Flood preparation is an important topic. Flooding in Hendersonville can affect anyone, but especially those living in floodplains. This list focuses on what you can do to prepare your building and property for the possibility of flooding. Protecting people, by making a plan, packing emergency supplies, and evacuating when you’re told to, is always the most important thing. This list focuses only on preparing your property.

1. Preparation starts before rain is forecast

If you’re scrambling to ready your whole property in the days before a big storm hits, you’re going to be caught unprepared. It doesn’t always take a scary storm to cause a flood. As little as an inch of rain under the wrong conditions can create a flash flood. You can practice flood preparation over the long term by following up on maintenance concerns promptly, in whatever season they arise. By eliminating most of your building problems, you increase the odds that your property will be prepared.

2. Check your building exterior

If you have warning that a storm is coming, check your property’s exterior walls and roof. Weak spots, bald spots, and leaks are only going to get worse during a flood. A small leak will become a large one, and fast. In preparation for a flood, check the outside of your building and block off any obvious entry points that you find. Pay attention to ground level windows and doors!

3. Cover all work areas

Floods aren’t always kind enough to wait until you’re done with renovation and construction. If there’s a flood coming your way, don’t hesitate: cover. Use tarps, bungees, and ropes to cover all work areas as soon as bad weather starts coming your way. Tarps aren’t watertight, but they can help avoid letting a huge flood directly into your building. Other work areas should also be covered, whether it’s working on an outdoor structure or in progress landscaping.

4. Document the condition of the property

Insurance is a comfort in a tough time. Flood preparations should include preparing for a potential insurance claim. When you’ve wrapped down your work areas and sealed your exterior walls, doors, and windows, there’s not much to do but make sure your property is well documented. Clear photographic evidence of the condition your property was in before the flood strikes will pay off when compared to photographs of the devastation once it’s gone. Assuming that you have the time to document before taking actions to preserve your safety, always choose to photograph your property.

These flood preparation tips focus only on readying your property. Cover any work areas and photograph the state that everything is in before the flood hits. Seal your windows, doors, and any leaks in the exterior of your building. Most importantly, don’t wait until disaster is about to strike to take care of your property.