While there is a lot of fuss made about larger natural disasters, like hurricanes and blizzards, heavy rain is a major cause for concern in the United States when it comes your home. Many people forget to cover flooding in their insurance policies, thinking that living far away from the ocean or a river means that it won’t be a problem. Then they wake up after torrential downpour and realize that things are absolutely destroyed on the ground level of their home.
But there are a number of helpful tips for surviving heavy rainstorms that can easily be carried out by any household. Whether you’re living at sea level somewhere that hurricanes are abundant or you just happen to be getting a particularly heavy weather system lately, here are some excellent home security tips devoted to protecting your house from heavy rains and flooding.
Move outside furniture inside. This goes for anything outside that could easily be thrown around during heavy winds and rain, and might accidentally inflict damage on the house. Likewise, it is important to get things out of the rain that aren’t designed to survive it, so that you don’t end up ruining something important. While some things, like your car, might be able to survive a serious rainfall, other things like delicate wooden rocking chairs aren’t made to handle it.
Be sure to think about how flooding affects your home security. Sometimes people think that flooding is just a minor nuisance, but the reality is that it can do a ton of damage, cost lots of money to fix, and undermine the safety of your home. Sometimes flooding does a number on your home’s foundation, and other times, if it occurs in parts of the house where your circuit breaker is located, it can cause electrical concerns. Try to keep this in mind when preparing for big rain.
If you know there’s going to be a large rainstorm or a continued rainfall, plan ahead. Be sure that you have enough supplies for around the house if going out looks like it is going to be dangerous. Pay attention to the weather and stock up on food, first-aid supplies, and anything else that might be important. And even if you’re just rushing off to the store for a minute, still remember to set your home alarm system. Often times burglars take advantage of bad weather situations to break into homes, since people get a little confused during the commotion.
Stay up to date on your insurance. This is a big one. If you don’t have items listed that should be on there and specify that flood coverage should pay to replace them, you can end up footing the bill. And no one wants to end up having to do that.
Remember that driving is a part of your security, too. If there are still puddles of water that you can’t see the bottom of, don’t drive your car through it. And don’t try to drive around until you confirm that the land is still solid. Heavy rains can cause serious shifts in the landscape, and those can be quite perilous to a car. So don’t risk trying to drive in one until you know just how deep it is.