Getting Your Shore Home Ready Before the Next Nor'easter
Nor'easters give you some warning. Here are the practical steps that limit flood damage to your Point Pleasant Beach home before the storm arrives.
Know your flood risk and your shutoffs before the forecast
A nor'easter usually announces itself a day or two out, which is more warning than a burst pipe ever gives, and the homeowners who come through them best are the ones who prepared on a calm day rather than scrambling when the forecast turns. Start by knowing your own home's flood risk honestly, how high the bay has reached your street before, whether your crawlspace or ground floor has taken on water in past storms, and where the water tends to come in. That knowledge tells you where to focus when a storm is coming.
Know your shutoffs too, before you need them in the dark and the rain. Find your main water shutoff and make sure it turns, locate your electrical panel and know which breakers control the areas that flood, and if you have gas, know how to shut it off. In a serious storm you may need to cut power to the ground floor or the crawl before the water reaches the electrical, and the time to figure out which breaker that is is not while you are standing in rising water.
If your home sits low or right on the water, it is worth knowing your evacuation route and the local guidance ahead of time as well. The house can be restored. Protecting the people in it always comes first, and a nor'easter that brings a serious surge is not a storm to ride out in a flood-prone ground floor.
Move what matters up and out of the water's reach
When a nor'easter is in the forecast and your home is flood-prone, the most effective thing you can do is get valuables and vulnerable items up off the lowest level before the water arrives. Move furniture, electronics, important documents, and irreplaceable belongings from the ground floor or the crawlspace up to a higher level, or up onto blocks if they cannot be moved. Anything porous left at floor level in a flood-prone shore home is at real risk, and the storm gives you the window to save it.
Pay attention to the crawlspace and the ground-level storage that shore homes are full of. The bikes, tools, holiday decorations, and odds and ends stored in a crawl or a ground-floor utility space are exactly what a surge ruins, and they are easy to forget until they are floating. If you cannot move it all, prioritize what is valuable or hard to replace and get that up high.
It is also a good moment to clear the drainage around the home and make sure the runoff paths are open, so the rain that comes with the wind has somewhere to go other than against your foundation and into the crawl. Small steps before the storm save a great deal of cleanup after it.
Make sure your pumps and drainage are ready
If your home relies on a sump pump or any pump to manage water, the time to confirm it works is before the storm, not during it. Test the pump and make sure it actually runs and clears water, and seriously consider a battery backup, because the most common time for a sump pump to fail is during the storm that needs it most, when the power goes out. A pump that quits the moment the surge hits is no protection at all.
For homes that have dealt with sewer backups during past storms, this is also the time to think about a backwater valve, which keeps contaminated water from flowing back into the home when the municipal system surcharges during heavy rain. On the barrier island, where storms routinely overwhelm the system, that is a worthwhile protection for a home that sits low or has backed up before.
Clear the drainage paths around the home as well, the surface runoff routes and any grading or swales that carry water away from the foundation. A nor'easter dumps a lot of rain along with the wind and the surge, and giving that water a clear path away from the house is one of the cheapest ways to keep it out of the crawl and the ground floor.
Have a plan and a number ready for after the storm
No amount of preparation makes a flood-prone shore home immune to a storm, so the last piece of getting ready is having a plan for after the water comes in. Decide ahead of time who you will call if the home floods, and keep the number of a 24/7 shore restoration crew somewhere you can find it without power and without searching, because the middle of a flood is not the time to start looking. The faster you get a crew moving once the storm passes, the less of your home you lose to the salt and the dampness.
Know how you will document a loss, too. Have a charged phone or a backup battery so you can photograph the damage the moment it is safe, and understand what your coverage is before the storm, including whether you carry flood insurance separate from your homeowners policy, since the two cover different things and the bay coming in is almost always a flood-policy matter. Knowing your coverage ahead of time keeps the claim from becoming a second crisis after the storm.
Renew Restoration serves Point Pleasant Beach and the barrier towns around the clock, before the storm for honest questions and after it for the cleanup. Save 551-237-7452, take the simple steps above when the forecast turns, and call us the moment the water comes in. We will get a crew toward the island as soon as it is safe to roll.
After the storm: act fast but stay safe
Once the nor'easter passes and you are heading back to assess the home, resist the urge to rush in. Storm flood water leaves hazards behind, downed lines, contaminated standing water, compromised footing, and gas or electrical issues, so check for obvious dangers before you enter, and do not wade into standing water that may be in contact with the electrical. If anything seems unsafe, wait for the utilities to be cleared or for professional help.
When it is safe to assess, document the loss thoroughly before you start cleaning, and get a crew moving quickly, because on the shore the clock and the salt are both working against you the moment the water settles. The homeowners who recover best are the ones who prepared before the storm and responded fast after it, rather than waiting days hoping the home will dry on its own. In the shore climate, after a salt water flood, it will not.
Preparation and a fast response are the two things that keep a nor'easter from turning a flood-prone shore home into a gut job. Do the simple work before the storm, keep people safe during it, and call a crew that knows the island the moment it is safe afterward.
A nor'easter gives you warning, and using it well is what saves a shore home. Know your risk and your shutoffs, move valuables up, ready your pumps and drainage, and have a crew's number ready for after. Prepared and fast beats a flooded ground floor and a slow response every time.
Phone 551-237-7452 whenever you want it inspected, no pressure, no sales pitch.