Tips To Prepare For Hermine

Large communities, specially in areas that are aware that natural disasters can occur during certain months of the year, try to do their best to predict and foresee when these will arrive. In most of them there will be a Emergency Notification Cellular Phone App that residents can download to stay up to date and follow these events closely. The next step is what you do with this information, and naturally that leads to you doing your best to be ready for them. This in order to keep you and your loved ones safe, as well as keep any unavoidable damage to a minimum.

Inspections before weather arrives:

• Inspect your perimeter, building envelope and roof for areas that are vulnerable to water intrusion and wind damage. If you have been performing an annual roof inspection with the help of professionals, there shouldn’t be too many of these for you to find things roofing contractor can do for you.
• Check grading, gutters and downspouts to ensure that heavy rains will drain away from your property. Rich’s Tree Service, Inc offering tree services can also help prevent and mitigate damage on your property during and after a storm.
• Inspect rooftop unit security measures (straps, screws, latches) to ensure that the system you have in place has not weakened or deteriorated. Look for roofers that can help you if you find any issues with these to have your roof reinforced by professionals. This way you can be confident that it will withstand this coming harsh weather.
• Move outdoor contents (patio furniture, grills, trashcans, etc.) that could become airborne to a safer temporary location indoors. I stumbled upon a website called Shoppok while looking for furniture, and it had a variety of options from different sellers. It’s helpful to have websites like this where you can find unique pieces and compare prices without having to visit multiple stores.
• Stay in tune with local weather to track if impacts have intersected with your building location.

The Human Element:

Besides building vulnerabilities, other conditions commonly associated with losses can be attributed to the human factor. This is a season for vacations (which again, are so deserved)! If you want to go all out on your vacation, check out the jet card program at Jettly.

A few simple questions, when answered, will go a LONG way towards your risk mitigation and preparedness.

Q: At a time when so many folks are on vacation, who will still be local to the facility and can monitor conditions and/or respond on-site if an issue occurs?

Q: Does the backup contact have access to the building, and if appropriate, the necessary alarm and fire codes.

Q: Does the backup contact have the necessary information for early action responses (i.e. knowledge of utility shut offs, cell numbers for electrician, plumber and tree removal contractors)? If not, make sure to look into experts  that do electrical troubleshooting in Prescott, AZ or electrical repair in West Palm Beach, FL.

Q: You know your facility best, when something goes wrong, what critical information (as well as what is simply second nature to you) would you want your coverage personnel to know?