How to Save Your Property from Flood Damage

flood damage

Since it is officially spring time in Canada, it’s about time for the snow to take a hint and take a hike—am I right? But seriously, with so much snow melting in the coming weeks, it’s an opportune time for you to remind yourself of how best to deal with flooding.

Did you know that flooding has been Canada’s most expensive hazard to date in terms of property damage?

It’s impossible to completely flood-proof your home, but there are many ways you can alleviate the effects. In an effort to prepare the community for heavy rainfall and the flooding that comes with it, we’ve created a to-do checklist for you to go over for your own peace of mind and financial security.

  • Determine your risk level by identifying whether your home is located on the floodway or the flood fringe.
  • Purchase or review a 72-hour emergency kit.
  • Check your home insurance and ensure that you have flood protection included. Up until recently, many home insurance policies didn’t include coverage for flooding.
  • Look into purchasing sandbags and temporary barriers as needed. These only work with a small amount of flooding and are not to be used to protect people, only minimize risk to your home. It’s also good to know that it takes 2 people approximately 1 hour to fill and place 100 sandbags, and often you won’t get much warning before a flood.
  • Of course it’s even better if you can create a more permanent way to mitigate flood damage to your property—such as landscaping your property so that your land slopes gently away from the house. It helps if you fill in any hollow or sunken areas on the property as well.
  • Know where the shut-offs for utilities and appliances are on your property, and if you have time, shut them off before leaving, during a flood.
  • Move valuable documents and personal items into a safe, high, dry place, away from windows. The same goes for electronics.
  • Move any waste to ground level.
  • Install a backflow prevention device on your sewer pipe.
  • If you are thinking of purchasing a home, consider its location carefully first.

This is not an exhaustive list of things to remember, as you prepare for rain and potential floods. If you have any other tips or you’ve experienced your home flooding at some point and have a story to share, please do contact us!

-Content created by Sophie Wooding – Writer, gardener, cyclist and emergency preparedness enthusiast!