My condolences to home owners in Woodbridge and Maple who experienced disaster to their homes, resulting families to move out temporarily until repairs are completed. On August 20th 2009, a tornado hit and hundreds of homes were affected. Many people witnessed their roofs being blown off and front of their homes completely destroyed.
Photograph above is courtesty of CBC.ca
Those with structural damage and depending on the extent of the damage, repairing homes can take at least 6-12 months. Families who were forced out of their homes will be renting a place or moving in with friends or family members – which isn’t the most convenient or comfortable living situation for long term.
It seems that this summer we have had a lot of disaster to people’s homes. All over Ontario, there have been thousands of homes which have been affected by natural disaster. We have seen many roofs or water claims this summer but the first major catastrophe we witnessed this summer was in Hamilton, Ottawa and soon after Woodbridge and Maple area.
This disaster taught me to be prepared for the worst: don’t leave valuables in the basement. If you get water in your house, the first place it is affected is the basement. Have an emergency kit handy that includes first aid, flashlights with extra batteries and important phone numbers (like one close reliable friend, one other family member, and your broker or agent). Also talk to your family about a safe meeting point. If you have to evacuate, you want to make sure that your family meets at one agreed area to reconnect. In addition, make sure you have at least one landline phone in case there is a prolonged blackout. Cordless may be convenient but if there is a blackout, a cordless phone will not work as it relies on electricity to power them. Making sure you are prepared allows you to be ready in case there is an emergency.
What happened to the families who had to be evacuated from their homes is unfortunate; however, once you and your family are safe it is now a time game. It takes time to repair your home to the pre-loss condition and it is best to be patient as you can. The Woodbridge and Maple tornado hit hundreds of homes and there are only so many reputable restoration firms in Ontario. You can find list of resources from the OIAA (Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association) website. Just a warning, most of these firms only deal with insurance related claims and therefore if you want to restore your home on your own accord you may not be able to.
Regardless, please be prepared for the worst and make sure you and your family are taken care of in case disaster hits your home. What takes a long time to build could be destroyed in matter of minutes. On a better note, weather seems to be better lately, so I hope you all enjoy the rest of the summer.
2 responses so far ↓
Cory Young - Rhodes & Williams Insurance Brokers // September 25, 2009 at 6:09 pm |
You list some good suggestions here. Another one would be to make sure that you have a home inventory. You won’t be able to remember how many pairs of shoes you had for example, when disaster strikes and you need to submit an insurance claim. A great way to do this is with a camera and video camera to document things … and keep it offsite. I may soon have a home inventory software to offer, that could help with the process.
Fire Safety « Laugh & Plaster // December 24, 2009 at 7:41 pm |
[...] mentioned in my other blog ‘Disaster‘ on how to protect your family from floods and same thing applies here for fire safety. I [...]