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Winter In Houston: How To Deal With Home Damage From Snow & Cold Weather

Winter In Houston: How To Deal With Home Damage From Snow & Cold Weather

Here's what you need to do to minimize damage and repair costs.


Houston saw blankets of snow, sleet, record-low temperatures, and energy blackouts thanks to a historic winter storm making its way across the region.

The Bayou City has not seen weather this frigid for more than three decades. Houstonians are being asked to keep off roadways and hunker down at home until the weather gets warmer.

We’re already seeing a lot of homeowners reel from the potential repair costs and damages from this event.

Below we have outlined the most basic steps to take to minimize damages plus tips on how to handle the aftermath. We pooled information from people who had to file claims from the winter storm, along with data we got from prior disasters (Harvey, Imelda, etc). We’ll continue to update the list as we get more data.

We have great contractors, plumbers, and vendors. Contact Paige Martin at [email protected] for recommendations. Paige Martin is ranked as the #1 Keller Williams Realtor in Houston and #5 Keller Williams Realtor in the United States.

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Table of Contents

  1. Home Flooded Due To Winter Freeze? Here's What You Need To Do NOW
  2. General Post Disaster Action Plan: Dealing With The Aftermath
  3. Frozen Pipe Claim: How To Deal With A Burst Pipe
  4. Emergency Resources, Guides, & Hotlines

Home Flooded Due To Winter Freeze? Here’s What You Need To Do NOW

We have some great vendors. We have already reached out to a few and while some of them are dealing with their own problems right now, some are already preparing to bring in contractors from out of state to be able to assist with a rapid clean up. Contact Paige Martin if you need recommendations.

  1. If there’s considerable damage, call your Insurance as soon as possible. Reach out to your carrier directly on their 800 number. Do this as early in the morning as you possibly can. Expect that it will take a while before your turn. Be patient! Most carriers have already dispatched a special team to Texas to handle claims like this. However, prepare for the wait time for an adjuster to be around 3-5 days.

  2. Call a plumber now. It will likely be a few days before anyone can get to you since the entire city is dealing with the same thing. Get on the list now. When the plumber gets there, ask them to save the part that is broken. Also good to consult your plumber if it’s helpful to file a claim or not.

  3. Get things as dry as you reasonably can. It will be hard, but do the best with what you have. If you use towels, beddings, curtains, or any cloth of value to absorb water, count and keep track of everything. Your insurance may reimburse you for laundry costs or replace the towels.

  4. Take pictures of everything you can before throwing it away. Get labels on furniture, appliances, or anything of value. Make a list. It will make handling the claim faster if you do this as you go. Only toss items if it is actually damaged beyond repair.

  5. Take pictures of the carpets, padding, flooring, drywall, and anything you have to take down before you rip it out. Save a piece if you can since the insurance may need it for sample analysis.

  6. Keep track of how many hours you spend taking care of everything. Record it with a camera phone if you can. Your insurance may reimburse you.

  7. Keep the receipt for any costs (dumpster, trailers, etc).

  8. If you need to go to a hotel because your house is unliveable with no power and water, save the receipt.

  9. If you need to order food, save the receipt.

  10. Take photos of the food in your fridge. Your insurance might reimburse you.


General Post Disaster Action Plan: Dealing With The Aftermath

Make sure to document everything. Take pictures whenever you can. Save all receipts.

  1. Call the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): 800-621-3362. Call them and give them all the information you have. While FEMA’s grants to victims are far below what’s needed to fully recover, it’s a start.

  2. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. Take pictures of all of the damages to your property. Be as detailed as you can. It also helps if you have existing photos of your house before this week. Also keep receipts for all purchases made after the storm. Many insurance policies don’t just cover damage and property that’s lost. In some cases, the insurer will be on the hook for additional expenses incurred because of the disaster. This can include food receipts (if the kitchen is unusable), hotel accommodations (if bedrooms are inaccessible), etc.

  3. Start preparing documents and all the necessary paperwork. Get photocopies of your driver’s license, birth certificate, passport, property tax records, vehicle insurance, house insurance, etc. FEMA and insurance companies will want proof of identification and personal records, so it’s necessary to have multiple copies of this on-hand. Keep everything in a plastic binder or a waterproof case. Upload digital copies online and have soft-copies in your USB’s and / or hard drive.

  4. If you lost your car to the weather, take pictures and document your car insurance for claims later.

  5. For properties that will need demolition, get everything out as soon as you can. Sort what’s still usable from what needs to be disposed of. Get a storage unit if you can and store all of your important items there.

  6. With many homes affected by this event, expect that contractors and vendors will be on high demand. Construction workers will be on short supply too. Providing that the home remains structurally sound, do what you can in the meantime. Get a few friends and family to help out. If needed, partner with a few neighbors and help each other out. A few things to keep in mind as you do the rebuilding:

  7. Register your property damage on CrisisCleanup.org. Non-profit and crisis management organizations like All Hands Volunteers, Habitat for Humanity, and Samaritan’s Purse use the program to organize volunteers to help with the cleanup and rebuilding process. After registering, your home is logged on their map. They will then call you if they have volunteers in the area and assist in demolishing your home at no cost. These are charity organizations that spend months in disaster areas helping families recover.

  8. Contractors will have little to no availability. Be wary of contractors trying to rip you off. Get copies of their licenses, research their history, make sure they are who they say they are and that they are not a fly-by-night operation.

  9. Plan for the future and do property improvements if you have the resources. It doesn’t have to be big: things as minor as adding extra outlets, changing where the cables are laid out, and improving water piping layout can be good updates.


Frozen Pipe Claim: How To Deal With A Burst Pipe

Here's what our favorite insurance agent sent us today about frozen Pipe claims.

Where is the broken pipe?

If it is outside of the home:
– Turn off water at the meter
– Have a plumber fix it or fix it yourself
– If the cost is over the deductible, you can consider filing a claim.
– Consider yourself very lucky that the home is not damaged!

If the pipe is broken and water is on the INSIDE of the home:
– Immediately turn off the water at the meter
– Call restoration company like ServePro, Paul Davis, Interstate, Clean Air, etc to clean up water moisture
– Have a plumber or restoration company fix the pipe break
– Take lots of pictures
– Call insurance company to file claim
– Remember that it is all subject to your deductible

Depending on your insurance coverage, if the broken pipe damages your home or if there is a covered loss, the insurance company should assist with the damage to your home and contents, repair the burst pipe, AND possibly pay for a hotel stay until the home is habitable again.


Emergency Resources, Guides, & Hotlines

Stay safe and warm. Let us know how we can help.

EMERGENCY HOTLINES

Here’s a list of emergency hotlines you need to know during this severe weather:

Emergency Hotline: 911
Houston Police Department: 311 or 713-884-3131 (non-emergency line)
Houston Fire Department: 311
Center Point Energy: 713-659-2111
United Coast Guard:
713-578-3000 (Coast Guard Air Station Houston) 281-464-4851
281-464-4852
281-464-4853
281-464-4854
281-464-4855

Texas United Way: 211
FEMA: Registration – 1-800-621-3362
National Emergency Child Locator Center: 1-866-908-9570
American Red Cross: 1-800-RED-CROSS
Disaster Distress Hotline: 1-800-985-5990
State Bar of Texas: 1-800-504-7030
Harris County Animal Cruelty Taskforce: 832-927-PAWS

POWER OUTAGE

  • Here’s the best power outage tracker and projection of losses we’ve seen.
  • And some good tips for when power comes on and off.

WARMING SHELTERS

  • Here’s an interactive map of warming shelters across Texas.
  • An updated information to help you find a warm place to go
  • And a list of hotels that claim availability.

WATER

  • Current Houston-area boil water advisory
  • Check out water pressure reports in every area.
  • And some good tips on what to do when a boil water advisory is issued

FOOD SECURITY

  • Here’s a list of open stores and their hours.
  • A guide to Houston food outlets that are open despite the winter storm, serving warm food.

TRAVEL ROUTES

  • Check out live weather updates here.
  • Find out what’s the best route to get to your destination here:
    For local road conditions
    For state road conditions

The post Winter In Houston: How To Deal With Home Damage From Snow & Cold Weather appeared first on Houston Properties.



This post first appeared on Houston Real Estate Blog / News | Paige, please read the originial post: here

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