What to Do When Your House is Flooded
A couple weeks ago, a series of severe thunderstorms passed through South Central Texas, causing flood damage to many homes right here in San Antonio, TX. While there are no short term actions any individual can take to stop a flood from happening in the first place, you can protect your home if you take the correct steps. Here is a list of things you should do to stay safe and ease your troubles if you find yourself in a situation where your home has flooded.
1) Turn off the power. If you find your home flooded, the very first thing you should do is to turn off all power and gas immediately. Because water is a conductor of electricity, your family could be in danger if you do not remove the risk. Do not restore power to your home until an electrician has inspected it for safety.
2) Document. In most cases it’s going to be a long process getting compensation to cover the damages to your home, regardless of your home insurance comapany. As soon as you can, you should take pictures and inventory of everything that has been damaged, and recover every receipt you can. This process may be a hassle, but it is well worth the trouble if it helps your receive compensation for damages.
3) Replace any wet carpet. Once all the water is clear from your home, you’ll need to remove and replace any and all carpet that is still damp. It can be expensive to install new carpets, but if you don’t you can guarantee you’ll find yourself with mold that will cause foul smells and lower the value of your house.
4) Buy several dehumidifiers. Flood damage’s biggest enemy is a determined home owner backed by an army of dehumidifiers. They will work to slow the spread of water damage and remove any remaining water from your home. You can even save hardwood floors by pulling them up and placing them in a room with a running dehumidifier.
5) Clean and restore your home. This recommendation comes straight from floodsmart.gov: “Wet items should be cleaned with a pine-oil cleanser and bleach, completely dried, and monitored for several days for any fungal growth and odors.”
The National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP) is a government supported agency that helps property owners protect themselves financially, in the event that they find their home is flooded. For more information, visit www.floodsmart.gov
If for any reason the flooding in San Antonio, TX has convinced you to begin searching for a new home and you need to sell your old one, please remember that at iClose Homes, we buy houses, we are cash homes buyers in San Antonio – we can close quickly and on your time frame, so if for whatever reason you can’t go through the normal drawn out “For Sale” process or simply don’t want to deal with the hassles of listing your house for sale, contact us at (210) 588-9999 or click the buttonbelow:
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