Help my home is flooded!

Basements and lower floors of your home are prone to flooding in the event of a violent storm. This is because water always travels from high to low ground and even if you don’t live in an area prone to floods, there is no guarantee that your home might not be caught in a flash flood triggered by a torrential downpour. This holds true even more so if you live in a hilly locality.

It may happen due to any number of reasons, ruptured drains, a burst mainline, heavy rainfall, or simply the slope or incline of your lawn.

However, in the case of a storm, if your asphalt roofing is not secure enough, your upper stories just might end up becoming a right royal mess to rival your basement. Such an eventuality occurs when the rain water seeps through the protective outer layers of your roof and eventually drips down to the living space beneath.

This may spell disaster for your personal living space as just about all the furniture, carpets and electronic gadgets might be ruined. Moreover, if the water stays long enough, it erodes the structural integrity of your home and may in extreme cases lead to its eventual collapse.

In case of extreme flooding, the first and foremost priority is safety. There is a risk of electrocution due to a short circuit especially if your electronic appliances are short circuiting due to the seepage of water from your roof. It is always advisable to turn off all power from the mains, but only if it can be safely done so.  Same goes for gas leaks because a broken gas pipe is even more dangerous than an electrical one. Both these utilities, taken together, create a safety hazard that should never be underestimated.  Other then that short circuiting appliances may also lead to fire and electrical fires are difficult to put out with conventional fire fighting equipment even if you have any such equipment at home.

Other hazards may include biological and chemical ones; if the sewerage system is breached then the water may be full of fecal matter giving rise to all kinds of gastrointestinal infections. Similarly, if harmful chemicals are stored in the upper stories, coming into contact with them may be dangerous to the eyes and skin.

This is why it is absolutely imperative to have roofing repairs conducted before the advent of the rainy season. The age old proverb “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” definitely works out when it comes to roofing repairs.  Having new roofing installed after major storm damage might turn out to be a costly preposition. Especially, if the damage is so extensive that you might need to get your whole roofing replaced altogether.

However, once your property is secure, there are remedies that will help ensure that you are able to protect your home in case of any future calamity. Simply get an estimate from a roofing contractor that you know and trust to find out the roofing price of your repair work. Once you have a few quotations, don’t delay but commence work as soon as possible.