How can I protect my home from storm damage?

Survey and Secure

The first thing is to take a walk around the outside of your house and garden. Look carefully for loose furnishings or equipment and store them safely in a garage, shed, other outbuilding or the house itself. Things to look out for include: ladders, bins, garden furniture, garden ornaments such as gnomes, and childrens’ toys. Items in the garden with a very large surface area, like trampolines, can easily blow away in high winds; consider buying a trampoline tether kit to use during storms.

As you survey your property, pay particular attention to roofs, soffits and guttering. High winds can easily cause tiles to fall and bring guttering down, so before a storm sets in, hire a professional to address loose guttering and any cracked or crooked roof tiles. Similarly, make sure your gutters aren’t clogged with leaves and other debris, to ensure rainwater can flow freely and prevent water leaking into your home.

Aerials and satellite dishes should be fixed in place, so it is unrealistic to move these ahead of a storm; however, be aware of their presence and what surrounds them on the property (skylight windows, flat roofs, parked cars) and that they may cause damage to these if they are displaced by high winds.

Look carefully at the chimney stack for signs of damage or leaning. If you suspect it to be in compromised in any way, or especially tall, the MET office advise moving beds and sofas away from the directly area below it.

Lastly, make sure fences are sturdy and secure. If necessary, brace the fence as a stop-gap measure to bolster any leaning or sagging sections.

Lock up

Make sure all windows and doors are closed securely and/or locked. In particular, large doors such as garage doors are liable to blow open. The MET office also advises securing loft hatches with bolts; this will prevent them blowing open unexpectedly and injuring someone. Similarly, it is advisable to close internal doors to prevent them blowing wide open and damaging walls.

Move your car           

If you can, park your can in a garage, or at least away from houses, sheds, high fences and trees. Roof tiles, branches and debris can easily smash car windows and windscreens, as well as bodywork, and such damage is not always covered by insurance policies.

Prune trees

Make sure dead or dying branches are pruned from trees on your property in advance of high winds. This may be a job for a tree surgeon, depending on the height of the tree and your level of skill with equipment. Ideally, make this a regular maintenance task or job to outsource to professionals, to ensure you aren’t caught unawares by strong gusts.

Consider the flood risk

More than two million homes are located on flood plains across England and Wales. Extreme winds can also cause surge flooding in coastal regions. Aside from local and national weather reports online, on T.V. and radio, and in newspapers, you can use this gov.uk website to check for flood alerts and risk in your area, and sign up to receive notification of alerts in your area by phone call, email or text. For updates on flash flooding, your local authority will advise.

If a flood warning has been issued, the following immediate steps are advisable:

• Turn off the gas, electricity and water supplies.
• Unplug electrical items and move them upstairs or up high.
• Move items of sentimental and material value upstairs. Particular care should be taken with items of high sentimental value as they will be irreplaceable regardless of any insurance pay out.
• Raise large furniture and appliances off the ground if it isn’t possible to move these upstairs. If you cannot move them at all, empty them of their contents, remove any drawers and rope large pieces of furniture together to prevent them floating around and breaking windows.
• Put plugs into sinks and bathtubs and weigh these down with a heavy object
• Use sandbags, plywood or metal sheeting against the outside of external doors and windows to limit the amount of water entering the property.
• Leave internal doors open

The National Flood Forum is a charity that helps those living in areas at risk of flooding to prepare. If you live in an area known to flood, it is wise to consider long-term measures to increase your property’s resistance and resilience to flooding. These might be able to prevent high value items and systems, such as electrical systems and flooring, sustaining damage.

According to National Flood Forum, increasing a property’s resistance to flooding can buy valuable time to move possessions upstairs or to a higher level. Such measures include:

• Flood-proof doors
• No-return vents and valves
• Sealing openings that carrying cables into the home
• Air brick covers
• Toilet bungs

According to the National Flood Forum, measures for increasing property resilience can include:

• Installing appliances such as ovens, washing machines etc. on raised plinths.
• Having plug sockets and boiler installed higher up, at a level unlikely to be damaged by flood water
• Using porous plaster and tiled or solid flooring

Summary

A few simple measures can help protect your property from storm damage. The most important of these is to conduct a thorough check for things such as: damaged guttering and roof tiles; garden furniture and equipment that could easily blow into the house or neighbouring houses; broken or dead branches in nearby trees; leaning fences. For properties prone to flooding, long-term measures to prevent water entering and increase resilience to flood water may be advisable.