Your home is a place of refuge, but in a natural disaster or other unexpected event, it’s not uncommon to suffer serious injury at home. Burn injuries, falls, head injuries, and other injuries can easily happen after a serious disaster.
September is National Preparedness Month. This is a great time of year to make sure you’re ready for any emergency. Being prepared can help you stay safer, reduce your risk of injury, and ensure you’re ready for most events.
Getting Ready to Prevent Injury in a Disaster
You can be more prepared for any emergency at home with these steps:
- Have a written plan: Start by having a written plan for evacuating your home or sheltering in place. If a fire, hurricane, or other disaster were to happen, how would you communicate with loved ones? What would be the safest thing to do?
- Get your home ready: Walk through your home and find ways to make your home ready for an emergency. For example, maybe you can keep plywood in your garage to board your windows if there is a hurricane warning in Hollywood. Perhaps you can keep a generator so you can restore power in case of an outage. Make sure carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, and smoke detectors are all working correctly.
- Put together a kit: You can buy a pre-made kit or assemble your own. Make sure you have enough water, clothes, food, medication, clothing, and other essentials for every member of your household for at least two days. Replace and check your supplies often and keep a well-stocked first aid kit in your home as well.
- Practice: Have fire drills and emergency drills once a year in your home or review what you’ll do in an emergency. This helps you prepare for the unexpected and can help you evaluate and fine-tune your plan.
- Take classes to improve your preparedness: Take CPR classes to ensure you know what to do during an emergency.
Property Damage After a Natural Disaster in Hollywood
When a natural disaster strikes, of course your first priority is the health and safety of your household. However, you may worry about your property, too. Whether your home is flooded, has a tree fall onto the roof, or whether your property suffers other damage, recovery can be difficult and can take a long time.
You pay homeowners’ insurance premiums, but after a natural disaster it’s not uncommon for homeowners to have trouble reaching their insurers. There are many people making claims and insurers want to resolve claims fast.
If you have suffered property damage to your Hollywood home, contact Flaxman Law Group at 1-866-352-9626 (1-866-FLAXMAN) for a free accident consultation with a property damage claims attorney. We can ensure you understand how much your home may cost to repair and we may be able to negotiate with your insurer to seek fair compensation for you.