Homeowners should find ways of protecting their homes from damage. Being the most expensive financial investment, protecting your home starts with having homeowners’ insurance from a reliable insurance provider. A homeowners insurance safeguards your housing structures from various perils. Unfortunately, most homeowners forget that homeowners’ insurance policies don’t cover flood damage.

As such, you should have a flood insurance policy to protect you from the cost of repairs or renovations should your house experience flood damage. Taking a flood insurance policy is the first step to protecting your property from floods. Other measures include;

1. Evaluate the flooding risk of your home

Apart from taking a flood insurance policy, you should assess the likelihood of experiencing floods in your locality. Use the long term flood risk map to identify your area’s level of exposure to floods. You should then work with an insurance agent or adjuster to evaluate your property’s flood level. This represents the height that flood water levels can rise during floods. Your house should be above this level to be safe from floods.

1. Preparing your home to resist flooding

Having assessed the impending flooding risks on your property, the next step is ensuring that you flood proof your house. Depending on the risk level, floodproofing might involve basic maintenance practices or completely renovating your home. These measures include;

• Evaluate the drainage – yourhome’s grade should slope away from the foundation. Therefore, anytime it rains, confirm that water doesn’t pool around but instead drains away from your foundation. You can also install backwater valves to prevent backwash.
• Dry-proof your home – you won’t have much post-flood damage if flood water can’t get into your property. Dry-proofing involves sealing up the entire house to prevent the entrance of floodwater. This includes installing flood shields, raising door thresholds, and improving the sealing of your doors and windows.
• Install sump pumps and foundation vents – you should install a sump pump in the basement to pump water out of the foundation. On the other hand, foundation vents allow water to flow through your house instead of pooling around the foundation.

Other ways of flood proofing your home include applying coatings and sealants, pointing downspouts away from the house, elevating utilities and electrical appliances, and waterproofing other valuables.

Conclusion

Note that floods and other natural disasters, such as hurricanes, aren’t the only cause of flood damage. Broken main water lines, leaky pipes, and malfunctioning appliances can also cause flood damage. Therefore, apart from the measures highlighted above, you should repair leaks immediately, clean gutters regularly, mind trees, and have a flood damage contractor who can provide immediate restoration.