Heavy rains can cause a flood, and a flood can cause water to get into your home and damage the place and the items stored in it. Know how to respond to a flood to keep your family safe and best care for your home.
Assess the Damage Before Anything Else
You should know what a flood did to your home before you try to deal with the aftereffects of that flood. As soon as it is safe to move about in your home, go through the place and look for damage. Check the carpets, your furniture, and all of your other possessions. Look for water damage on walls and appliances. See what kind of work will have to be completed to get your home safe and livable again.
Take Pictures and Get in Touch with Your Insurance Company
As you are assessing the damage in your home, take pictures of issues that you see. These can help you remember what you all noticed, and they can also help you show your insurance company the condition that your home is in. Contact your insurance company and let them know that the flood happened. They might send someone to your home to further assess the situation, or they might just give you the financial assistance that you need as you begin to deal with the damage.
Move Possessions and Decide What is Too Damaged to be Saved
If you have items stored in the flooded parts of your home, move those things so that they can start to dry out. You especially want to move those things that are valuable to you. You also need to go through the things that are covered in water and decide what needs to be tossed. Some items will be too damaged to hold onto. Go through everything that got wet and decide if it is worth trying to save each item or not.
Start to Dry the Place Out and Get Help
The sooner that you can get your home dry again, the less damage you will deal with in the end. There are companies that bring industrial equipment to your home to dry the place. You can also find people who will start working on the damage that has taken place in your home. Find the fans and dehumidifiers that you own and set them up, and also reach out to a professional for flood damage restoration in Denver.
Decide if You Need a Temporary Place to Stay
As you assess your home and start to work on drying it out, decide if you and your family will be able to stay there or if it would be safer for you all to just stay somewhere else for a time. The air quality in your home might not be the best while the place is covered in water, and you also might be bothered by all of the fans and other equipment that is running in the home. The place might be messy and unsafe, too. You might find a temporary place to relocate to until your home is dry and some of the damage in the place has been repaired.
Take Steps to Better Prepare Your Home for the Next Flood that Takes Place
You can take steps after a flood to prepare your home for the next time that heavy rain falls. After you are done dealing with the current water damage in your home, start to waterproof your basement and work on keeping it from getting flooded again. Consider elevating electrical panels and appliances. You might also consider elevating furniture. Make a plan for how you will respond the next time that there is a flood so that you will not panic if you have to deal with such a thing again.
When you know how to respond to a flood, you and your family can get through the stressful time after one in a calm and smart manner. Take steps to start caring for your home as soon as the rain stops falling, and bring in help so that the place can be fully restored to what it once was.
