The Winter is one of those seasons that makes for great memories and stunning views. The white snow that fills the neighborhood and the feeling of warmth that comes from the holiday’s makes Winter a favorite season for many. However, you have to also realize that Winter is often the most dangerous season for many homes.
Not only do the roads become more dangerous with ice and snow, but your home can also face serious disasters if you are not careful. Let’s first see why Winter can cause so many disasters.
Why Winter Causes So Many Disasters
When people think of Winter, the last thing they are probably thinking about is how dangerous the season is. With a combination of natural and often self-inflicted disasters, your home can be in serious trouble if you are not careful during the winter.
The reason that the winter can be so dangerous is due to the dangers of the cold and snow for your home paired with the increased time spent at home. When you are at home, you are more likely to do something that would cause a disaster to happen. Some of the common Winter dangers we will now look at can easily be prevented when you know what to look for.
Common Winter Dangers
Fire
Despite the snow and cold weather for the season, Winter is often the most dangerous season when it comes to home fires. The primary reason for fires happening more in the winter is due to the fact that more people are using heating systems to keep their homes warm when the weather outside is cold.
With heating inside your home being on for substantial periods of time, that just means there is more time for systems to fail or cause a fire when in use. Cooking has also been noted as a serious cause of fires in the Winter as more people are cooking at home that can increase the risk of fire.
Flooding
It’s easy to see why flooding can occur when there are heavy storms and rainy seasons, but just because there are not large rain floods doesn’t mean that they can’t happen. If snow builds up on your home and your house is not properly protected and insulated, that snow will melt and can easily start to flood your home.
Many water damage restoration teams are called during the Winter to deal with snow flooding, but burst pipes can also cause flooding as the cold weather can cause pipes to become weak and crack.
Mold
Just like flooding, people associate mold with warm weather and water getting stuck in the home after a flood. Mold is able to live and thrive in many conditions, so just because it is cold out doesn’t mean you can act like mold won’t grow.
In many cases, mold can be harder to find in the winter because the water that allows it to form can be frozen before forming its mold. It is easy to see where water is resting to form mold, btu locating frozen water that will later form mold is not as easy.
Weather
With all the other issues being mostly based on a lack of personal awareness, the weather is something you really can’t control. Snow and ice during the winter can cause damage on the roads and just as easily in the home as it builds up and causes damage.
What was once some nice snow on the roof can turn dangerous with a warm day that causes the ice to melt and causes damage. Even as the weather is happening, hail and snow can cause damage on impact if your home is not properly ready to deal with them.
Preventing Common Winter Dangers
Preparing Your Home
In most disaster situations, you can often find that preparation is going to help your home get ready for any disaster. With winter, the preparation is often something you need to get ready in the fall before the winter even gets into full swing.
This means getting inspection done, making sure your roof is safe, and ensuring that your home heating system is looking good will all add up to a prepared home. If you want to make sure that you are prepared for the winter, make sure the most common disasters are less likely to occur from a fault of your own.
Being Diligent
While many people think that disasters are going to occur out of nowhere, most common winter disasters occur directly as the result of someone’s actions. Things like a cooking fire or leaving a Christmas tree on when not home are just a few disaster causes that can happen when homeowners are not acting diligently.
To prevent disasters in the home, all you really need to do is understand what causes them. If you know heating units are a common cause of fire, make sure you are monitoring yours and not using it too much.
Having the right Support
The last way to be ready to prevent and deal with winter disasters is to have the right support team at the ready in case something starts to go wrong. Even with all the right preparation and the ability to address common disaster symptoms, there are some disasters that just happen.
When disaster strikes, you need a disaster restoration team to come and help with cleaning up. The right team will be able to offer the services you need to deal with the aftermath and the guidance you want to prevent future issues When you have the right team on hand you can enjoy winter for all of the great times it brings.
Looking to keep your home safe this winter?
Call VRS to make sure you’re ready for what the season brings.
