Water Damage & Flooded Basement Restoration Services

Important Concepts in the Management of Floods

By the RestorationSOS Educational Staff

Flooding is a very broad term that can signal the appearance of many other concepts. It is easy for property owners to be overwhelmed by the number of considerations at play. After all, flooding is not just about water entering the property. It is also about filing insurance claims, prevention, assessment, and other topics that can easily be convoluted if they are not properly addressed.

When flooding strikes a home or neighborhood, the damage left behind may be considerable. Unfortunately, the flood damage is only the beginning of a process that may require weeks or months to complete. With that in mind, the aftermath of a flood isn't the best time for homeowners to be making hard decisions since a flood can be an overwhelming and traumatizing event. Nonetheless, if the property is to be restored to its original pre-loss condition, a number of steps need to be taken in the right order to make it happen.

Protecting Yourself and Your Property from Floods

Your best bet is to take action before the threat of a flood arises, making necessary repairs and adjustments designed to protect your home and diminish the threat of damage in the event of a flood. This includes making sure that electrical equipment and valuables are kept out of reach of flood waters, that landscaping around your hope slopes away from the structure for a distance of no less than ten feet, that gutter systems and downspouts are free and clear of obstructions and that any sump pump setup in your home is functioning at peak efficiency. Of course, none of these steps guarantee protection from flood damage, but they do go a long way in keeping the damage to an absolute minimum.

This also includes assessing your flood damage threat which can be done through a visit to your local emergency management office. By looking at the flood history for your area, you can quickly determine the chances of flooding in the future as well as the amount of flood water you may have to deal with. History is usually a pretty good barometer when it comes to predicting future weather patterns.

Do You Need Flood Insurance?

Flooding is usually not covered under homeowners insurance, so you should check to see if you can buy coverage for an additional premium, and then get the most you can afford. If not, check to see if your community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is flood coverage funded by the federal government and available to property owners in high flood risk areas.

When to Hire a Professional

Lastly, remember that flood damage restoration and recovery is not a process for the average homeowner. It involves a series of steps designed to be executed in a certain order. Failure to properly execute any one of these steps may result in long-term problems. You should secure the contact information for your local, certified, water and flood damage repair and restoration professionals. Available 24/7, they are ready to handle even the largest flood damage problems, removing the water, repairing the damage, and having you back in your home and enjoying life as soon as possible.

• Begin with Flood Assessment
• Basement Flooding
• An Overview of Flood Management
• Practical Steps in Securing the Property, part 1
• Practical Steps in Securing the Property, part 2