Being prepared for a natural disaster is critically important to have in place BEFORE bad weather strikes. Louisiana has only a few weather-related issues to deal with, but they're nothing to shake a stick at. Most prominent in northwest Louisiana is flooding. The southern part of the state has to worry about hurricane season while we typically deal with the after effects of these storms - high winds and rain. NWLA tends to flood quickly, often due to dry conditions leaving the ground unable to absorb water quickly. The runoff fills our local lakes and rivers quickly, resulting in damaging floods. So what's the best way to prepare for flooding?
1. The most obvious is to make sure that you have flood insurance. If you're purchasing or have purchased a home in a flood zone, your mortgage lender would have required you to obtain flood insurance as part of your mortgage. If you're not sure about the flood zone status of your home, check on the LSU Ag Center flood maps! Pop your address in on their website or asks us to check for you. 2. Heavy rains quite often come with high winds, so make sure your trees are trimmed regularly and stay healthy to minimize risk of damage from falling limbs. 3. Check early to see where sandbags are available and border up early! Ask friends who are likely safe from flooding to help - your neighbors are probably busy sandbagging their own homes. 4. Have an evacuation plan in place. Whether it's taking off to stay with someone on higher ground, or leaving the area, have money set aside for travel and other resources saved up. Make sure you know ahead of time. 5. Stay charged. Flooding often comes with a fair amount of power outages. You'll want to minimize your screen time or grab some backup batteries for emergency use. You can get them fairly cheap on Amazon or at local stores. 6. Don't forget to prepare your animals, as well! Make sure their cages/carriers are available and that you have plenty of food and supplies to get them through a week or so. If you've got larger animals like horses or cattle, have a plan in place to move them to higher pastures. When in doubt, call a member of our team. We stay up to date on resources to help our clients. We do more than sell homes, we care! |