Flood preparation after last week’s winter storm
JACKSON, Tenn. — After the major winter storm last week, drivers and homeowners will soon notice some changes as ice melts.
We have a few safety tips for you to make sure you’re safe on the roads as well as care for your homes.
Many people may have noticed while driving around that parking lots are full of snow.
All that snow, once it melts, has to go somewhere and that’s where the problems begin. Flooded parking lots and even more.
Driving through Jackson today, it’s more apparent that snow is beginning to melt.
This means roads will begin to flood as some draining systems will be clogged by ice underneath.
Law enforcement says this is a huge reason why even more, it’s important to drive slow and carefully.
The snow melting not only affects roads, but homes as well.
As temperatures begin to rise, the time to remove snow from your homes is now.
In particular, the roof. As this can prevent you from the possibility of having serious leaks.
“It will sit there and underneath it, it will melt because the attic is warming up and sun is hitting it. So the water, it needs a place to go, so it normally will seep through any type of whole or opening through the roof,” said State Farm Insurance Agent, Wes Harris.
Harris says before rushing to get snow and ice off of your roof yourself, you’ll need to hire professional help.
“The steps to really reduce that is to hire a professional. A roofer or professional contractor. We don’t like people getting up on their icy roof to try to do it themselves for a number of reasons,” Harris said.
A person who attempts to clear their roof by themselves can damage their roof or worse, slip and fall.
Harris says it’s important people understand how this weekend will impact so much for drivers and homeowners as a whole.
“With the warmer temperatures coming, especially this weekend and with the rain, we’re going to have so much excess water, that I would make sure that any pathways that the water normally takes is clear of debris,” Harris said.
And as always, if you run into to any deep looking water covering roads, it’s important to remember “Turn around, Don’t drown.”
