Flooded Home? Avoid the Dark Water

1/20/2022 (Permalink)

Should you experience a flood in your home after a storm or otherwise, our team of technicians will inspect your home or business to determine the appropriate plan of action for the type of water encountered. It's very possible you have 'black water" in your home that mustn't be touched.

"Black water", aka category 3 water is grossly contaminated and could cause severe illness or death if ingested and any contact should be avoided. Examples include flooding from rivers or streams, water from beyond the toilet trap, water from the toilet bowl with feces, or standing water that has begun to support microbial growth.

• May contain untreated sewage, harsh chemicals, and microbes
• Water from flooding rivers or sewer backup

24 Hour Emergency Service

Water contaminated with sewage backup should be considered an emergency situation and dealt with as quickly as possible. Our technicians at SERVPRO® of Olmos Park are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for any emergency situations that arise. We have been a trusted name in safety and properly restoring homes and businesses for over 15 years! We are here to help.

Do you Receive Weather Alerts on Your Phone?

1/19/2022 (Permalink)

Do you receive weather alerts on your phone? If not, here is how to get them. Weather alerts can save lives. Be sure to receive them on your smartphone.

Search for "CMAS" or "WEA" in your phone's messaging settings. You can also dial "##2627##" (minus the quotes) on your phone to turn them on.

 If neither of these do the trick, you might not have a phone that is WEA enabled, but you can still get emergency weather alerts with weather apps like the Weather Channel app or WeatherUSA.

For Android users, in order to meet the FCC standards, Android introduced “Emergency Broadcasts” features in all its mobiles. Through this service, you can get severe weather alerts instantly. Apart from these alerts, this feature also sends out an alert whenever there’s any emergency in your area.

Source: USA Today Online

Storm and Flood Maps Available Through FEMA

1/19/2022 (Permalink)

Storm and Flood Maps Available Through FEMA

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) partners with Tribal nations, States, and communities through the Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (Risk MAP) program to identify flood hazards, assess flood risks, and provide accurate data to guide stakeholders in taking effective mitigation actions that result in safer and more resilient communities. This data is incorporated into flood maps, known as Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), that support the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and provide the basis for community floodplain management regulations and flood insurance requirements. Flood hazards are dynamic and can change frequently because of a variety of factors, including weather patterns, erosion, and new development. FEMA, through the Risk MAP program, works with communities to collect new or updated flood hazard data and periodically updates flood maps to reflect these changes.

The FEMA Flood Map Service Center (MSC) is the official public source for flood hazard information produced in support of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Use the MSC to find your official flood map, access a range of other flood hazard products, and take advantage of tools for better understanding flood risk.

FEMA flood maps are continually updated through a variety of processes. Effective information that you download or print from this site may change or become superseded by new maps over time. For additional information, please see the Flood Hazard Mapping Updates Overview Fact Sheet

Source: FEMA online

Leaky Roof After a Storm Causes Mold for a Home in Olmos Park

1/13/2022 (Permalink)

After heavy storms, it's important to check your attic for moisture. Mold can grow in a matter of days if an area has the right conditions. After a heavy storm in the San Antonio area, a home owner was hearing a drip coming from the roof into the attic. The drip caused just enough moisture to cause mold to grow in the attic. If a leaky roof that has caused water damage is not properly fixed, "secondary damage" (mold growth) can occur. The certified professionals at SERVPRO of Olmos Park were called in to address both the moisture and the mold issues. SERVPRO of Olmos Park is mold certified and able to perform mold remediation as well as the water restoration. In addition, we were able to work with the home owner's insurance! If you have experienced water damage and/or secondary damage due to an area storm, please do not hesitate to call right away. We are here to help.

What Secondary Damage can occur after Storm Damage?

1/13/2022 (Permalink)

After roof leaks or flood damage, if not properly dried and treated, a home or business can develop mold from the moisture left on: wood, tile, carpeting, windows, concrete, and/or other materials/items that were affected.  SERVPRO of Olmos Park strives to prevent secondary damage every time we remediate water damage. Building material and flooring are dried and treated to prevent mold and other allergens/contaminates using specialized equipment and cleaning products.

If water damage is not properly treated, the perfect environment is created for mold spores to grow in your home and to contaminate the air that is breathed.

Should you ever suffer water damage due to: excessive rain, storm damage, leaky roof, flood damage, a water heater leak, sink overflow, fire, refrigerator leak, or any other reason water has invaded your home or business, please know that SERVPRO of Olmos Park is here to help.  Faster to Any Disaster

Contaminated Water after a Storm

1/12/2022 (Permalink)

Is storm water dangerous?

Should you experience a flood in your home after a storm, our team of technicians will inspect your home or business to determine the appropriate plan of action for the type of water encountered.

Category 3: "Black Water"

Category 3 water is grossly contaminated and could cause severe illness or death if ingested and any contact should be avoided. Examples include flooding from rivers or streams, water from beyond the toilet trap, water from the toilet bowl with feces, or standing water that has begun to support microbial growth.

• May contain untreated sewage, harsh chemicals, and microbes
• Water from flooding rivers or sewer backup

24 Hour Emergency Service

Water contaminated with sewage backup should be considered an emergency situation and dealt with as quickly as possible. Our technicians at SERVPRO® of Olmos Park are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for any emergency situations that arise. We have been a trusted name in safety and properly restoring homes and businesses for almost 15 years! We are here to help!

Olmos Park Area - Are you Storm Aware?

1/20/2021 (Permalink)

As we continue to see storms throughout our Olmos Park area cities, we at SERVPRO® of Olmos Park want you to be aware of what the different threat levels mean so that you can be prepared for whatever happens. 

Flash Flood Watch

A Flash Flood Watch is issued when conditions are favorable for flash flooding. It does not mean that flash flooding will occur, but it is possible.

Flash Flood Warning

A Flash Flood Warning is issued when flash flooding is imminent or occurring.

Flood Watch

A Flood Watch is issued when conditions are favorable for flooding. It does not mean flooding will occur, but it is possible.

Flood Warning

A Flood Warning is issued when flooding is imminent or occurring.

If your home or commercial building ever suffers flood damage, call the SERVPRO® Olmos Park experts.

Things to Do to Be Prepared in the Event Your Home is Affected by a Hurricane

1/20/2021 (Permalink)

Take inventory. “The last thing you want to be doing after you’ve been affected by a hurricane is to try to remember everything you had in the house. Having an inventory will make the process of getting through the claim and getting back to normal so much easier.” Keep the inventory list in a safe place away from your home like a safe deposit box.

Update your insurance. Make sure you have the right amount of insurance, and fill in a few key gaps in coverage.  Call your Home Owners Insurance Agent for more information and to hear your options.

SERVPRO® of Olmos Park will work with your insurance and try to make things go as smoothly as we can for you. 24/7 Emergency Service - Faster to Any Disaster

Source: Kiplinger

Roof Damage After Storm Sweeps through San Antonio

1/20/2021 (Permalink)

A home located near Olmos Park experienced storm damage when strong winds and heavy rains rolled through our area. A couple of shingles blew off during the storm, which allowed rain water to get inside the attic. The rain soaked the insulation and the drywall in the ceiling, causing the ceiling in this home to collapse. SERVPRO® of Olmos Park received the call and came out immediately. Our technicians applied a temporary tarp to the roof to prevent further rain from causing additional damage to the home until the roof could be repaired. Then, we began extracting any standing water and removing debris from the collapsed ceiling. We set up fans and dehumidifiers throughout the house to thoroughly dry the affected areas to help to prevent secondary damage or mold from forming. 

SERVPRO of Olmos Park is Prepared for Storm Damage

1/14/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of Olmos Park keeps an eye on the weather and is always prepared to restore home and business storm damage at any moment. In the event of a huge storm that affects many homes and businesses in the area, storm "Extreme Teams" are called in to help us so we can help out even more homes and businesses in the San Antonio area. Often times with storm damage comes water damage, and if not properly treated, comes mold damage. The first 48 hours of storm damage are critical in preventing further damage to your home or business.  As always, SERVPRO of Olmos Park works with your insurance every step of the way.  To learn more about storm damage restoration from the highly trained professionals at SERVPRO of Olmos Park, click HERE.

Protecting Your Roof During a Hurricane

1/14/2021 (Permalink)

Protect your roof. Consider hurricane straps to ensure your roof is bolted to the rest of your house. And inspect your roof tiles or shingles to make sure they are secure. Use roofing cement to fix any loose tiles to prevent them from becoming lethal projectiles during a storm and damaging the underlying roofing material. Seal any areas where wires enter the home, minimizing the chance of water damage during heavy wind and rain.

Trim your trees. Broken limbs could land on your (or your neighbor’s) roof/house or become missiles that can break windows during a storm. If your tree damages your house or a neighbor’s house, your insurance cover the damages, but it may pay only a portion.

If your home is damaged during a San Antonio area storm, call the professionals at SERVPRO of Olmos Park.  Faster to Any Disaster

Source: Kiplinger

Fires from Lightning Storms

1/14/2021 (Permalink)

Unlike other types of house fires, which occur more frequently in the winter months, fires in the home caused by lightning are more likely to happen in June, July and August in the late afternoon or early evening. From 2007-2011, NFPA says there were an average of 22,600 fires per year caused by lightning strikes.  Lightning is responsible for a number of wildfires as well.

Lightning during storms poses the greatest risk outdoors and frequently strikes the highest point on a structure.

Safety tips During Lightning Storms: 

• When possible, stay away from doors and windows during an electrical storm.
• Do not use corded phones, computers, TVs or other electrical equipment during storms.
• Unplug major electronics – TVs, stereo equipment, computers and microwaves to minimize damage if there is a lightning strike close by.
• Avoid plumbing such as sinks, baths and faucets during a thunderstorm as metal plumbing is an excellent conductor of electricity.

Source: National Fire Protection Association

Area Prone to Flooding? Choose which Sandbags to Use

1/21/2020 (Permalink)

Which Sandbags to Use for Flooding and Why

When the threat of a flood is close to your home, sandbags for flooding become as valuable as gold. There have been advancements with sandbags, which is great, thanks to water-activated sandbag which mimic the ability of real sand bags. Yes, they cost more, but are much quicker to implement in the case of a flood so the cost is negligible.

Sandbags for flooding are essential tools if you live in an area prone to flooding.  It is not advised to use other bags that are not intended for use as sandbags as they may not be as effective. Sandbags are constructed for the use of containing sand or soil to prevent or reduce the impact of water damage in the event of a flood. They are typically made with woven polypropylene or burlap sacks. Plastic garbage bags are slick and will not create a sturdy structure when stacked. Feed sacks, although made of similar materials to sandbags, are usually large and are also not practical for handling.

If your home or business has experienced a flood, please call the professionals of SERVPRO of Olmos Park right away – open 24 hours for emergency services and here to help! 210-348-2911

Source: Chainshaw Journal. Jan 2020.

How To Best Fill and Stack Sandbags

1/21/2020 (Permalink)

Sandbags for Flooding are essential tools if you live in an area prone to flooding.

Filling Your Sandbags

It is recommended that you use sand to fill your bags with, however if it is not readily available soil will work too. When filling your bags, you want to fill them just slightly more than half-full so they lay flatter, are easier to stack, and are lighter to move.  Bags are much easier to handle if they are no more than 40 pounds when filled, although this may vary depending on the size of the bag (typical bags for sand-filling are 24-26 inches long by 14 inches wide).

Stacking Sandbags

One factor to keep in mind when protecting your home and property in the event of a flood is that sandbags are simply meant to divert water and debris away from the home, but do not create a water-tight seal. Proper placement will, however, significantly reduce the amount of water that seeps in.

First, prepare the site where the bags will be placed.  You should clear by removing debris such as large sticks, mud, etc... These may cause gaps in your structure. Your barrier won’t function well if the ground is too slippery and your sandbags all slide away when the water flows; you need to be sure there is enough friction to keep them in place.

If your home or business has experienced flooding, please call SERVPRO of Olmos Park right away, as time is a factor. The professionals at SERVPRO of Olmos Park offer emergency services 24/7. Here to Help.

Source: Chainsaw Journal Jan 2020.

Wireless Emergency Alerts - Be Storm Aware

1/21/2020 (Permalink)

Emergency alerts on your smartphone are a proven lifesaver.

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) can save your life. Here's how it works: when the National Weather Service issues an urgent alert for a storm in your location, the system looks to see which cell phone towers are included in the storm’s area. All cell phone towers within the warning area send out an instant emergency alert to WEA-enabled devices. The alert plays the classic emergency alert tone and pushes a notification to your screen.

The great benefit to these alerts is that they only go off if you're in the area affected by hazardous weather. This helps remedy the problem of receiving false alarms for storms dozens of miles away on the other side of your county. If you receive an emergency alert on your smartphone, you know you need to take immediate action to keep yourself and your family safe. Wireless Emergency Alerts are pushed out for tornado warnings, flash flood warnings, hurricane warnings, dust storm warnings, extreme wind warnings, and local dangers such as AMBER Alerts and evacuation orders.

If your home or business has suffered storm damage, please call the certified professionals at SERVPRO of Olmos Park. We offer 24 hour emergency service and will work easilly with your insurance company.

Source: Forbes November 2018

Securing Your Home for Hurricanes

1/28/2019 (Permalink)

Securing Your Home for Hurricanes

Brace your garage door to prevent more-extensive damage.  Most garage doors are not reinforced, and when the wind gets into the garage, it creates a positive push at the same time that the wind swirling above the structure creates a negative pull. That push-pull combination can cause the roof to fly off. Find a kit that you can buy at home-improvement stores to brace your garage doors.

Secure your windows and doors. Broken windows can let in wind and rain, and they can also increase the pressure under the roof. Storm shutters provide the best protection, but boarding up windows when a storm is on the way can help, too. Make sure doors have several locking mechanisms so they don’t fly open; deadbolts are best. And it’s important to secure windows and doors at all sides of the home -- not just the one facing the body of water where hurricanes could form -- because hurricanes can swirl in any direction.

Source: https://www.kiplinger.com

Avoiding Water and Pipes in your Home During a Storm

1/21/2019 (Permalink)

Avoiding Water and Pipes in your Home During a Storm

WATER & PIPES

People on or in or near water are among those most at risk for lighting strikes during thunderstorms, both inside and outside the home. Water is a good conductor of electricity, and many homes have metal pipes (themselves fantastic conductors ). Not only can lightning striking your home travel through your pipes but lightning can travel stealthily into your home through shared pipelines that have sustained strikes some distance away from your home. Do not take a bath or shower, wash your hands, do laundry, use an ice maker, or otherwise use running water when there is lightning danger in the area.

If your home has encountered an electrical fire, please call the certified professionals at SERVPRO of Olmos Park today to assess the damage and to begin restoring your home. Faster to Any Disaster.

Source: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/

San Antonio Business Affected by Memorial Day Storms

1/29/2018 (Permalink)

San Antonio Business Affected by Memorial Day Storms

The crew of SERVPRO® of Olmos Park was called out to this commercial building located in San Antonio, Texas when a terrible storm blew in over Memorial Day Weekend. The rain was heavy and the wind was strong. So strong, in fact, that it managed to blow in a window, sending shards of glass throughout a  lawyer's office causing damage to a couple pieces of furniture that were in the room. Not only did this office experience damage due to the glass breaking, but the rain caused an extensive amount of water damage as well. Since the storm hit over a holiday weekend, it went unnoticed until Tuesday morning. By the time we were called, the water damage had spread throughout the entire fifth-floor office. Additionally, water had dripped to several floors below it. There was a lot to clean up, but no job is too big for our awesome team of technicians who made this disaster "Like it never even happened."

SERVPRO® Comes to the Aid of Those Affected by Hurricane Harvey

1/22/2018 (Permalink)

SERVPRO® Comes to the Aid of Those Affected by Hurricane Harvey

Fortunately, the Olmos Park area received only a handful of inches of rain due to Hurricane Harvey. 

Unfortunately, Corpus Christi was hit hard by Harvey's strong winds and high rain totals.  Immediately, Austin Tonroy, owner of SERVPRO® of Olmos Park responded to the owners of the homes in Corpus Christi.  Windows were shattered, roofs were torn off, and water had flooded in from every direction in some cases.  Our SERVPRO team was able to bring in generators to power the: pumps, fans, and dehumidifiers that helped us to remove the water and dry the homes. As in most cases with water damage, many homes were in need of mold prevention applications as well. There were many, many long work days and meals on the go.

 In the end, we at SERVPRO® of Olmos Park were immensely proud to have helped our fellow Texans during one of their most desperate times of need.

If you are ever found in the same situation with terrible storm damage, please know we are Faster to Any Disaster and are always happy to help.