A severe storm can change everything in the blink of an eye. It doesn’t always have to be a tornado or hurricane to cause destruction on your home or office, and poor restoration can leave you with an unhealthy home for your family. As challenging as recovery can be, you can take comfort in the fact that many have gone through similar experiences. This makes finding the direction you need a little easier. If you know what to expect and learn all you can before a storm hits, you’ll be more prepared to restore things to normal as quickly as possible.

Stay Safe

Before inspecting the damage to your home keep safety in mind:

• Watch out for hazards such as broken glass and exposed nails.
• Always assume that downed power lines are energized and dangerous. Stay at least 10 feet away and alert the police and utility company.
• When inspecting your home at night, use a flashlight instead of a candle (or anything with an open flame). This will alleviate the risk of a fire or explosion from a damaged gas line.

If you do smell gas—or suspect a leak—shut off the main gas line, open the windows, and immediately go outside. Notify the gas company and the proper authorities of the situation and don’t return until they’ve deemed your home to be safe.

Review and Assess the Damage

Your roof is the most susceptible to costly damage. If a tree limb or other heavy debris fell on your roof during a storm, your home might have structural damage, so be cautious. Common signs of roof damage are:

• Holes in the roof
• Split seams
• Missing shingles
• Bruises or dented asphalt shingles
• Cracked or broken tile, slate, or concrete shingles
• Granules collecting in gutters or downspouts
• Leaks in your roof or ceiling
• Dents on vents, gutters, or flashing

Windows and doors are vulnerable to wind damage and flying debris. Inspect your windows for cracks, holes, broken panes and damaged frames. Watch out for shards of glass, and be sure to board up broken windows until they can be fixed.

Look for damage to siding, paint, bricks and other exterior surfaces of your home. Also check outdoor appliances, like air conditioning units. You’re looking for dings, dents, cracks, splitting, holes, breaks chipping and discoloration.

As safely as you can, secure yourself and remove debris from roof, gutters and make sure downspouts are intact to continue to divert water away from your property.

If there was extended power outages and you have a sump pump, you may have standing water in your basement.

• Do not step in standing water without first making sure power is turned off to avoid risk of electrocution
• Re-engage sump pump to discharge water from the area or call a plumber if the pump is damaged.

Avoid Additional Damage

You may need a board-up service to secure your property so don’t wait. SERVPRO of Milton/Braintree can be there day or night for emergency service.

Contact Your Insurance Provider

Your insurance provider will instruct you on the next steps to take in making a claim and provide you with a claim number and a list of local emergency service providers, like the experts at SERVPRO of Milton/Braintree that will help you restore your home as quickly as possible.

Choose the Right Contractor

It’s important to hire a professional and trustworthy contractor to help you recover your home and restore your lives. Poor or incomplete restoration will leave you with an unhealthy home for your family. Any time there is water damage involved, mold can begin growing immediately as well. It’s critical to address and remedy this as soon as possible to avoid additional damage and health risk. At SERVPRO of Milton/Braintree we have seen it all when it comes to Storm Damage. Whatever your situation is, we will start the process of restoring your lives by giving you a free quote and time estimate on the storm damage repairs required.