It’s hard to imagine the scale of devastation that a major storm can cause until you’ve seen it. A tornado can cut its way through your town like a lawnmower through tall grass. Hurricane storm surges can wipe out entire coastal communities. Hailstones the size of softballs can pummel the area, and insane amounts of rain can fall so rapidly that the streets flood in minutes. When storms of this scale strike, it’s not a question of whether your business will suffer damage, but what you’re going to do about the damage you’ve sustained.
FLEET Response is ready to help you answer this question. Our local storm damage restoration companies know how to restore your damaged commercial property to its original condition, even if this means completely reconstructing your building from the foundation up.
When storm damage shuts down your business, a lot can depend on how quickly you respond. Every minute that your property damage remains unaddressed can affect your ability to reopen. Water seeps into the building and its fixtures. Inventory spoils and goes out of season. Contract delivery dates loom. Your competitors swoop in to pilfer your customers while you can’t supply them. Qualified employees might start looking for other work. You need to get back to business as quickly as possible or you may be going out of business.
At FLEET Response, we understand the intense pressure your business may be facing after a disaster, and we’re ready to help. Our local companies offer 24/7 emergency response services for storm damage, and they’ll be at your location quickly. They will get to work immediately, with an inspection of the site. Then they’ll be able to tell you how long your storm damage restoration will take, and how much it will cost. Having this information can reassure customers and vendors who might be considering alternatives and tell your key employees that they don’t need to find another job.
Our local companies are fully licensed, insured, and registered in the areas they serve. They can handle your entire restoration process, and they can even deal with your insurance company so you can handle the essential business side of things during storm damage restoration.
Benefits of Working with a Storm Damage Restoration Company
When a storm causes damage to your business or commercial property, it can feel overwhelming. You have to manage all the aspects of your business interruption, while trying to coordinate repairs and dealing with your insurance company. You know that in your fast-paced and highly competitive industry, downtime can mean falling behind, and if it takes too long to get back to business, you might never catch up. Plus, your emergency reserves are depleting much faster than you would like.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking at your damaged property, too. Water is seeping into walls and corroding machinery. Expensive fixtures are degrading. Merchandise is spoiling, damaged, or going out of season. The cost to complete repairs keeps growing the longer you wait to start.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to get past the damage to get your business back on track: contact FLEET Response. Our local companies are ready to help, and when you work with them, you will enjoy benefits like:
- Rapid and comprehensive repairs
- Reduction in total restoration costs
- Improved health and safety
- Time and energy savings to focus on your business
- Assistance with insurance claims
Rapid and Comprehensive Repairs
When you work with our local companies, you can count on them to get your business up and running quickly. With 24/7 emergency response services, they will be at your business quickly, and they will get right to work, beginning with a comprehensive inspection. This inspection will give you an accurate estimate of the cost and timeline for restoration. You can use this timeline to reassure stakeholders who find delays less difficult than uncertainty.
The experienced professionals at our local companies know how important it is to get your business up and running quickly, and they will work efficiently to complete your repairs as soon as possible without sacrificing quality.
Reduction in Total Restoration Costs
Our local companies can reduce the total cost of your storm damage restoration in several ways. First, by starting work right away, they can prevent some of the damage that occurs when water sits in your property too long. Using advanced water extraction techniques, depending on the loss, they can often pull water out from below carpets, behind walls, and other areas to allow them to dry effectively without having to tear them out and replace them.
Our local companies also have restoration experts who can identify which contents of your business they can restore efficiently. This can save you considerably over the cost of replacement for some types of equipment.
Improved Health and Safety
When water damage impacts your business, it can bring with it a host of potential health problems. Flood waters can be contaminated with sewage, chemicals, and dead animals. Not properly dealing with these contaminants can have serious implications for the health and safety of your employees and your customers. In addition, water damage can impact the structural integrity of your building. You need to work with a restoration company that understands this danger and knows how to properly deal with structural damage.
FLEET Response’s local companies understand the dangers associated with storm and flood damage. They know how to address them to protect your business and its people.
One Point of Contact
In the aftermath of a disaster, you will likely have dozens of voices calling for your attention:
- Suppliers who want to deliver goods
- Vendors who want you to deliver goods
- Employees who want to know when they’ll get back to work
- Investors in the business looking after their money
You don’t need to add to this chaos by working with a half dozen contractors during the restoration process. You want a single point of contact who can give you the information you need and deal with the details themselves. FLEET Response’s local companies can handle the entire restoration process from start to finish, so you will have just one point of contact through the entire restoration process.
This doesn’t mean giving up control: our local companies are responsive and know how to follow your instructions. It just means removing some of the noise that can make it hard to focus after a disaster.
Assistance with Insurance Claims
Another worry that our local companies can deal with is your insurance company. Getting compensation from your insurance company can make all the difference in whether a disaster might bankrupt your business or give it new opportunities. Unfortunately, insurance companies aren’t always helpful in telling you what you need to do to receive the benefits to which you’re entitled. The policy can be hard to read, and your adjustor can be hard to reach – plus just as impossible to understand as the policy.
Our local companies can deal with this headache for you. They deal with insurance companies every day and can help you understand what repairs are likely covered and which ones aren’t. In addition, they know how to accurately document damage and repairs so you can get the full compensation you’re due under your policy and get it faster.
Storm and Flood Damage Services We Provide
FLEET Response’s local companies can provide complete restoration services for your business property, no matter how severe the damage. Among the services we offer are:
- Emergency board-up services
- Water extraction
- Mold remediation
- Debris removal
- Wind damage restoration
- Tornado damage assessment and repair
- Hail damage repair
- Storm-damaged roof repair and replacement
- Heavy snow and ice damage repair
- Reconstruction work
- Structural repairs
- Utility repairs
- HVAC repairs
- Biohazard cleanup
- Painting, carpet installation, and other finishing work
- Content restoration
Working with our local companies can ease your burden after a major disaster. Instead of working with a half-dozen contractors or more, you will have just one point of contact throughout the entire process. Our local companies also understand the need for timely restoration.
What to Do After Storm Damage
After a storm tears through your business property, it’s important to take several steps to get your restoration started properly. To set your business on the proper path toward reopening, you should:
- Prioritize safety
- Contact your insurance company
- Contact a storm damage restoration company
- Assess and document all damage
Prioritize Safety
After storm damage, it’s important to make sure that everyone onsite is safe. Contact emergency services for any serious injuries or if there is a fire. Employees should not go back into a damaged building until it has been cleared by an expert as being safe to inhabit.
Contact Your Insurance Company
It’s important to contact your insurance company as soon as possible after a disaster. Being slow to contact them can not only delay payment, but it can also put your compensation in jeopardy. Let your insurance company know about the storm damage as soon as you are safe and have access to communication.
Contact a Storm Damage Restoration Company
Next, it’s important to contact experts qualified in storm damage restoration. The longer water sits in your building, the worse the damage gets, and water can keep rising inside if rain is coming through a damaged roof.
FLEET Response’s local companies offer 24/7 emergency response services, so they can be at your business shortly after receiving your call. Once they arrive, our local companies will make any temporary repairs necessary to secure the building and prevent additional damage from occurring. Making these temporary repairs as quickly as possible is critical to minimizing the risk of more serious repairs in the future.
Assess and Document All Damage
The last step before restoration can begin is documenting all the damage and assessing how much restoration will be needed. Our local companies can conduct a thorough inspection of the property to determine what the repairs will be like. They will give you an accurate estimate of the cost of restoration and the timeline for your business to reopen.
Protect Your Business Against Storm and Flood Damage
A severe storm can strike your area at any moment, causing tremendous devastation to your business. While you can’t prevent a storm from damaging your commercial property, you can take steps to ensure your business is prepared for a disaster.
All FLEET Response local companies offer a comprehensive Priority Response Emergency Program (PREP) specifically designed to protect your business in the event of a severe storm, flood or other natural disaster. With our PREP, your business will have a plan in place for when disaster strikes, allowing you to minimize disruptions to your operations while restoration work is being completed.
Some key benefits you’ll experience when you sign up for PREP with one of our local companies include:
- Pre-disaster planning, site survey and risk assessment
- Specialized commercial expertise
- Priority response and recovery
- Lower restoration costs and controlled unbudgeted expenses
- Reduced stress and aggravation of dealing with property damage
