The United States has been experiencing an unprecedented amount of flooding in recent years. If your home has been flooded, it is important to understand what steps to take to keep your family safe and rebuild. Here is a step-by-step guide for what to do if your home has been flooded:
1. Evacuate The Area Immediately
Floodwaters are extremely dangerous. Not only do they contain a variety of pathogens, toxins, and other health hazards, floodwaters are incredibly strong. Just by force they can collapse a building. As soon as the flooding begins, evacuate your family, pets, and if you have time, your most valuable items and wait for instructions from local authorities.
2. Turn Off Your Utilities
If the floodwaters are approaching slowly and you are not in immediate danger, take a few moments to prepare your house. Make sure to turn off all your utilities like electricity, gas, and even water. Never walk through water to do this because you could be severely injured. Also if you have time, try to check your sump pump and make sure it is working.
3. Contact Your Home Insurance Company
You’ll need to notify your homeowner’s insurance company of the damages to your home. With your insurance agent, you can review your policy and learn what is covered in the case of flooding. Not all policies include flood insurance because of the high value of the damage. So make sure you understand what your policy includes and then you can begin budgeting for remediation.
4. Do Not Enter Your Home
When the local authorities give the okay to return to your home, you need to fight the temptation to enter. Flooded homes are extremely dangerous. They can be filled with toxic black water, present electrocution risks, and are completely unstable. Instead, contact a disaster response company that is trained to enter flooded homes.
5. Work With A Disaster Response Company
A disaster response company can help you safely clean and repair your home. They will do an inspection to assess the severity of damage. If your home can be salvaged, they have specialized skills, cleaners, and techniques to restore your home to safety.
6. Prepare Your Property For Next Time
Most of the time when a home floods, it is in an area prone to flooding like a flood plain. In that case, once your home is cleaned and repaired it’s a good idea to plan for future flooding. Invest in a high-quality sump pump. Add landscape features that can redirect the water away from your home. Move your electrical wiring to higher points in your home. A disaster response company can help you make a plan that works.
At Disaster Response, our team is on standby 24/7 to respond to a flood emergency. We are fully trained, licensed, and insured and will work diligently to make sure your home is a safe environment after a disaster. Call us anytime.
