Flooding in your home is never something you want to face. But it’s far better to know what to do if this situation should arise than it is to simply cross your fingers and hope for the best. If you wake up to a burst pipe or natural flooding, do you know the first thing you should do? Being unprepared for these situations can cause more damage to your home if you don’t look for water removal services in Kansas City quickly enough. Keep reading to learn what you should do first if your home floods.
Turn Off the Water
If your flooding is caused by a burst pipe or some other part of your plumbing, you should immediately shut off the water at its source. For minor flooding, you may be able to shut off the water to that individual fixture or pipe. But if the flooding is significant, you should do your best to stay out of the water—and that usually means using your emergency shutoff valve to shut off water to the entire home. Make sure you know where this valve is so you can shut off the water as quickly as possible and prevent any further flooding.
Turn Off the Electricity
Once you’ve shut off the water (or, if the flooding is nature-caused, and you can’t do anything about it), the next step is to turn off the electricity. As just about anyone will tell you, electricity and water don’t mix. Turning off the power to your home will eliminate at least one potential hazard for anyone who might need to enter your home for either rescues or repairs. This can be done at the fuse box, but if you can’t get to the fuse box without stepping in the water, call an electrician.
Get Out of the Building
Some ankle-deep water might not seem like a reason to evacuate your home, but water damage can be more dangerous than you think. If the electricity can’t be shut off, the water could become electrified by damaged wiring in your home. Stepping into the water can give you a nasty shock that could seriously injure you—or worse. Additionally, water can quite quickly damage and erode structural building materials, making floors much weaker. And if the flooding is from a natural disaster, the water could bring in debris and bacteria that can be a danger to your health. It’s always better to get out of a flooded home until a professional tells you it’s safe to enter again.
Call the Experts
Speaking of the professionals, now is the time to contact them. Once everyone is out of the home and you’ve made the property as safe as you can, you should call for help. You can reach out to Emergency Mitigation Services at any time of the day or night for emergency water damage cleanup in Kansas City. We’ll begin the work of getting the water out of your home and minimizing any further water damage caused by the flooding, so you can get your home back to normal as soon as possible.