Last week, I was on vacation with my family on the South Carolina coast. As everyone is aware, Hurricane Irene slowly crept in and disrupting many on the east coast, including me and my family at the beach! We spend most of our day on Friday sitting on the porch watching the ocean and pier as the waves grew larger and larger. Water came over the dunes that are intended to keep water out, heavy rains and winds soon followed, then the surprise of a shaking house during the night because of the strong wind. To see a video we shot of the waves during the afternoon, follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN9FxiE3QfQ. Fortunately, the area we were in had minimal damage, but it sure gave us plenty to talk about.
During the storm, a conversation arose about being prepared when disasters happen. Everyone began talking about their insurance coverage, suddenly questioning if they had enough coverage, what sort of damage it would cover, and if it was a flood, do we even have coverage for that? It really got me thinking…how many people even know what their coverage is and would know what to do in case of a disaster? Something we can do before the forecasters even spot that ominous swirl on the radar is to prepare for any emergency! Check with your insurance company to make sure you will be covered in any emergency and that your policy limit is high enough to cover even the worst of disasters.
Also, establish a plan about what you will do and who you will call in case of an emergency. There are plenty of websites about establishing plans for your family, making an out of town contact, and having emergency kits in case of power failures, etc. Another thing you can do right now to prepare is to update your contacts! Everyone uses their cell phones now to keep up with phone numbers and this will make it much easier to report damages if something were to occur. Make sure that you have your insurance company’s phone number as well as First Restoration Services in your phone so that you can expedite the process of getting help on the way by knowing quickly who to call. First Restoration’s phone number is 828-684-1582. Call us immediately if you have an emergency so we can dispatch a crew to you! Remember, we have a live answering service 24/7/365.
As always, remember, “Disasters Happen. We take care of them all.
