Is Your Home Ready For A Natural Disaster?

Thursday, April 19, 2018

We think we have enough of our plates at home without another threat to worry about. We’re forever thinking about keeping things organized, making payments, and trying to find subtle new ways in which to better the atmosphere and design of our rooms. But there’s something else lurking in the darkness, too: natural disasters! With the climate ever increasingly unpredictable, a lot of homes that were ordinarily under no threat at all have suddenly found themselves in a potential disaster zone.

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Learn the Threats

Before you can figure out how you’re going to handle the threats to your home, you’ll need to figure out what the threats actually are. For example, have you been receiving more rainfall than usual, and is your home located at a low elevation? Then you’re likely at risk of some sort of flooding. Alternatively, you could have the opposite problem. Some places are getting hotter and drier than they’ve ever been. If you live in an area with a lot of dry trees around, then you might have an issue with wildfires during the summer months. Whatever the potential problem is, you’ll be in a good position to handle them once you know what they are.

Perform a Review

Just because the elements have gone a bit haywire, that doesn’t mean that your home is automatically under threat. You’ll only know about how well prepared your property is once you’ve performed a review. Walk around the home, and perform a risk-assessment: are there are any areas of the home that look especially vulnerable to the weather? If you don’t know what you’re looking for, then consider hiring a professional to conduct the review. They might just show you something that could save your home from disaster once it's been taken care of.

Take Precautions

It’s rare for the elements just to batter an area without warning. That’s why we have all of those weather stations! As such, you’ll be well-served for developing a plan for securing your most important belongings once the sirens of the coming weather have been sounded. If you’re
expecting heavy rainfall, then you should move all of your electrical items away from the ground floor. You may also wish to do things like invest in strong wind resistant shutters for your windows. The weather won’t be able to do your home much harm if there’s no way for it to get in!

Get Covered

It’s not what happens to you that counts; it’s how you respond that matters. When it comes to your home, that means making sure you’re sufficiently covered in case the worst should happen. Take a look at your home insurance policy, and make sure that it covers damage caused by the elements. If you don’t own your home, then you can get renters insurance from a company like
Amistad Insurance Services. Most renters don’t think to get insurance, but it can be invaluable in an emergency; many policies will put you up in alternative accommodation if your property is temporarily unlivable, for example.

Load up on Supplies

It can seem like the bad weather comes in one big rush, but this isn’t always the case - stormy weather can stick around for days! And you might just find that you’re trapped in your home for a while. This doesn’t automatically have to be bad news, however. If you have enough
supplies to see you through the weather, then you’ll be able to carry on until it's passed by and you can enter the outside world again. Load up your pantry with non-perishable goods, buy a few big bottles of water, and also a flashlight. You might just appreciate a few board games or a pack of cards, too.

Backup Important Documents

Your home is important, but the walls and roof are things that can be repaired and replaced. The real value of the home might just be what’s included inside. Take your important documents, for instance. Things like birth certificates, your laptop, and hard drives might be irreplaceable. For your hard copy items, make sure they’re kept in a secure spot, one that can’t be affected by water. For the digital stuff, make sure you’re keeping everything you absolutely need to keep in cloud storage, online.

Stay Up to Date

You never know what the weather is going to do in the future. The threats that exist today might cease, and be replaced by new ones. As such, you’ll be well-served by routinely reviewing your home’s defenses and making sure it’s protected from the new threats.
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