{"id":2588,"date":"2019-06-13T16:02:20","date_gmt":"2019-06-13T20:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/?p=2588"},"modified":"2019-06-13T16:02:20","modified_gmt":"2019-06-13T20:02:20","slug":"home-safety-survival-tips-for-floods-other-natural-disasters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/home-safety-survival-tips-for-floods-other-natural-disasters\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Safety & Survival Tips for Floods & Other Natural Disasters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Protecting the investment in your home is a very important factor for owners as well as the companies that insure the dwellings<\/a>. Across the U.S., damages to homes from weather-related disasters account for billions of dollars in losses.<\/p>\n

From flooding to hurricanes, wildfires and other serious weather events, the best way to prepare is to understand potential risks in advance and create safeguards before the events even occur.<\/p>\n

Here are some tips to protecting your home from weathers most extreme conditions.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Keep Up with Yard Clean-Up<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s not a task that many enjoy, however, keeping trees properly trimmed and cared for and ensuring there is no buildup of debris around your home can protect it when heavy rains, fierce winds, and flooding occur. Remove the risk instead of putting a potential strain on the roof or having branches strike the siding or gutters. Likewise, you\u2019ll want to ensure gutters are always cleaned so they don\u2019t cause water to back up and get under your home\u2019s foundation or roof shingles.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Reinforce Your Home<\/h2>\n

In those cases when you know severe weather is on the way in, it makes sense to hunker down and reinforce the areas of your home that have the greatest potential to become damaged. Doing things like adding wood covers across windows and doors and adding weights behind garage doors can all help them to better withstand extreme winds, rains, and ice. Indoors, you should move large heavy items down to floor level so they don\u2019t come crashing down unexpectedly and do a walk around the exterior of the home to check that siding is secure.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Have First Aid and Power Supplies Ready<\/h2>\n

Loss of electricity and injuries are both common when disaster strikes. The best way to be prepared is to have a plan in advance. Review the escape route if needed or where to meet indoors when survival mode kicks in. Keep first aid supplies<\/a> and other important medications on hand. Flashlights, extra batteries, and important documentation should also be in a readily available location. Generators are a terrific investment to provide a backup power supply and ensure important gadgets continue to run. Things like sump pumps that remove water from a flooding basement require electricity to keep working so planning in advance can save you a lot of havoc.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t Forget Pets<\/h2>\n

Our four-legged friends play an important role in our homes. Don\u2019t forget about planning for them in advance of potential storms too. Be sure you have emergency supplies with their food, water, medications, travel crates, leashes, so they can also be brought to safety.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no telling just when a natural disaster will strike but planning and preparing for them in advance can go a long way in protecting against loss. Speak to an agent<\/a> at Petruzelo Insurance today to learn more about homeowner\u2019s insurance policies and how you can stay protected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Protecting the investment in your home is a very important factor for owners as well as the companies that insure the dwellings. Across the U.S., damages to homes from weather-related disasters account for billions of dollars in losses. From flooding to hurricanes, wildfires and other serious weather events, the best way to prepare is to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homeowners-insurance","category-safety-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2588"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2591,"href":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2588\/revisions\/2591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petruzelo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}