Your Home in a Disaster-prone Area? Why It’s Possible

Your home is a haven for you and your loved ones to go home to at the end of the day. It is also the place where you create precious memories, but all of that can disappear because of a natural disaster.

Hurricanes, tornadoes, and flash floods affect millions of people worldwide every year, and they also leave a substantial expense for governments, residents, and businesses. In 2020 alone, the United States incurred $95 billion in overall losses due to natural disasters.

Based on this data, it was found out that residential homes make up a large percentage of these total damages. Because of this, you must take the necessary precautions in protecting your home and your family.

Survey Your Home for the Riskiest Areas and Remedy Them

One of the best ways to prepare your home for an impending disaster is to identify the areas that you feel will be most at risk. For example, there will always be heavy rains, flooding, and high winds in the event of a hurricane. Expertise recommends that you have a professional assess your home’s foundation and identify areas that they feel will be at risk when the hurricane will strike. It will work to your advantage when you nip things in the bud.

Keep A Strong Foundation

In order to make sure your house will survive the effects of an earthquake, you have to make sure that you have a secure foundation. The best way to do this is to hire a professional and have them bolt down your house to its foundation. Anchor bolts are known to be strong enough to withstand the strength of an earthquake.

Build A Safe Room In Your Home

Tornadoes are one of nature’s most violent storms that are brought about by powerful thunderstorms. The aftermath of the damages is nothing short of devastating and tragic. While you cannot exactly build a home that is 100 percent tornado-proof, you can build your home that will endure the damages of a tornado more safely.

According to data gathered from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Texas was the state that had the highest average annual number of tornadoes. With the data gathered between 1991-2010, it was found out that Texas had per year. Added to that, Midwestern states such as Kansas and Arkansas saw higher averages in tornadoes than their neighbors.

To keep your home safe in the event of a tornado, it is advised that you build a safe room in your house where you and your family will take refuge. Talk to your contractors about what steps to take in securing this room in your house. Be sure to have your emergency kit, rations of food and clean water, plus important documents neatly stored away in this safe room.

Get A Homeowner’s Insurance

As a responsible homeowner, you have to make sure that your home is properly insured in the event that your home would suffer from damages or losses. Typically, acts of God or acts of war are excluded from standard home insurance. When you live in an area prone to flooding, you will have to get special coverage on your insurance plan.

If you are of a certain age and want to consider a change in lifestyle, you could ask your agent to sell your home and find a better mortgage deal, such as a reverse mortgage loan, that could be more feasible for you.

Draw Out An Emergency Plan

To ensure that you are prepared for these disasters, draw out an emergency plan. This plan would include emergency numbers, supplies for the entire family, and the steps that you need to take in case disaster strikes.

Try to Make Limit Risk Factors In Your Area

If you find that you are in the middle of an area that is prone to natural disaster such as wildfires, try to install systems that would prevent or at least give you the best chances of survival in case it does occur. This means that you have to clear your area of any wild vegetation or trees. You will also have to get rid of dead leaves and invest in a sprinkler system that would keep your lawn moist. When you do these little things, you will make your house less likely to suffer great damages from a disaster.

Recovering from a natural disaster is never easy, and most often, you have to start from scratch. Fortunately, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will help you in the event that you are recovering from the damages of a natural disaster. Your home is your castle, and as long as the castle is well protected, you can be sure to spend many happy memories there.