Disaster Relief and Recovery

Check to see what disaster relief is available to you under your insurance provisions (disaster relief and recovery). In the U.S., we have certainly seen some recent terrible disasters caused by extreme heat as well as flooding. Luckily, they are not so very common, but people who have lived through an earthquake don’t soon forget them. 

Flood and fire, building collapse, blizzards and rainstorms, falling trees, wind storms, all these potential disasters, wait for no one. Home or business, large retails spaces covering mall size acreages, churches, and gyms, all kinds of buildings are susceptible to the possibility of some type of disaster, man-made or natural. 

And while we shouldn’t walk around constantly worrying about the terrible things that might happen. We buy insurance for disaster relief, make sure our machines, flues, ductwork, pipes, etc., are working and inspected, reinforce our spaces for possible inclement weather. We hire crews to come out and trim our trees and take a walk around the roof to see what state it’s in.

But disasters do happen.

Disaster relief and recovery

And when your home or business suffers terrible destruction and set-back from a disaster, you need the help of an expert disaster relief and recovery (DRR) crew.

Time Is The Enemy; disaster relief should be available

No matter what type of disaster occurs, a disaster relief and recovery clean-up must happen immediately.

• Fire clean-up While you are undoubtedly happy that your local firefighters have done their work in saving lives and stopping a fire, they aren’t too worried if they have to throw an ax through a wall or have to bust out a few windows. And in snuffing out ablaze with their high-powered hoses, moisture crew specialists need to come into the fire ravaged area toas much diligently clean the interior of the space—rooms, machines, ductwork—as dry surfaces so no mold forms.

• Water extraction and professional drying interiors, furniture, and all the other spaces and materials in a flooded space take experts in this specific kind of cleaning and drying.

• Open Spaces Snow or falling trees can easily slice through a window or roof, leaving big gaping holes in a wall, and lots of debris in their wake. You can’t leave these spaces open to the elements for even a short amount of time.

• Machines & Retail Spaces If your business demands that your machines are up and running or your showroom space or restaurant needs to be safely open to the public, you need your rooms cleaned and sanitized ASAP post a disaster.

As much as a fire or roof collapse can cause countless property damage, water damage can cause mildew and mold growth; even the smallest crack in plaster will affect how your customers come to view your business, the longer you wait to hire a pro disaster recovery crew, the worse it will be.

Time is of the essence when cleaning up post a disaster.

What You Don’t See Can Harm, Even Kill You

You walk back into your home seeing charred walls, carpets, walls and furniture waterlogged, walls split open, a roof collapsed, or your floors are buckling. But there is so much you don’t see post a disaster that is still so potentially dangerous.

• There are unsupported spaces, openings, and structures that can fall at any moment. A professional disaster crew is experienced and aware of these contingencies when they come to clean, air duct cleaning.

• Mold, moisture, and dirt can accumulate—they even accumulate in a space that has not seen a disaster—that only a pro disaster cleaning team can sufficiently find and completely remove. You might spy a damp spot or two, even work on throwing away a water-logged carpet, but a DR crew knows all about mold remediation and how to dry an interior space, so it is actually dry…and stays that way!

• There are carcinogens, allergens, and other microscopic materials and toxins swirling through the air after a fire or flood, even from falling plaster or asbestos, that an HVAC cleaning crew will know to look for…and clean thoroughly so you can be assured of disease-free breathable air in your space.

• While you may think your ductwork system has been put back in place (and is clean), a disaster cleaning crew knows how to repair this system as well as efficiently clean it so it is working at peak efficiency and toxin-free air blows through it.

What you don’t know, see, or smell could certainly impact your health and the future well-being of your family or customers.

Your Insurance Check Is Not All There Is

Insurance money will help you on the road back to reestablishing your life and business. No doubt about it. This is what you have insurance for, after all. But you need more than the ability to buy a new product or refurbish your kitchen to make you feel confident about reinhabiting your house or opening the doors of your shop to customers once again. You need the confidence that comes from knowing that a professional disaster recovery and cleaning crew came through your home or retail space and performed the job that only they can do.

Psychological Scars

In many ways, your life will never be the same after you experience a house fire or a storm flood inside your commercial property. Even the best disaster clean-up and that often hefty insurance company check will never make you completely

whole. In fact, there are plenty of employees and families even that never return to their home or shop after a disaster strikes, no matter how well things have been cleaned and sanitized. The psychological ramifications of property damage due to fire, flood, or some other disaster can stay with a person for a very long time.

BenzVac cannot tell you when or even if you can return to your home or business. But we will do our best to help you try to put your life back in order. By applying years of disaster relief experience for your specific needs, we can assure you that all will be done in returning your business or residence back to you.