Be ready to stop a disaster from happening to your home. Thousands and thousands of homeowners file insurance claims to by some means make back their losses which are caused by disasters every year. In some worst cases, a home disaster disaster can leave a home unlivable or at the least cause severe inconvenience. Some items that may be damaged range from spoiled food and mold infestations inside fridges and freezers. Another service interruption source such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other storms, make local travel nearly impossible, and can also lead to other concerns such as polluted water supplies.
It is not doable to stop every disaster, but it is possible to decrease the chance of damage and enhance the safety of the house and the people living within it. Take preventative measures ahead of time that help lessen the likelihood of a home disaster and then follow these home disaster prevention recommendations to help keep your home safe and livable.
As acts of terrorism and other disasters such as acts of Mother Nature. Electrical power keeps our houses livable and supplied with water. When the power goes out for any reason, whether for a neighborhood, an entire town, or across several states, everything that depends on electricity shuts down. Any effective disaster prevention plan really should contain a standby or portable generator to supply power during an outage. A standby generator is permanently set up and requires no human intervention to run and keep operating for days at a time. Portable generators can supply energy where you need to have it, when you need it.
Not all home floods are triggered by overflowing rivers and streams. Being ready well in advance permits you to combat the numerous disasters waiting to happen in and around your home.
- Before leaving your home for prolonged time periods, don’t forget to turn off your water.
- Make sure that your washing machine is employing hoses that will not burst.
- Make sure your fixture connections are using braided steel hoses that include a flood prevention device.
- Make sure that if you are using a sump pump, that the circuit that it is running on is driven by the home backup generator and inspect and test the pump at least twice a year. Install extended length rain gutter outlets that discharge water downhill and away from the home.
Hot, humid air is the perfect environment for mold growth. Air that does not flow freely magnifies the issue. Today, homes are sealed up tight to help with energy efficiency but in turn this stops air flow. Air conditioners take away humidity from the air and prevent mold growth. On the opposite side of things, during the winter months bursting pipes is an area for concern when temperatures drop. Make sure that the appliances that control the environment of your home such as, furnaces, air conditioner, and dehumidifier are working on the circuits that are being powered by your generator. A refrigerator can keep food cold for about a day without power. A freezer might last two days, or three at the outside, without power. After that, food thaws and spoils rapidly. On the circuit that is powered by your generator, make sure you include your refrigerator and freezer to be sure of continuous operation.
The trees close to your home should be trimmed so that no branches are touching or overhanging the house. Make sure that trees on your land are not too close as their roots can protrude into sewer lines and weaken your foundation. Your landscape grading on your property should move water away and downhill from your home and doesn’t stand in puddles or ponds. By keeping the siding and roof in good repair, you prevent really serious problems in high winds and heavy rains. Don’t shovel snow up towards the house. Make sure the area you clear the snow into is away from sump pumps or openings to your home in case of unexpected melting, you do not want water overflow. Performing regular upkeep and maintenance on your generator according to its user manual and instructions will assure its safe and smooth operation when it is needed. Remember to maintain and rotate fuel supplies for portable generators to keep the supply fresh. Remember that older fuel may go stale causing problems if you use this fuel in your generator, such as preventing it from running efficiently, or even running at all.
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