Having homeowners insurance for your home or apartment does not mean you will be covered against floods or water damage in your home. If you live in an area with high risk of flooding ex. Close to a river or lake, and you want to protect your home, you need to call an insurance agent to get coverage against floods and water damage. According to research, the average flood loss is $38,000 and a quarter of all flood losses happen in low to moderate risk zone. Flood insurance is affordable and can save you headaches and give you the protection your family deserves.
Follow the links below for more information about how to protect your home against floods.
How to protect your home against flooding
You can make permanent changes to your home to reduce future flood damage. Making these alterations can significantly reduce the time and cost of recovering from flooding. Find out what kinds of changes you can make and where to get professional advice.
Making changes to your home
Before undertaking any work, make sure that you talk to your insurer to find out what work can be paid for under your policy. Your insurer will usually pay for ‘like-for-like’ amendments – restoring your home to a similar state to before the flood. You are likely to have to pay for any work beyond like-for-like amendments yourself. The cost of making your home better able to deal with flooding is likely to be a lot less than the cost of clearing up after flooding.
Alterations you may want to consider are:
- laying ceramic tiles on the ground floor
- using rugs instead of fitted carpets
- raising the height of electrical sockets to at least 1.5 metres above ground floor level
- using lime plaster instead of gypsum plaster on walls
Ideas on guarding your house against floods
In past weeks, we have discussed our valley’s potential for earthquakes and landslides and options to remediate our homes in preparation for a disaster. This week we will consider another issue, namely flooding.
Even though we live in a desert, there is still a flood potential in our area. Certain areas, known as flood plains, are at greater risk for such problems. These are defined as areas near a river or stream that floods when water levels reach flood stage. However, in our deserts, even dry washes become sources for flooding when monsoon rains arrive.
The residents of St. George and the surrounding cities understand this reality all too well. Recently, torrential rains have pelted the area, causing massive flooding, closing Zion National Park and Interstate 15 to Las Vegas.
While flooding is more common in southern Utah, a historic flood hit northern Utah in 1983. That excessively wet spring caused existing rivers to crest and overflow. The storm drainage system was equally overwhelmed and could not handle the canyon drainage. City Creek overran the pipes that had moved it below ground and turned State Street in Salt Lake City into a river.
