How to Avoid the Storm of Home Flooding

A person’s home is their safe haven; the one location to seek refuge, relax, play and make memories. In it we store our belongings, from everyday to our most cherished possessions. It’s also the location of our loves – those persons we hold dear.

We work so hard to make our house a home with renovations, those big to small upgrades in order to make it ours. Right now, we’re busy beautifying with the new season, maintaining and upgrading our inside and outside home space is currently on everyone’s minds. Yet it’s also true that we wildly protect that in which we love, and the home is included in that protection.

A small dog in a garden

While I might hesitate on getting a store protection plan with a purchase, I don’t think twice when it comes to home insurance. I love my home and everything within it. I work hard and take steps to ensure it and everything in it is just right, so it’s obvious that I take easy precautions to ensure that everything is insured and protected. While I (knock on wood) haven’t firsthand experienced home flooding, I do know a few that have – and also know the resulting chaos.

Along with the season though, comes those summer storms. What steps are you taking to ensure that your efforts, lifestyle and sanctuary aren’t literally washed away? Insurance Bureau Canada offers steps that can be taken both inside and outside of the home, to help prevent flood damage.

A sign sitting on the grass

 

How to Avoid the Storm of Home Flooding

 

  1. Make sure you do a current and detailed home inventory. This includes photos, videos, receipts and lists.
  2. Store valuables either upstairs or at least off the floor if you can.
  3. Install a sump pump with back-up battery power if you don’t already have one. Do you have a backwater valve as well? Some municipalities offer subsidies to offset the cost of installation, so getting one might be of little to no cost to you – but save you big time if someday required.
  4. How are your hot water tanks? I recently had mine both inspected and replaced with upgrades! Check with a local company if you are unsure about the age/quality of yours.
  5. If your neighbourhood is prone to flooding, take precautions throughout your house and property such as proper lot draining to ensure drainage is away from the home.
  6. Ensure drain-spouts and eavesdrops are in good working order and free of debris.
  7. Check if you are able to get ‘overland flood coverage’ in your home insurance package. Relatively new and not offered from all, you might qualify if you don’t reside in a known flood plain. Also check if you are insured for water damage due to back-up, as well as hail and wind storm damage. Perhaps the best tip of all, is to go over your home insurance coverage once per year, make it part of that spring cleaning for summer reassurance!

 

ENTER TO WIN!

To help Canadians better understand the impact of flood and get advice on protecting home and property from flood damage, the Insurance Bureau of Canada created an online quiz.

Test your knowledge for a chance to win great instant prizes and if you get a perfect score, you will also be entered to win a $5,000 home shopping spree.

Tammi Roy et al. sitting and looking at the camera

I took the quiz and was surprised to learn that flood damage for Canadians is on the rise in frequency and severity. It’s scary that this will affect more and more, changing many stories from ‘I know someone who‘ to ‘it happened to me‘. It goes to show that prevention needs more attention, because there really are easy steps to significantly decrease the chances of damage.

Truth is, in today’s world of extreme weather events, $1 billion has become the new normal for yearly catastrophic losses. Most of this is due to water-related damage. Home is where the heart is, so don’t let it simply be washed away without a fighting chance. Take the above steps to help protect your home and property from flooding.

A little girl that is sitting on the ground

 

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. As always, all opinions are my own.

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One Comment

  1. The news has definitely got me thinking about steps to take to take care of my family.

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