Moving Forward – What to do Following a Flood

While extreme weather can be uncommon in the UK, if your home does fall victim to excessive flooding and flood damage it is important to know exactly what you can do following the event. It is important that, in the event of a flood, you get everyone to safety before calling the authorities and before you can start rectifying any damages caused. Flooding is a serious issue and can lead to some devastating effects if you don’t know what to do afterwards.

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Your belongings may suffer from water damage, but it can also open up the gates for more long term problems, such as mould, mildew, condensation and damp that can have a serious effect on the health of those living in the house. It is important that you get a professional in as soon as possible to assess the damage done to your property, so that you can start taking steps to improve the situation. You may also be able to find helpful information on how you can avoid such events in the future.

Finding out the Extent of the Damage
It is important to know exactly how much the flood has affected your property and your belongings. You can do this by just doing a cursory check of the property, but it is recommended that you ask help from a professional. While flooding is a fairly large issue, water can get into all sorts of nooks and crannies and there may be repairs needed behind the scenes that you aren’t aware of. By not checking these out properly, you can leave potential hazards left unattended to fester and get worse and you certainly don’t want that.

Clearing any Utilities – is the House Safe?
It is essential that you get the ‘all clear’ from your local authorities regarding electrical utilities and other appliances connected to the mains. If you are not sure as to whether or not something is fully safe to use, do not use it. A professional engineer or electrician, such as Kalahari Electrical Services: electrician in Alpharetta, should be able to check the utilities to see whether or not they are once again safe to use, but if the authorities have turned off your appliances, you should not attempt to turn them on again yourself. They will have turned them off for a reason, so it is important to check before turning anything else on again, otherwise you risk doing more damage to your property.

Checking Valuable Documents for Potential Losses
Whether you keep valuables in a certain part of the house, or whether you have important documents and deeds that need to be checked; it is essential that you try and find these as soon as the house is safe to re-enter. If any belongings have been damaged in the flood, you can take steps to effectively dry them off and restore them if they are not electrical. For electrical belongings that have been damaged or appear to be damaged, it is best that you avoid these to prevent injury.

By taking an inventory of everything affected by the flood you can also start piecing together the information needed for your insurance company and cleaning company. They will often want a detailed document of everything in the house during the event and a full list of the damages suffered so that they can start restoration proceedings. Depending on the cause of the flood, you may be entitled to some compensation.

Getting in Touch with Cleaning Companies
Once you have got in touch with your insurance company, checked that the property is safe once again, taken inventory of everything that is damaged or lost and everything else, you can start to get in touch with the professional cleaning companies who can help. It is best to find residential water damage restoration services as they have specific experience in cleaning up after natural disasters and weather disasters such as fires and floods, they will be able to give your property and your belongings the special care and treatment needed to restore them to working condition. In the event that your home has been flooded and contaminated by sewage, for example, it is important to get a Restoration Specialist who knows how to ensure your home is safe to inhabit. Contaminated floodwater can lead to all sorts of health and safety issues down the line such as mould and rot so it is important to get someone who knows what they are doing.

It is important to keep in mind that while this can be an incredibly stressful time for you and your family, you need to put your thinking caps on and focus on getting everything sorted out in order to get back to normal as fast as possible. By adopting a ‘can do’ attitude, you can help to find the information that you need to get your life back on track, instead of mourning the loss of any valuables. It is important that you act quickly in order to minimise any damages done, and there are often companies who provide professional support and assistance in times such as these that you can go to. It gets better, it is just essential that you make sure all affairs are in order to give your home the best possible chance of coming out of this situation with minimal damage.

Article provided by Mike James, an independent content writer in the property industry – working with a selection of companies including Cleaning Industrial Solutions, who were consulted over the information contained in this post.