Have you ever experienced flooding in your town? If No, then you must know how to deal with the situation after flooding.
When the water level exceeds the normal in rivers canals, then water comes up on dry land. Heavy rain for many days may lead to a flood. When there is so much water over land, the ground will be not able to absorb it. This leads to an accumulation of water all over which starts entering houses resulting in floods.
Flood is the condition termed as natural emergency or natural disasters. Its after-effects may be very much alarming. It left many people completely homeless. Some people have seen their houses collapsing in the floodwater. When floodwater leaves a town, it takes away everything they have assembled at home. Or rather it disturbs the normal integrity of the house.
The most difficult situation people face after the flooding is, how to restore their houses? How to get back their houses in their previous form and shape?
Following are the dos and don’t you must consider while restoring:
The Dos:
Following are some important steps you must do while restoring house from flooding:
- The first thing you must do is clear the standing water. Standing water can be removed using a wiper. Water increases the chances of injury as someone may fall by slipping.
- Secondly, you must completely open the house. Open all the main doors, windows, so maximum air passes. This helps in the quick drying of the house due to air.
- Remove the valuable items from the house as soon as possible, and put them outside. Let them dry in the open air. These valuable items include decoration pieces, wall hangings, and valuable clothes. Most importantly first recover your important documents.
Some of the must-do steps in such emergencies are explained below:
Insurance company
If your house is insured, the first step you must take is to call the insurance company. Insurance agents will soon pay a visit to your property. They will give you an estimate for the restoration of the house that the company will pay.
Insurance can be best used in such natural disasters. The company is bound to pay every penny spent on repairing the house. Insurance companies will demand evidence of the damage. You must have appropriate evidence of insurance documents and also of the damage done.
Private Cleaning Company
Generally, it is difficult to clean the house by yourself. This is because, as the restoration team from CottonGDS.com pointed out, you may lack the necessary equipment, techniques specifically for cleaning purposes after the flood. So you are required to hire a company for this purpose. They can be a good option for restoring houses after flooding. Such companies provide the best-trained staff equipped with modern equipment and techniques.
The Don’ts:
- Never turn the ceiling fan for drying the interior of the house. As the wirings may be wet, there is a chance of a short circuit.
- Never leave anything such as furniture inside the house for self-drying. As furniture may dry early, but it again absorbs moisture from underneath the wet carpet. Carpets have absorbed a lot of water and will not dry easily.
- Re-decoration must not be done in a semi-wet house. Wait for complete drying of the house and must do necessary repairs first. If you did re-decoration in a semi-wet house, then may leave various spots on the walls and elsewhere.
Some of the don’ts are explained in detail below:
Don’t Turn On Electricity
You are required to turn off the main power supply of the house immediately. Due to water seepage in walls, electrical wiring may become wet. So turning an electric appliance may result in serious disaster due to short-circuiting. This may result in fire, burning down the whole house completely.
Water is a good conductor of electricity. If electricity is not turned off then it may conduct the electric current everywhere in the house. If you find that electrical wiring is wet, just immediately contact the electrical contractor. Never take risk of yourself repairing the wet electricity wiring.
Don’t Use Low-Quality Cleaning Product
Flood water inside your house is not clean at all. Sewerage water may mix in rainy water before entering the house. So there are high chances of contamination. You must not use some local disinfectant for cleaning the house after removing water.
A strong disinfectant is needed for killing the germs from the house. Also if the low-quality disinfectant is used, chances of infection and contamination persist. This may cause serious health issues for the residents.
Restoring the house after a disaster such as a flood is a difficult task, but it’s not an impossible task. You must be very much careful and efficient in restoring the house.