Dealing With Disasters: What Should You Do If Your Home Floods?
Natural disasters like flooding can cause some serious damage to your home and, in many cases, you can’t really do much about it. Your home may also flood due to burst pipes or other plumbing issues that cause large leaks. It’s important that you know how to react in the event of a flood so you can limit the damage as much as possible and start rebuilding things afterwards. Here’s what you should do if your home is flooded.
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Determine The Cause
If your home is hit with a natural disaster and it floods, there isn’t a huge amount that you do to stop it. However, if your home floods due to plumbing issues, it’s important that you determine the cause and take steps to stop the leak right away. Knowing where your water shut off switch is can help you to prevent water damage and stop the problem from getting any worse. If you don’t already know where the shut off valve is, find it right away so you are prepared for a disaster when it does happen.
Turn off Electrics
Electricity and water are a very dangerous combination, so if your house floods, you need to switch off any electrics immediately. However, you should only do this if you can safely do it without stepping into any water. Ideally, you should switch off the mains power to the house but don’t take any risks. If you don’t know how to turn off the power to your home, visit https://www.hometips.com/diy-how-to/electricity-power-turn-off.html for a quick guide.
Get Out Of The House
If the flooding is serious and you have not been able to turn off all of the electrics, you could be in a lot of danger, so make sure that you get out of the house right away. Don’t make the mistake of trying to save items on your way out because you could be putting yourself in more danger by sticking around for too long.
Contact A Water Damage Restoration Company
Once you are safely out of the house and the source of the flooding is dealt with, it’s important that you contact a water damage restoration company (like this one at https://ineedact.com/emergency-services/water-damage-restoration/) right away. They will be able to help you remove all of the water and repair the water damage to your home so you can start rebuilding. The sooner you can get them out to the house, the more chance they have of rescuing things, so call them right away.
Get In Touch With Your Insurance Company
Your insurance company will need to know about the damage so you can make a claim for the costs. The process of making a claim can take a long while, so it’s important that you get in touch with them sooner rather than later. When you are making your claim, you will need plenty of evidence to show the extent of the damage so, once the water has been removed from the home, make sure to take plenty of photos to show the insurance company.
When your home is hit with a natural disaster like a flood, it’s important that you have a plan in place and you follow these steps.
Kori
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