Natural disasters are always something that everyone gets afraid of. Not only can they prove to be dangerous for you, but they also damage your home as well. Floods are a type of natural disaster that is quite common especially in the rainy seasons.

Heavy rains and storms can cause rivers or canals near your home to flood which can then reach your home. If the amount of water is not much, you can try to save your house by trying to push off the water from entering the house premises.

However, in the case of a proper flood, you will have no other option but for the water to subside and then eventually recover from the damage it caused.

When considering the repairs and recovery from flood, there are various aspects you have to take care of. Read along further to find out about how you can assess and recover from the flood damage.

Take Care Of Safety Measures

After a flood has passed, it is most important to consider safety first. You have to be sure that there is no danger to you by going back inside your home. Also, the idea of any kind of short circuit should completely be ruled out before you enter inside the home to assess the damage.

Once that aspect is covered, turn off the power of the house before going inside to prevent any kind of electrocution. The next step is to assess the damage by checking exactly where the water has entered and which things had been submerged underwater.

Electrical Appliances

If any of the electrical appliances were submerged in the water, they should be plugged out of the sockets and immediately be removed outside. They should be left in the sun to dry as much as possible.

In fact, the electrical appliances should be taken out as early as possible to improve their chances of not getting damaged. They should then be checked by technicians and professionals to see if they are able to function or need to be repaired.

Carpets And Furniture

Carpets need to be removed and cleaned thoroughly. For the process, you can either clean and wash them yourself or you can hire professionals to do this task for you. If a lot of time has not passed, then there is a very good chance that the carpets would not have damaged because of the flood water.

Thoroughly washing them with soap and disinfectant and then drying them in direct sunlight can help in restoring them. It is very important that you use a disinfectant to make sure that all the germs and bacteria that might have grown because of the flood water are killed. Using a carpet deodorizer can further help in introducing a pleasant smell to the carpet.

Basement

Probably the highest magnitude of damage is observed in the basement of the house because it accumulates the greatest amount of water. And it also requires more effort to remove the water from the basement and dry it.

The first step is to remove all the water either through pipes connected with a motor or using mops and sponges to take out as much water as you can. Once all the excess water has been removed, you will have to ensure good air circulation to completely dry the basement.

Since sunlight is not able to reach basements, it can be very difficult to completely dry the basement on your own. If not for the complete house, flood restoration services should be called for the basement to ensure a complete recovery from the flood damage.

Take Care of Leakages

A flood damages various structures of the house. It can even cause the walls, ceiling, and drainage pipes to start leaking. Any kind of leakage has to be taken care of otherwise it will contribute towards more humidity and moisture inside the house.

This will lead to further growth of mold and mildew near the leakage sites. All kinds of leakages should be checked and repaired before sanitizing and deodorizing of your home. If the mold problem is serious and is taking roots in small cracks, you can consider getting mold removal experts to eradicate the problem for you.

Mold

One of the worst nightmares for everyone after a flood is the growth of mold at various places. Apparently, your house may have dried after your efforts of recovery, there could still be moist and humid corners and grooves at various places.

These places serve as a perfect ground for different kinds of mold to grow. The mold that becomes visible becomes easy to clean and prevents further growth. However, mold growing underneath the structures and inside the walls of the house will not be apparently visible. But they can disastrously damage the structure and integrity of your home or furniture.

It can also lead to various health conditions such as breathing problems, skin allergies, pneumonia, asthma, skin and eye infections, hair loss, and others. You will have to do all the steps of mold removal including taking actions to prevent it from coming back.

This largely depends on ensuring good ventilation in the house to enable good airflow. Turbo dryers and dehumidifiers could be used to ensure that all the moisture is dried.

Check For Structural Damage

Floods not only damage the stuff that you have inside your home but also damage the structure of your house including the wooden floors and walls. The walls and floors may need to be repaired after the drying and dehumidifying process completes.

Disinfectants are also used during the repair process to ensure that all bacteria is killed and that it does not pose any danger in the future. Disinfection or decontamination services can be engaged by a professional too If you need more help, as part of our team’s expertise.

Sanitizing and Disinfecting

This process involves using disinfectants and antimicrobial treatment options in the complete house so that no corner is left un-sanitized. All kinds of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and germs are killed in the process so it doesn’t pose any danger to your health once you start living in the house again.

You can use homemade sanitization remedies or use the various kinds of products available in the market. Bleach serves as a good disinfectant after flood damage. Consequently, you can even call a professional service to do the sanitization of your home for you.

Deodorization

All the flood water will likely cause an unpleasant odor or smell in the house even after everything is dried and back to its original state. All the furnishings, carpets, and clothes, etc should be washed with disinfectant water and baking soda and left out to dry in direct sunlight to remove the maximum amount of odor. This is usually provided within the flood damage restoration service.

However, the inside of the house including the walls and floors will still smell quite bad. You can use various homemade deodorizers or the ones available in the market to curb that smell a bit but they will not be enough to kill the smell completely. For that purpose, you will have to deploy air scrubbers and fogging to ward off the unpleasant smell and replace it with a good scent of your choice.

The above-mentioned steps are some of the ways you can restore the damages caused by floods. Obviously, it is not an easy task.

It can take a lot of your time, energy, and effort before your house is restored to your pre-flood condition. But these are the most important things which you should immediately do after the flood to ensure that the flood damage doesn’t cause any negative effect on your health and wellbeing.