Hurricane season continues with heavy activity expected this year. Part of hurricane preparedness includes strengthening homes against any storms.
Brian Hastings is the director of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. He said cleaning out your drains and gutters are critically important.
“When your gutters are clogged, the water goes into the facet or back into your roof or into the drywall,” Hastings said, “or worse, it goes over your gutters then pounds and creates a head pressure that can infiltrate your foundations and your basement.”
State officials are also stressing hurricanes don’t just affect Alabama’s coastal towns. Inland areas are also at risk. Officials said that’s because “If it can rain, it can flood.”
Hastings said he highly recommends all Alabamians get flood insurance.
“A lot of us don’t have flood insurance,” Hastings said. “In Alabama, I would offer up: if it rains in your area, consider flood insurance. Because all it takes is one inch of water in your home, and that’s $25,000 of damage.”
Hastings points out most home owners’ policies don’t cover flooding unless the addendum is specifically asked for on insurance plans.
More on hurricane preparedness can be found here.