With so many unfortunate floods happening all across the world, it’s a good time to step back and evaluate your own situation.
Whilst many people don’t live in flood-prone areas, a flash-flood can happen during heavy rainfall and cause damage to your home.
It’s always unfortunate to realise that you’re not prepared for potential flooding, so we’ve put together a few tips to help prevent your home from flooding.
Maintain your foundations
As your house ages, it’s inevitable that it will suffer from wear and tear, and that cracks can appear within the foundations. These cracks can let water in, so you should routinely check them and make sure to fix or seal any cracks when you see them.
You should also take a walk around your property and see if any driveways, decks, verandas, or footpaths have shifted to allow water to pool close to your home. Heavy rain will cause this water to overflow and head straight towards your house if you haven’t taken measures to direct it away.
Use landscaping to your advantage
If your backyard or front yard is prone to flooding during rainy weather, try to landscape it to prevent the water from either running towards your house or to stop it from gathering in large quantities.
Switch water-resistant surfaces for porous ones to absorb more moisture, dig depressions to direct water away from your house, and considering converting your driveways to gravel.
Use a sump pump
Sump pumps are wonderful inventions that remove water that’s accumulated in a water-collecting sump pit. These are usually found in basements. Not all houses have sump pumps, but those that are situated in flood-prone areas usually do.
Think you need a sump pump? Call us today to talk about whether you’d like us to safely install one for you.
Anti-flood doors or barriers
Entire businesses are built around creating flood-proof entrances. You can have either a door installed, or a barrier to use during heavy storms. These are useful in making sure water doesn’t enter your home through any open entryways.
It’s also advisable to make sure your windows are protected from leaks in case the water rises high enough to reach your windows or any openings higher up on the wall.
Clean your gutters
During wild weather or rain, leaves can pile up in your gutters and thus block the drains that allow water to flow away from your house. Make sure to check these regularly after winds and storms and clean them if you know wet weather has been predicted.
Other tips:
- Remember: if it’s flooded, forget it
- At the first sign of flooding, make sure to turn your electricity off (the switch is found in the meter box)
- Move any valuables or items likely to be damaged by water to upper levels of the house
- If you think you may need to evacuate, prepare an evacuation kit with spare clothing, important paperwork (such as passports, medical information, and your insurance details) toiletries, your valuables, extra money, water and snacks, and anything else you that you want to save
- Don’t drive through flooded areas as your car will float – it’s easy to misjudge the depth of a puddle, even if it looks shallow
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Not sure if you’re prepared for a flood? Call us today to talk about what we can do to help you prevent and deal with flooding.
