This past summer we forecast a record-breaking wet winter, and suggested the best Impact Absorbents products to stock up on in preparation. Now, with winter nearly upon us, if you haven’t already prepped your home, business, school, or organization for punishing weather, there’s still time to act. El Nio can bring waterfalls’ worth of rain, and there is no reliable way to know how many storms may hit, or how much rain will fall and where. The best strategy, as with Y2K and other past emergencies that couldn’t be accurately assessed in advance, is to prepare for the worst and imagine for the best. Smart steps to take now if you haven’t already done so:
- Clean rain gutters so that water will flow freely through downspouts. Water goes where it can, and if the proper channels are clogged, it may pour over the roof and rot out your second-story or foundation. Not good for your business, house, or organization.
- Inspect the roof for loose shingles, cracks and other potential repairs needed.
- Check storm drains. Grass, leaves and other yard waste clogs the drainage system and pollutes downstream waterways, all of which flow directly into local creeks and rivers. Impact Absorbent’s Ultra-DrainGuard and Ultra-GutterGuard are ideal spill containment resources, preventing sediment, debris and other contaminants from seeping into the water system.
- Trim tree branches that appear loose or are hanging heavily over structures. Consider staking young trees.
- Prepare an easily accessible emergency supply box with several days’ worth of non-perishable food, water, flashlights, a portable radio, extra batteries for both radio and flashlights, and a first aid kit. Pack an extra cell phone charger, too. Any unprepared business or homeowners caught in the recent Carolinas or Texas floodwaters no doubt wish they’d had an emergency kit.
- Assemble materials for waterproofing and stopgap repairs: sandbags, plywood, plastic sheeting, lumber and other emergency building materials. Or simply order what you might need from us: Straw Wattles for erosion control and sediment retention, Jute netting to stabilize the soil and promote the establishment of permanent vegetation on slopes, Wood stakes for anchoring erosion control booms.
If El Nio turns out to be a better-behaved “child” than anticipated, you’ll be ahead of the game for any future storms.
