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How to Protect Your Home from Flooding?

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Published on June 08, 2021. EST READ TIME: 3 minutes

Natural calamities are beyond human control and can cause irreparable damage to properties and human lives. While some areas are prone to specific calamities like floods, others may experience them due to weather changes and heavy rainfall leading to a rise in water level. People who live in flood-prone areas need to be extra careful to be prepared for a fight against flood.

While it is quintessential to protect your home from flood-like situations, it is equally important to get home insurance for floods. It helps you get reasonable compensation and aid in times of need. This article will discuss how to protect your home from flooding and various do's and don'ts in such a situation. Let's discuss this in detail.

Evaluate the risk of flooding in your home

On average, 75 lakh hectares of land in India are affected by the flood, as per the reports of NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority)1, India. On the website of NDMA and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), you can find out if your location is flood-prone or not. Even those areas, which were earlier not on this list, have now become flood-prone.

The change in weather, global warming and various other reasons have contributed to these causes. The areas near the Ganga River basin and Brahmaputra River (contributing 60% of the Indian river area) are the most flood-affected regions in India.

Prepare your house to resist flooding

Preventive measures against floods can save you from the harsh effects of flooding. Here are some quick tips on how to protect your home from flooding:

1. Inspection of your house

The very step is the evaluation of your house. Cracks and clogged drainage can heavily impact if a flood occurs. Cracks can lead to further inlet of water inside the house. You may lift up the level of your house if it is below ground level.

2. Renovations for flooding

Renovation of your house can change the way flooding affects your house. Check for the flood level and try to lift your house's ground above flood level. You can install sump pumps that can pump out the flood water out of the basement and garden area of the house

3. Sealants for better protection

Sealants, waterproof paint on walls, windows, and doors can help prevent seepage of flood water inside the house. If the paint on the walls is too old, you can apply a new coat for better protection.

4. Home Insurance

When it comes to protecting flood-prone areas, one of the common and highly advised measures is investing in home insurance. The ones that cover floods will help you during times of need. The belongings inside the house and the home itself suffer severe losses which will be covered by your insurer.

What should be covered under your home insurance for floods?

While you plan to purchase home insurance for flood, you must also know what coverages you must look for. These may include:

1. Structure of the house,

2. The belongings inside the house,

3. Electricity short-circuit problems,

4. Quick process and approval of the insurance,

5. Quick claim settlement,

6. Compensation for accommodation, and

7. High-sum insured.,

Reasons to buy an insurance policy for your home this monsoon

Floods can be quite dangerous, especially in flood-prone areas. More than 1600 lives every year are affected due to floods in India. Having home insurance will only help lessen the effects of this natural calamity. From June to September, India receives 80% of its precipitation. Hence, people especially have to be more careful during these monsoon months.

Lives, properties, and settlements, everything may get irreparably affected leading to extreme situations under some conditions. Building back your home, getting your family all together again and standing back again requires a lot of strength, patience, and faith. In such hard times, home insurance for floods can actually provide you with much-needed relief in the form of medical and financial assistance.

What does an insurance policy for a home protect cover?

Under home insurance for floods, you get the following coverages:

1. Home's structure

If the structure of your home gets damaged or completely wipes off, the HDFC ERGO will pay you compensation of up to INR 10 crore.

2. Belongings of home

Your valuable belongings and content inside the home may also get affected. In such a case, HDFC ERGO pays you a compensation of up to INR 25 Lakhs. In this, more than 15 types of belongings are covered.

3.Alternate accommodation

Floods may affect your living inside your home. Hence, till the time it becomes livable again, you need to adjust elsewhere. Your insurer will pay you for the alternate accommodation for the time being.

4. Others

Apart from the coverages mentioned above, your insurer also compensates for damages due to electricity mishaps, fire accidents, thefts & burglaries, accidental damages and man-made hazards under home insurance.

Preventive steps when flooding starts

In case flooding has begun in your area, here are a few preventive measures that you can take:

1. Get the drainage cleaned for easy water flow and to mitigate the risk of clogged drainage

2. Sandbags can help in blocking the flow of flood towards your location

3. The main water line may be the source of the flood. So, you must shut it off

4. If you have multiple floors, try and shift valuable assets like electronics, furniture, rugs, etc. to higher floors

5. In case the water has reached your area, you must shut down the main electricity connection to avoid short-circuit

6. In case of excess water logging, operate the sump pump to evacuate water

7. Keep the windows open, when not raining, to allow air inflow

8. Make sure to take videos and pictures of the flood to raise insurance claims.

Conclusion

On a personal level, you must surf and understand the risk of flood in your area so you can be well prepared. Monsoon and post-monsoon seasons also raise alarms for the risk of flood. Home insurance can be quite helpful for homes in such locations.

Disclaimer : The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales

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• How to Clean Your Home After a Flood

• Important Checklist for Home Maintenance in Monsoon

• Monsoon is Here! Why Most Indians Should Consider Buying Home Insurance Policy

• How to navigate through floods or flash floods?

• How to Safeguard your Home from the Disasters of an Erratic Monsoon

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