Help, My Home Has Storm Damage!
Summer weather can quickly bring about severe summer storms. While most storms are mild, quickly forming severe storms can substantially damage your home and surrounding property. What types of damage is your home at risk of sustaining, and what do you need to do? Read on for some guidance.
Lightning Strikes
When there are severe storms in the area, you are at high risk of lightning strikes hitting or damaging your home. If lightning strikes your home, it can sustain substantial damage, including the following:
Structural damage – When lightning strikes, the bolt seeks out a conduit to reach deep into the ground. Unfortunately, numerous structures throughout your home may provide this path. These include your electrical, phone, television, gas lines, water pipes, and gutter downspouts, to name a few. Anything along the way the lightning chooses to take can sustain damage as a result.
Fire damage – A direct lightning strike to your home can cause a significant fire. Even an indirect strike can damage your home’s roof, shingles, and attic. If you suspect lightning has hit your home, make sure you check for possible fires in your attic or even in the walls of your home. Consider calling the fire department for a professional check. While these fires are not always initially visible, they can quickly flare up, causing catastrophic damage.
Power surges – The power from the lightning can affect your home’s electrical system and impact anything connected to it. Unfortunately, this damage could include all of your major appliances, your HVAC system, and your expensive electronics. Lightning-driven power surges can create strong enough electric overloads that damage your interior wiring irreparably.
Shock wave damage – Did you know that even the associated thunder you hear during a severe storm can produce damage? Thunder is essentially sonic shock waves; if they are close enough, they can damage your home. Shock wave damage can shatter glass, impact plaster, and even crack your foundation.
High Winds
Intense summer storms can often generate high damaging winds, often referred to as straight-line winds. These winds can reach speeds up to 100 mph and pose a significant risk of damage to your home.
Typical high wind damage can come from direct or indirect impacts to your home or from trees or other materials surrounding your home. Some common damage from high winds includes the following:
- Dislodged or damaged shingles
- Uprooted trees
- Disfigured siding
- Damaged windows
- Busted gutters or downspouts
- Mangled electrical lines
- Destroyed fencing
- Thrown outdoor furnishings
Unfortunately, high wind damage can go beyond what you first see. Major roofing or window damage can lead to water entering your home, impacting your flooring, sheetrock, wiring, or insulation. It is essential to ensure that you note and list this damage as a part of your initial assessment.
If your home sustained storm damage from lightning strikes, high winds, tornados, or other weather events, your homeowner’s insurance should help cover the damage. Unfortunately, some insurance companies make it difficult to file a claim, and the full extent of storm damage is sometimes difficult to discern and often harder to prove.
Hail Damage
Storms sometimes have hail, which is large chunks of ice that can range in size. Some are only as small as peas, while others are as big as golf balls. When these fall from the sky, they can damage everything from cars to homes.
But how can you know if you have hail damage? Besides seeing the hailstones themselves, you might also see dings or cracks in your siding, gutters, or roof shingles. You might even have roof punctures depending on your roof’s condition or the size of the hailstone. If you notice any bald spots or holes in your shingles, this can also indicate hail damage.
Disaster Adjusting has years of experience doing both. We will not only help you identify the damaged areas of your home, but we will also help you get the compensation you deserve from your insurance company. Give us a call, so we can help you get your home repaired.