some time in ancient history a caveman entered his cave wet and cold from being outdoors. He walked as close to the fire as was safe and stayed there until his garments were dry. This caveman understood the only way to remove unwanted and excess water molecules was heat. He probably did not understand the science behind what he was doing but he knew it would work. Somehow over the millenniums and powered by greed, the industry that touts itself as being able to sort out water problems has lost its collective mind. Rather than recognize what humans have known instinctively since the dawn of time, they invented a complete new science of drying. This "science" is complete nonsense, but it sells dehumidifiers. Worse, property owners and insurance companies pay millions of dollars every year to restoration contractors for a process that is without merit. Even a wet bird or other animal knows to park himself in the direct sun to dry. Restoration contractors seem to lack that basic common sense.

Heat and the resulting evaporation caused by the increased molecular activity, evaporates water. There is no other tool available to the restoration contractor to mitigate a water damage problem. The dehumidifier humming along in a water loss is doing one thing to help the situation, and that is creating heat. This is a very expensive process as well as slow. To keep the damage of a water loss to a minimum, you need to dry fast. Nearly all materials in homes of offices can get wet, but the longer they remain wet the higher the resulting damage. Dehumidifiers are a painfully slow and expensive way to add heat, but that is their only benefit.