When you’ve experienced a flood in or around your home, you know that it’s not a fun time. However, once the flood is over and all the water has washed away, there’s more to cleanup than just drying out your things. Preventing flood damage is just one of many protections hurricane doors offer to homeowners, so it’s important to get them installed before you experience floods and the damage that comes afterward. Today, we’ll discuss some of the dangers of flood damage and how it may affect you long after the flood has washed away.
The Dangers Of Flood Damage
The Dangers Of Flood Damage
What Are The Harmful Effects Of Floods?
Of course, everyone knows that floods are no walk in the park. When a flood hits an area, there is likely to be all kinds of damage that you may not expect to see. Trees that are younger, smaller, or have less strength in their trunks and roots may be pulled up and swept away in the force of a flood, and other, smaller plants will likely be pulled up or waterlogged, too. If a flood is strong enough to pull up plant matter and other outdoor debris, like trash bins, mail boxes, outdoor furniture, and more, your home and other, heavier items are in danger from damage caused by the debris. You may not only have to deal with water damage, but also blunt force damage from items hitting your car or home that’s caught up in the current.
How Bad Can Flood Damage Be?
Depending on how severe the flood is, the damage can cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars worth in damage. On larger scales, a city-wide flood may cause millions of dollars in damage to streets, electrical boxes and wiring, infrastructure, and more. With flood damage, you not only have to worry about the base cost of water damage, but you also have to consider the potential damage of parts of homes, cars, trees, and other things that are outside on the street and in yards being transported potentially miles by the force of the water carrying them.
Emergency Power Risks
One of the most damaging effects of floods can be the issues it causes with our power grid and, on a smaller scale, the damage it may cause to your home’s electrical systems and accessories. If you don’t have a protected generator and your power goes out, you may be caught with no power in a home that’s likely cold and water-logged. This can be particularly dangerous because you are then at risk of experiencing temperature-related issues like hypothermia, if you can’t get or stay warm enough. With hurricane doors and a reliable backup generator that’s rated to withstand extreme conditions, you have a better chance of keeping your power on in the event of a flood.
Health And Safety Risks
In addition to experiencing issues with temperature fluctuations, your health and safety are at risk during a flood and after due to the presence of moisture, which can promote mold and mildew growth in your home, even long after the flood. In addition to this, the flood waters may carry germs, microbes, and other foreign bodies into your home. Depending on where you live, there may be differing types of algae, water-borne illnesses, and more that may be brought into your environment by a flood, and the damage from these types of pathogens can be long-lasting.
Property Damage
Of course, one of the most obvious dangers of flooding is the damage to your property, both inside and outside of your home. On the outside of your home, the property damage you’re most likely to experience is loss of plantlife, landscaping damage, loss of any outdoor accessories you may have (like patio furniture, grills, or playsets), and even damage to your car or other vehicles, if they’re not kept in a garage. On the inside of your home, if water gets in, you may experience water damage to your appliances, belongings, and more. The longer-lasting effects of flood damage to your property may include difficulties restoring unique or delicate items, like musical instruments, keepsakes, heirlooms, and more.
Economic Loss
One of the most long-lasting effects of flood damage, is of course, the aftermath. Cleaning up your home and your property and trying to get back into your everyday life from before the flood is not always easy. Instead, you may be dealing with hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of damage to your home, and restoration services may be out of your budget. If your home or property was damaged enough that you cannot return to it safely, you may also be dealing with the costs of finding temporary living accommodations for you and your family. A flood can be damaging to your physical property and your monetary future if you have to deal with and restore damaged items.
Emotional Hardship
An often-overlooked part of flood damage and its aftermath is emotional hardship. Depending on how much damage you’re handling, or what you experienced during the flood, you and your family may be experiencing intense emotional hardship. Losing precious belongings, keepsakes, heirlooms, and the like may cause emotions of anger, sadness, and even anxiety. In addition, if the flood was a traumatic experience, you and your family members may experience PTSD while trying to heal from the event. Of course, if there were family members or pets who lost lives or experienced injuries during the flood, that may cause a lot of emotional stress, as well.
Floods and the damage they cause are no laughing matter. With all kinds of potential damage factors and the danger that comes with experiencing or handling that kind of damage, it’s important to protect yourself, your family, and your property from flood damage with precautions. Covering your property with flood damage insurance is a great step, and installing hurricane doors and windows to help keep the inside of your home safe from water damage and flooding is a great way to ensure that you’re prepared in any event. Learn more about hurricane preparedness with hurricane doors and windows from Houston Hurricane and Security Products today!