How Fall Storms Can Affect Your Home Or Business

Along with crisp, clear weather and chilly temperatures, fall in Middle Tennessee often brings storms with serious wind, precipitation, and damage. With or without the proper preventive measures, fall storms can bring water, storm, or even fire damage to your home or business, and it’s in your best interest to prepare for the worst so that you know what to do if unexpected damage occurs.

Flooding

An influx of rain is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a storm, and flooding is often what causes serious water or storm damage when the rain gets too heavy and your home or business isn’t equipped to handle it. Especially if your gutters or downspouts are backed up or you live in a flood zone, even a little bit of heavy rain may cause water to start to accumulate under your roof or in your basement. As water seeps into your home or business, it can cause serious damage to your belongings, the building’s structural integrity, and also increase the risk of mold growth down the road. 

To minimize flooding’s impact on your home, regularly test your sump pump to ensure it can remove water at a rapid pace during rain, keep your gutters and downspouts clear of debris so water can run away from your home, and make sure to seal your windows, doors, and foundation properly to prevent water from coming in.

Fire

Although fire may not come to mind when you think of storm damage, fires may occur in your home or business as a result of a storm’s winds or lightning. It’s incredibly easy for a gust of wind to blow outdoor fires out of control when a storm unexpectedly hits, and trees and power lines struck by lightning may cause nearby buildings to catch fire even amidst heavy rain. 

Dealing with fire during a storm can be tricky, but it’s not impossible. Prevent fire damage during storms by keeping an eye on the weather report and the sky whenever you are having a fire outside your home or business. Trim your nearby trees and tall plants to reduce their chances of being hit by lightning or falling onto your home. It’s also important to keep a bucket of water or a fire extinguisher close to any fires you have outdoors for leisure or to burn debris from around your home.

Wind

Storms aren’t often called storms when they lack wind. (Those are normally called rain showers.) It’s safe to assume that strong, gusty winds will most likely accompany storms, and this can cause objects in your yard as well as trees and tree limbs to break and fly through the air, hitting your home, your business, or other structures. This is especially true if you have dead trees or dead tree limbs nearby your home or your business that are dead weight and easily move with a gust of strong wind.

Prevent wind from fall storms from wreaking too much damage on your home by trimming your trees and removing dead ones regularly as well as fastening any bulky objects that stay outside down when predicted storms’ winds are fast and furious. Reducing the number of things that can fly through the air and hit your home or your business as a result of being picked up by a gusty wind will help you prevent damage to your home.

For restoration or repair assistance following storm damage of any kind, give SERVPRO of Belle Meade/West Nashville a call at (615) 232-9391. We provide emergency assistance 24/7, and our fire, water, storm, and mold damage restoration technicians are happy to help you get things back to working order in as little time as possible.