Protecting yourself in Hail Season
Yikes! Crazy weather out there this afternoon. Here are some tips for protecting yourself in hail season. With the amount of extreme weather we get during our Alberta summers, we figured these tips from Intact Insurance may come in handy when it comes to protecting your home, auto, and business property.
Protection Tips
1. Clean out your eaves troughs and downspouts.
2. Ensure downspouts extend from your home at least six feet or set up a rain barrel to catch water runoff.
3. Look for any cracks, seepage or leaks in the foundation, crawl space or basement or your home and repair them.
4. Ensure the soil around your home slopes away from the foundation.
5. Park your vehicle in a covered area. If that’s not an option, cover your car with a thick blanket to help minimize the impact of the hail.
6. Try to avoid driving your car in the hail. Motion only increases the hail’s impact.
7. Inspect your roof regularly to keep it free from defects.
8. Install coverings for your roof and skylights and protective shields for equipment like HVAC units.
9. Close all windows and doors during a storm and consider installing impact-resistant shutters over large glass windows and doors.
10. Ensure you secure or relocate any furniture or other belongings in your yard. The high winds that accompany storms can turn these objects into projectiles.
11. If you’re replacing your roof, use materials that can help reduce damage to your home.
12. Subscribe to severe weather alerts so that you can know when and where a storm is about to hit.
