How to Prevent and Repair Storm Damage to Your Home

Storm damage can happen to any exterior part of your home. It can be caused by hail, strong winds, and falling debris from trees. Here are a few things to keep in mind. These storms can also be caused by tornadoes and ice storms. Luckily, there are ways to prevent storm damage and repair any damage.

Impact damage

The harsh weather conditions caused by storms can cause tremendous damage to your home. Every year, around 35 million homes are affected by inclement weather. The effects can affect the interior and exterior parts of your property. Heavy rains can wash away your siding and floor coverings, while hailstorms can cause ice and other damage. Strong winds can also cause damage to your roof. Additionally, falling objects can cause significant damage.

In addition to property damage, hurricanes can damage electrical lines and cause power outages. Power outages will last for weeks, while transformers may be destroyed and water will become scarce. Trees in hurricane-prone areas will be uprooted and suffer significant damage.

Hail damage

Hail damage is an expensive result of severe weather. It can cause damage to your roof and other parts of your house. While it can be difficult to detect, there are a few things you can look for to determine if your roof is affected. To determine the extent of the damage, it may be helpful to hire a professional inspector to inspect your roof for hail damage. You should also check your gutters to determine if they have become clogged with shingle granules or crushed stones. Hail damage can also affect other parts of your home, such as siding and electric panels.

After hail has caused significant damage to your home, you should hire an insurance adjuster to inspect it. The adjuster will determine the level of damage and give a dollar amount that you should expect to be paid. Once the adjuster completes their inspection, they will publish a report to your insurance company. If your insurance company refuses to pay for the damage, you can ask an attorney to review your claim.

Ice storms

Ice storms can cause massive damage to structures and power lines. The heavy weight of ice can cause tree branches to break and block roads. The ice can also break utility poles and tear down steel-framed pylons. Power outages can occur for days or weeks. While most damage is localized, major urban areas can suffer significant damages.

Ice storms have been the culprit for countless power outages, resulting in widespread property damage. A one-inch ice deposit on power lines can weigh up to 500 pounds. When combined with strong winds, these heavy ice deposits can topple trees and snap utility poles. In the United States, an ice storm in January 1998 caused widespread power outages and over $3 billion in property damage.

Tornadoes

Tornadoes are a common cause of storm damage and can cause extensive damage to homes and property. These tornadoes can generate wind speeds that exceed 300 mph and can knock houses off their foundations. They can also turn cars and trees into deadly missiles. Unlike other wind types, tornadoes have high, sporadic winds that are destructive.

Tornadoes are triggered by three key ingredients: warm, moist air near the ground, cool, dry air higher in the atmosphere, and wind shear. These elements work together to create tornadoes, and climate change can affect all of them.

Flooding

Storms and flooding can cause a large amount of damage to homes and other property. Flood waters can be as high as six feet in some locations. The floodwaters also can be dangerous because they can carry toxic chemicals. If you live near a river, you may be particularly susceptible to flooding. Although levees are often built along rivers to prevent flooding, they may fail in some cases. This has led to massive flooding in areas like New Orleans.

The Weather Service has also warned that flooding could be life-threatening in urban areas, particularly near small streams. Luckily, in New Bedford, the floodwaters remained relatively contained. Although the city was hit with floodwaters in a number of places, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is monitoring the situation and in touch with local officials.