What Are the Long-Term Consequences of Flood Damage?

Suffering through a flood is never pleasant, but what many people don’t realise is that the after-effects from a flood can be worse than the damages from the actual water. Even if you clean up immediately after your home or office is damaged by a flood, the effects of the flood can linger for months and sometimes even years. This is why it is so important to get professional clean-up help as soon as possible after the flood has occurred. In case you’re curious, below are some of the long-term consequences of any type of flood damage in your home or business.

Structural Damages to the Building

Many parts of a home or office building can be permanently altered when there is a flood. This includes the drywall, wood, and even the insulation behind the walls and in the ceiling. This is because these are made out of porous materials and therefore can soak up a good bit of water during a flood. If you get in touch with a professional cleaning company right away, they will make sure the damages are minimised so that you won’t have to replace any more of these fixtures as necessary, saving you both time and money in the long run.

Physical Damages

A flood will sometimes place six feet or more of water in your home, so it isn’t just the home itself that is damaged. Also damaged are furniture, photographs, expensive rugs, and hundreds of your belongings that are usually important because they symbolise your memories and the life you’ve made for yourself in your home. These can be devastating losses, and it isn’t just flood damaged carpet and sofas that can cause you stress; it is essentially everything you have in your home, even items placed on the top shelf in closets, because any of your belongings can be damaged once the water starts to rise.

Emotional Damages

Few things are as stressful as having water and storm damage in your home. Even if you don’t lose pictures and other belongings that have a lot of sentimental value, it can still wreak havoc on your life because of the time it takes to get everything back to normal. Your home is likely your biggest investment, and having something go wrong and potentially harm that investment isn’t fun for anyone. When you couple the emotional aspect with the financial resources you’ll need after a flood, it is easy to understand why floods and severe storms cause so much tension to everyone involved.

Financial Concerns

Although banks require that homeowners who live in flood zones purchase flood insurance, people who aren’t living in flood zones often flood anyway, and this is very hard on your finances. Few people have thousands of dollars saved up that they can use when their home is flooded, which is why the experts generally recommend that everyone carry flood insurance on their property. When you are concentrating on repairing flood damaged property, the last thing you want to worry about is how much it’s going to cost, so flood insurance is a huge benefit for all homeowners.