Did you know that the hazard increases in the aftermath of a natural disaster?
Whether it’s a tornado, earthquake, or hurricane, recovery work must not put you at risk. In 2015, the United States Labor Department cautioned the North Carolina locals to be alert and know the hazards during storm clean-up. Fortunately, these may be minimized with knowledge, protective equipment, and safe work practices.
Cleaning Up After a Disaster
It’s always best to leave post-disaster efforts to the professionals because they are highly trained with proper equipment and experience. However, there are actions you can carry out to prevent further damage to your home.
Use Appropriate Clothing and Gear
Before even beginning to clean up, make sure to wear proper clothing and gear. You might deal with a wide variety of threats: contaminated water, animals and pests, sagging ceiling, and splintered woods.
At a minimum, you should prepare the following:
- Long sleeve shirts
- Long pants
- Sturdy boots or shoes, but not flip flops or tennis shoes
- Gloves
- Disposable masks
- Hard hats
- Eye protection
Prepare Basic Cleaning Supplies
Depending on the damage in your home, here’s a list of essentials to help you start your clean up:
- Detergent
- Sponges
- Bleach
- Shop-vac or canister vacuum cleaners
- Rubber gloves
- Buckets
- Mops and brooms
- Carpet knife
- Shovels and rakes
- Durable trash bags
Evaluate House Safety
After the weather has subsided, approach your home with caution. Inspect the foundations for damage or cracks. If in doubt, contact a building inspector or disaster repair experts right away. Also, ensure that there are no gas leaks, down wires, and damaged pipes.
Keep Excellent Records
Document the severity of damage to your house for future claims from your insurance coverage through taking pictures and videos. In addition, keep invoices of clean-up expenses, labor, materials, equipment rentals, and motel bills.
Clean-up
Before the clean-up, disinfect everything that has come in contact with floodwaters with safe and authorized disinfectants. Consider the following tips for safer and faster clean up:
- Turn off all power switches.
- Unplug appliances.
- Dry off flooded appliances.
- Scrub your entire home, including your appliances and everything that was exposed to elements or floodwater.
- Remove carpets and rugs and discard carpet padding. Before removing your carpet, scrub it with a soap solution since it’s difficult to clean it when it’s removed.
- It’s more practical to take curtains and draperies to a dry cleaner for professional cleaning.
- Let your basement dry and clean out debris. In case of floods, wait for the floodwater to recede before entering. If you think the problem is severe, call your water damage professionals right away. Learn more about flooding and its impacts on your home to help you assess a situation like this.
- Open all your windows to allow drying and ventilation. You may use electric fans to speed up the drying process.
Seek Financial Assistance
In addition to your insurance coverage, there are other sources of financial assistance to help you with your clean-up and recovery:
- Voluntary organizations
- Businesses
- Government disaster programs
On the Whole
Identify, assess, and control risks systematically to eliminate or lower risks. Leave demolition, major flood cleanup, or repairs to the professionals who have the experience and specialized equipment. Be aware of unlicensed repair work contractors, and make sure to check licenses and insurance.
On top of these, call references of any contractor you work with and always ask about hidden charges.