South Jersey may not be one of the world’s major flood disaster zones; but, serious natural flooding does take place in South Jersey and it does happen fairly regularly; often in conjunction with winter storms termed as nor’easters (e.g. the Christmas 1994 nor’easter) or the occurrence of tropical storms and hurricanes such as Hurricane Eloise in 1975 and, of course, Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Sandy is estimated to have caused $30 billion in losses to businesses alone; additionally 346,000 homes were reported to have been damaged or destroyed throughout Jersey State. The Jersey Shore received the worst of the damage from both heavy rains and storm surges. Nearly 12 inches of rain fell just inland from Atlantic City. 507 buildings were destroyed along the Jersey Shore; 5,051 suffered serious damage to their structures while 66,212 incurred limited damage. Sandy was not the first and it is unlikely to be the last incident on such a scale.
What If The Flooding Hits You?
Assuming it to be a big storm; it is quite likely that power and other services will be knocked out and there is little else to do but either hope that your storm defenses prove adequate while you sit it out; or, you evacuate the area. Either way, there is not much more to be done until the storm blows itself out or moves away. Then, as the flood waters recede and services are restored; you can begin to assess the situation and start to think about salvage operations.
Salvage & Restore What You Can
Severe flooding not only brings water into a building; that water also carries a lot of detritus and muck along with it and much of that will remain behind when the water exits. If the building has collapsed about the only possible Water Damage Restoration In South Jersey will be to see if any of its contents can be dried out, cleaned off and restored – everything else is probably a write off. For less seriously damaged buildings; it may be possible (and practical) to pump out any remaining pooled water, clean up all the muck and then set about drying out and restoring everything from walls, ceilings and floors to furniture and fittings (plus any other damaged contents).
As you can imagine, on this scale, Water Damage Restoration For South Jersey residents and businesses alike is a major undertaking requiring specialist skills and equipment. At the very earliest date, anyone so affected should seek help from contractors like Eco Tech Mold Removal Company who specialize in such salvage work.
