Review Your Home Insurance for Hurricane Coverage
As we all know weather in Texas can be unpredictable. Author Mark Twain once remarked, “In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” Moving into spring there is a real possibility that your home will be exposed to high winds, hail, driving rain, lighting, or even flash flooding.
What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?
Your new home purchase may be the largest investment you will ever make. Protect your investment with a Texas homeowners insurance policy. Typically, a Texas home insurance policy provides coverage to repair or replace your home in the event of damage from Hurricane wind-driven rain, Tornado, Lightning, Fire Vandalism, or possibly a Fallen tree. In addition, you are covered for some living expenses if you need to find a place to live while your home is repaired. Flood is a separate policy and not covered on your homeowner’s policy in Texas.
What is Severe Weather?
Flooding causes the most widespread damage, with hurricanes, tornados, and hailstorms trailing close behind. Flood is sudden and temporary overflowing of a large amount of water beyond its normal confined area. Especially over what is typically dry land, clogged street gutter, or even a seasonal creek bed.
Hail is formed when raindrops freeze and fall to earth and can easily range in size from a gold ball to even a softball. There is an average of 3,000 hailstorms per year!
Wind is the movement of forced air of any velocity from a cool summer breeze to damaging winds. Texas typically records between 140-150 tornadoes per year.
Lighting is two electrically charged regions in the atmosphere or ground temporarily discharging energy. Texas dropped on the list to No. 4, with 69 lightning strikes per square kilometer in 2019.
Are You Prepared?
The following tips can help protect your home from severe Texas thunderstorms and reduce damage to your home.
- When thunder roars go indoors. If you hear thunder you are probably within striking distance of a lightning storm.
- Look for water stains on ceilings and walls and take steps to repair before there is a larger issue.
- If there is time to secure loose objects, close windows, and doors before the weather arrives.
- Have a professional inspect your roof and make necessary repairs on a regular basis
- Be sure roof and gutters are clear of debris and downs spouts drain effectively and functionally move water away from the house
- Have large tree limbs trimmed away from the home and roof
- Sign up for notifications and community warnings
- Conduct an emergency tornado drill so everyone in the home knows where to go if there is an emergency. Do not forget pets if it’s safe and time allows.
- Assemble materials that are necessary to make safe temporary repairs in the instance water damages occur to protect your property from additional damage.
Wind gusts, Rain, and Hail are some of the more common concerns of the average Texas thunderstorm the spring can bring. Be prepared with these additional resources, education, and safety tips:
Resources
Severe Weather Safety Tips – https://www.weather.gov/safety/thunderstorm-prepare
Protect your home from Water Damage – https://www.brittonandbritton.com/protect-home-from-water-damage/
Weather knowledge – https://www.weather.gov/education/
Preparing for a Hurricane – https://www.brittonandbritton.com/preparing-for-hurricanes/
Descriptions of insurance products and packages are meant to offer general ideas only, are necessarily brief, and are subject to policy provisions, limits, deductibles, exclusions, and conditions that can only be expressed in the policy itself. In the event of a conflict, the terms and conditions of your policy prevail. This information is provided solely as an insurance risk management tool. It is provided with the understanding that we are not providing advice or any other professional services. We shall have no liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the use of this information.
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