Storm Preparation: Steps To Take To Protect Your Home From Storm Damage

1/10/2022 (Permalink)

Keep your gutters clean.

Protect Your Home From Flooding

With storm season well under way, you need to take active measures to protect your home from flooding and storm damage, if you have not already done so. Depending on where you live, preparation measures may look slightly different. That said, there are certain measures that all homeowners across the country can take to reduce their risk of excessive damage and the need for costly repairs. Those include the following:

• Clean out the gutters.
  
• Trim trees and overhanging branches.
  
• Install a sump pump.
  
• Install storm shutters.
  
• Invest in a generator.
  
• Invest in flood damage insurance.
  
• Prepare an emergency preparedness kit.
  
  

By doing each of the above, you can protect both your home and yourself in the event of a bad storm.

There Are Some Storms For Which You Just Cannot Prepare

By taking many of the above measures, such as cleaning out your gutters, trimming branches that overhang your home and installing storm shutters, you can keep the worst of wind, rain, snow and hail damage at bay. However, there are some types of damage, such as flooding, that you cannot fully protect against. Though sump pumps and other anti-flood measures help to an extent, they're not always 100 percent effective. If your home does flood, you want to act as soon as possible to prevent further damage. Some things you can do include the following:

• Elevate any furniture in the affected area.
  
• Turn off power to the affected area.
  
• Remove any valuables from the affected area.
  
• Take pictures of the damage and contact your insurance company.
  
• Reach out to your Lafayette, LA, flood damage remediation team for immediate assistance.
  
  

A restoration team can help dry out your home, clean your household items and perform mold remediation, if necessary. It is important that you contact your flooding team ASAP, as the longer you wait to remediate the damage, the worse the secondary damage, such as mold and rot, will become.