Ones For Real Estate: Texans Urged To Ready For Storms During National Preparedness Month
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) — September is National Preparedness Month and Governor Greg Abbott has proclaimed the same for the Lonestar State.
Now, safety and insurance experts in North Texas are offering advice to homeowners -- especially ones new to the area -- on how to protect your home and your family. They say it all starts well before a natural disaster hits.
Matt Tobben is a State Farm agent out of Flower Mound and reminds homeowners of the kinds of disasters than can happen in North Texas. "We get a little freeze. Zero degree weather for a few days, we get hail, we get tornadoes, obviously a hurricane remnant for us is a lot of rain," he said.
Tobben adds making sure you have the proper insurance policy that is adequate for your home is crucial. He said, "One of the best ways to get prepared is take 60-90 minutes out of your day once a year and go sit down with your insurance agent and make sure especially in these times...make sure your home is insured properly."
For new residents to the Dallas-Fort Worth area he says they follow up with the clients 30-45 days within moving in and make sure that the policy that they wrote is exactly what they want.
He is also reminding everyone that Texas home insurance policies don't automatically include flood protection. "You want to make sure that if you are in a flood zone, or feel like you could be flood, that you make you talk to an agent."
Tobben also advises you to document everything, saying, "Grab your cell phone. Walk around the house and just turn on the video and walk around the house and say 'oh my gosh I forgot about this piece of furniture.'"
In addition to insurance, experts suggest you have proper escape route plans, and that you have safety and first aid kits readily available and updated.
Some of the things to consider having on hand, according to bandage company DrySee CEO Brad Greer, are, "Antibiotics, pain relievers, bandages, dressings, etc. hand sanitizers, and gloves."
He says you can't talk about this with your family enough and you should update your kits often.
Greer added, "Things of that sort. Just avoid potential problems down the road."
