The Home Disasters You Never Expect To Happen

For families, couples and those living alone, experiencing a disaster in the house is something you don’t want to come across unless you can help it. This is clear enough, but a lot of people are actually quite unsure on how to act in many home emergency situations. Knowing what to do should such an event occur can help you to feel more confident and safe in your home at all times, and there is no doubt that that is a good thing. In this post, we are going to take a look at some common home disasters and see what you can do to improve the situation, or hopefully to stop it happening altogether.

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Flooding

This first home disaster is one of the most common, but it also happens to be one of the most terrifying. If at any time you see even an inch of water on any floor in your home, you need to take action immediately. But what exact action you should take depends on the situation, and on just how bad it is. If you are up to your knees in water, you might want to just call the emergency services immediately. However, if it appears that you might be able to do something about it, then you will need to look into what you can do.

First of all, you should find the culprit, as this can help you get to the source of the problem and so reduce the likelihood of the flood worsening. Is your bathtub overflowing? ThePlumbingInfo.com can help, or you can get help from a friend or neighbor instead. Maybe your pipes have burst, in which case a call to the plumber will be on the cards immediately. Where the problem is, deal with that first, and then move on to the matter of trying to clean up the water from the floor.

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You will want to shut off our electricity at the mains as soon as possible too, in order to avoid being electrocuted or shorting the entire circuit. If the water has risen above the plug sockets, you will need to leave the home immediately. Allow as much fresh air to circulate in the home as possible while it dries, as this really does help hugely in speeding up the process.

Blackout

Another pretty common home emergency is a blackout. Often, this will not be quite as severe as something like a flood or a fire, but it is still something you need to be careful about. In certain circumstances, it can actually prove to be particularly dangerous. In all likelihood, you will have had no control whatsoever over the blackout occurring, as it is usually something further afield than your own home. But that doesn’t stop you taking action once it has already happened, and that will often be the best that you can do. So what exactly should you do if you have a blackout?

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For a start, it helps to be prepared beforehand - so if you haven’t done so already, place a few candles and torches around the home in easy to reach places. You might also want to buy yourself a wind-up mobile charger, so that you at least have something in the way of communication should you be left in the dark for a long time. Whether or not you have prepared beforehand, there are a number of things you might want to do in order to improve the situation as much as possible. For a start, light those candles and start those torches - but be sure to conserve battery life as much as possible. You should also make sure to turn off any large electrical items which were on when the power went off. Also be sure to remove smelly food from the fridge fast, but be careful about how often you open the doors. Leave them closed as much as possible, for obvious reasons.

Then it is just a matter of taking care and waiting it out, unfortunately. If you like, you can contact your energy supplier to see if they have any information to give you on when the power will be back on. In all likelihood, you will not have to wait an inordinately long time for the power to return.

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Fire

A fire breaking out in the home is easily one of the scariest things that can happen to you. If this does happen, you will want to make sure that you act fast, as the faster you act the more likely you will survive, your family will survive and you will be able to save your belongings. There are many possible causes of a fire, but whatever it is there are some basic rules to follow if a fire breaks out in the home.

Firstly, if the fire is any larger than a waste paper basket, you need to evacuate immediately and call for the emergency services. If you can fight it, then use any proper equipment you might have to hand - fire extinguisher, fire blanket, and so on. Be careful not to pour water on an electrical fire, or on a fat fire, as it can make it much worse instead of improving it. Once you are evacuated with your family, you will want to notify any neighbors it might affect and all wait as far from the building as possible until the firefighters arrive. With any luck, they will be able to put it out swiftly, and many of your belongings will survive. If not, you can at least be grateful you have survived.

*Picture taken from Pexels

Clearly, the best approach to this whole situation is to minimize the likelihood of it happening in the first place. Being careful with electricals, not using anything that is faulty, and following basic fire precaution habits are very good ideas indeed. With any luck, you will never have to experience this situation in your life.

These three situations can all be worrying, but with the right approach you can be sure to deal with them properly and in good time.