Last-minute storm damage prevention strategies are essential when severe weather approaches with little or no warning. In minutes, blue skies and a gentle breeze can transform into dark, billowing clouds spawning tornadic winds, damaging hail, and torrential rains. Homeowners are left with minutes or even seconds to prepare the home and yard for the turbulent weather.
The team at SERVPRO of Carrollton offers three last-minute strategies that a homeowner can implement to protect against storm damage. These quick tips take little time to execute but can prevent damage from fierce winds, large hail, and torrential rain.
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Put up or tie down potential projectiles.
Often, the yard, patio, and deck collect items that can become airborne during a tornado or other storm. Many homeowners are unaware that other types of winds, such as microbursts and straight-line winds, can reach very high velocities and cause as much damage as a tornado.
Yard furniture, toys, or debris hurtling through the air at up to fifty miles an hour can break windows and glass sliding doors, pierce siding, mangle gutters, and collapse unreinforced garage doors. This damage can cause a massive water intrusion, especially if the storm is accompanied by torrential rain. The water damage disaster can be devastating.
These wind-driven projectiles can also damage vehicles, inflict personal injury to humans and pets, and damage outside equipment such as the HVAC unit, satellite dish, spa, or boat. Should any of these missiles of mayhem dent the neighbor’s new vehicle or crash through their large bay window overlooking the backyard, the owner of the offending projectile may be held liable for any damages or injury.
Prevention strategy:
If severe weather has been forecast or is on the horizon, take immediate proactive steps to relocate items such as patio furniture, plant pots, bicycles, grills, garbage cans, and children’s toys into a garage or storage building. The garage door needs to be a modern, reinforced version able to withstand high winds and impacts from windblown objects.
Consider wind-proofing vulnerable yard fixtures with discreet ground anchors. The items may blow over, but they will not take flight causing property damage and personal injury. In the event of severe weather, the need to rush around relocating items to the garage or a securely anchored building will be reduced. A task that would have required many hands and much time could be reduced to only a few items and a few minutes.
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Keep vehicles in the garage.
The initial cleanup to make room for one or more vehicles might take several hours and a few trips to the waste disposal station, but it could prove well worth the effort. In the garage, vehicles are protected from hail damage, dents and scratches from wind-driven debris, and a broken windshield from falling branches. Sealed behind a reinforced garage door, vehicles are safe. Reinforced garage doors are also known as:
- Hurricane-rated
- Impact-resistant
- Wind-resistant
- Reinforced impact-rated garage doors
These steel-reinforced doors are designed to withstand winds up to 200 miles per hour, which is stronger than a Category 5 hurricane. On the other hand, a standard garage door may fold and crumple under the force of a 20 mile an hour wind.
Prevention strategy:
Park vehicles in the vehicle-ready garage and lower the door before the wind and hail arrive.
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Close the garage door and all interior doors.
An open or broken window and an open door allow the structure to fill with air, causing a dangerous increase (as much as 30%) in the forces pushing upward on the roof.
Prevention strategy:
Compartmentalize the home by closing all the windows and doors.
Why pre-qualify a property damage restoration company?
In the event of widespread severe weather in Carrollton, TX, the demand for water damage and storm damage restoration will be very high. Avoid the mistake of trying to find and choose a reputable company during or after the disaster. Make one call now to pre-qualify the Carrollton SERVPRO team. When disaster strikes, make one call to secure the services of a trusted and proven property damage restoration company, SERVPRO of Carrollton, TX.
For more information about Carrollton, TX, storm damage restoration services, contact SERVPRO of Carrollton by phone at (972) 446-0383 or by email at office@servpro10952.com.
