Weather-related damages are much more common than you may have thought. As a matter of fact, weather-related damages impact millions of people every year, whether those damages are very extreme or relatively small. Regardless of where you live or what weather problems you might experience in your own home, it’s always important to make sure you’re ready for those weather problems. Here’s what you need to know about common weather damage problems in homes across America.
Mother Nature vs. Your Home Created By: Foundation Recovery Systems
The Five Most Common Weather-Related Damage Types
What are the most common reasons for home damage from the weather? These five elements of weather are responsible for the most damage overall.
- Drought
You might not think of drought as being a particularly severe weather problem, but it’s absolutely a concern you should take seriously. When you’re getting less water than usual, there are a number of things that can happen. Brush in the forests can start to dry out more than usual, creating a n area that’s ripe for forest fires. Additionally, if the soil around your home starts to dry out, you might end up with serious foundation problems as the soil stops supporting your home’s foundation.
- Lightning
During thunderstorms, you might experience lightning around your home. Many homes never experience lightning problems, but the homes that do can end up with pretty severe damage. This includes electrical problems, as lightning is a bolt of electricity, as well as fire, especially if the thunderstorm is occurring over an area that’s been very dry recently.
- Water
This is probably one of the things you immediately think of when you think about problems with weather-related damage. Whenever you have a storm, you’re going to have a lot of water that falls in your area. That may lead to flooding, whether aboveground or underground. Flood damage can seriously harm your home both on the outside and the inside, especially if you don’t have proper waterproofing measures in place.
- High Winds
Of all the weather-related problems you might experience, high winds are potentially one of the most damaging. When high winds start to attack your home, you may end up with all sorts of problems ranging from issues with the outside of your home to foundation concerns as the wind attempts to pull the home from the ground. That’s one reason wind damage made up 24% of homeowner’s insurance claims from 2006-2016.
- Hail
Even though most hail is very small pieces of ice, it can still pack a tremendous punch. When you have hail problems in your home, you’re typically looking at issues with roof and window damage because hail can fall very quickly. Plus, in some circumstances, hail can actually become very large, resulting in hail pieces the size of golf balls or even larger.
Protecting Your Home From Extreme Weather
What can you do, then, to protect your home from these weather problems? The good news is that there are actually a lot of things you can do to lessen your chances of serious complications from weather events. Look into these protective opportunities:
- Sump Pump
- Windproofing
- Hurricane Shutters
- Fire-Resistant Planting
- Flood Prevention
- Home Maintenance
- Winterproofing
- HVAC System Servicing
- Smoke Detector Testing and Maintenance
- Foundation Inspections
All 10 of these things are extremely important when you’re trying to keep your home as safe as possible. It’s crucial that you invest significantly into your home if you want to make sure it stays safe when a serious weather event occurs.
Conclusion
Weather-related damage is definitely common, but that doesn’t mean it’s unavoidable. The best way to make sure you never have weather-related damage is to make sure your home is safe and secure first and foremost. That’s why it’s always a good idea to talk to a home repair expert every year, especially if you live in an area prone to weather events, to make sure your home stays safe.