Storm preparedness tips don’t always take your home into account. Value your house as well as your safety by taking these tips one step further. You can save yourself and your investment, memories, and family’s future.
1. ASSEMBLING EMERGENCY SUPPLIES
The most common storm preparedness tip is to prepare an emergency bag. This should contain everything that you need to leave your home when a storm in place. Have a few days’ worth of vital medication, non-perishable food, drinking water, and emergency radio and flashlight in one place. This is a great idea, but it doesn’t go far enough. You should also have emergency supplies for your house.
Storms that require evacuation are few, and far between. Storms that require you to shelter in place, on the other hand, are far more common. You should put together an emergency kit to put together repairs for your home. This kit should contain a couple of tarps, duct tape, and extra drying clothes. This won’t completely save your home from storm damage, but if you have a leak in your roof you should be able to rig up an emergency patch until you can get a contractor out to your home.
2. PREPARE TO LIVE WITHOUT RUNNING WATER OR ELECTRICITY
Power outages and disruptions to the water supply are common storm complications. Many storm preparedness tips focus on getting you ready to survive without these amenities. While this is important, you should also be able to turn off these services for yourself.
Being able to turn off your electricity safely, from the circuit, is essential in the event that your home begins to flood. Shutting down the water can prevent a leak from getting worse before you can have it looked at. Heavy flooding that shifts your home or saturates the ground enough to meddle with the plumbing can cause a backup in water lines. You don’t want to keep pulling in sewage or foul water when something goes wrong. You should not only be able to survive without running water or electricity, but you should also be able to shut them off yourself.
3. MONITOR YOUR WEATHER PATTERNS
The worst storm is the storm that catches you unawares. Remaining aware of local weather is an essential storm preparedness tip. Should you move to a new area, take time to learn the local weather patterns, and then learn how to prepare for them. Vigilance will help you prepare for incoming storms, but a formal evaluation and proper homeowner’s insurance is going to do more for you in the long run. If your home is located within a 100-year flood plain, make sure that you have flood insurance that corresponds to your needs and level of risk. However, if that’s not the case, make sure that the value of your home is properly assessed. If you’ve put a lot of work into upgrading your fixer upper, you should make sure your insurance payout would reflect that in the event of a natural disaster.
Wind and storm damage is often unpredictable. Common storm preparedness tips don’t go far enough to protect your home. Take the standard advice a step further to develop a comprehensive plan to protect yourself. In conclusion, stay vigilant, gather your emergency supplies, and make sure you know how to turn off your utilities if you have to.