Protecting Yourself From Floodwater Hazards

7/28/2018 (Permalink)

If you’ve never experienced flooding in your Ogden, UT, home, it’s easy to forget how dirty floodwater from a storm can be. In fact, there are three different categories of water damage. Category 1 (“clean water” from water supply lines, pipe breaks, etc.) and Category 2 (“gray water” from water beds, leaking household appliances, etc.) do not pose as large a threat to health as does Category 3 (“black water”). Black water includes floodwater, which can be especially hazardous due to animal feces, chemicals from lawns, and microorganisms that could cause disease.

Cleaning up after storms and flood damage is unlike cleaning up after lower categories of damage. The main difference lies in how to protect yourself from possible health hazards. Here are some tips for tackling Category 3 flood water.

1. Protect your body. To keep contaminants from entering your body when cleaning up after flooding, use protective equipment such as gloves, goggles, and respirators. Even the type of gloves you use matters. Household gloves suffice for mild cleaners, rubber gloves work better when you’re handling disinfectants like bleach, and heavy-duty work gloves are necessary for touching debris.

2. Remove water and dry things out. You can purchase utility pumps, wet/dry vacuums, and other tools to help remove water. Once most of the water is gone, use dehumidifiers and portable air-conditioning units to reduce any remaining dampness.

3. Decide what to throw out and what to clean. It is best to throw out any items that have been affected by groundwater runoff and sewage spills, as well as any absorbent materials (clothes, pillows, etc.) that have remained wet for a long time. If you have clothes and other items that don’t fit into these categories, you can salvage them through deep, repeated cleanings.

Even if you follow all these steps, sometimes it’s necessary to call restoration professionals into your Ogden, UT, home to help clean up after flooding. Either way, because storm damage includes hazardous Category 3 water, make sure to take precautions you wouldn’t have to take with water damage from Categories 1 and 2.

For more information, please visit us at http://www.SERVPROogdenut.com/storm-flooding-restoration.