After a Flood - Your Business

5/19/2020 (Permalink)

Flood is one of the most common and widespread natural disasters. 

Flooding can also result from plumbing failures, frozen pipes, and damaged structures. 

Flood damage can affect your business in a variety of ways and can range in size from being isolated to a single room to entire floors being submerged. 

Knowing how to prepare and deal with potential flooding in advance can affect how much of your property can be restored and how much has to be replaced. 

SERVPRO of Benton, Jasper, Newton & Southern Lake Counties has these mitigation and restoration tips: 

Safety First

• Make sure that all employees are safe - establish an evacuation plan in advance, identify areas outside the building as designated meeting places, and assign select individuals to keep a list of team members' names and contact numbers to account for their whereabouts
• If water enters the building and evacuation becomes impossible, move to an upper floor and wait for rescuers
• While evacuating, avoid attempting to drive through floods or rising water
• Do not touch electrical equipment if you are wet or standing in water
• Do not walk through moving water
• Do not use open flames - there may be gas escaping from ruptured mains of which you are unaware
• Avoid floodwaters - water may be contaminated or electrically charged
• Stay out of any building if it is surrounded by floodwater
• Listen for news reports to learn if the community's water supply is safe to drink
• Return only when authorities indicate it is safe

Secure the Property

• Contact local emergency officials
• Secure main entrances to the building

Stabilize the Property

• Shut off the source of water if possible or contact a qualified party to stop the water source
• Open basement or low level windows to equalize water pressure on the building's foundation and walls
• Being water damage mitigation steps only if emergency officials deem the structure safe to enter
• Notify your insurance agent or Risk Management team to determine insurance policy guidelines and steps to take

SERVPRO of Benton, Jasper Newton & Southern Lake Counties - 219-779-7577

• Contact us to activate your Emergency Ready Plan* - When damage strikes, you can be ruined or you can be ready
• Ensure availability of key decision makers to authorize us to begin mitigation work

*If you don't have an Emergency Ready Plan yet, check out these two blog posts and SERVPRO link for more information - Do You Have a READY Plan? Has It Been Updated? and SERVPRO Emergency Prepared Checklist or The SERVPRO Emergency READY Profile Advantage