How Tropical Storms Can Cause Property Damage

5/19/2021 (Permalink)

Although not as strong as a hurricane, tropical storms still have the potential to cause extensive property damage.

Many people across the country watch the news of tropical storms battering Florida. They wonder what the big deal is, because it's just a lot of rain and wind, right?

They've forgotten the damages from the rain and wind of a tornado or other severe storms in their area. Let's examine what property damages are possible from a tropical storm in central Florida.

Property Damages From Rain

Tropical storms deliver rather impressive but torrential rainfall. Rain of over six inches could cause destructive flooding. Flooding of inland properties both commercial and residential is the first big result of tropical storms.

Roof shingles and tiles are not only infiltrated but torn off. This causes ceiling damages in the rooms beneath. Windows could possibly leak with torrential rains. Foundations can be harmed and basements flooded.

Chimneys could take on water. The floor of the room in which the fireplace is located would flood. Gutters could fail under so much rain. This would mean water damages to the walls, resulting in mold and mildew.

Property Damages From High Winds

There's a reason central Florida cities get the evacuations done before the high winds of a tropical storm begin blowing. Persons caught outdoors are urged to get inside before the storm starts. Here's why:

• Flying objects. Anything not tied down or brought inside morphs into a projectile hurled as if by angry gods. Fence rails, lawn furnishings, rakes, shovels, toys, and decorative stones could all crash through the walls of a house.
• Parking barriers, anything in the bed of a truck, and road signs could pierce the walls of a commercial enterprise. It takes a lot for clean-up crews to gather the projectiles and for repairmen to repair the damages done by tropical storms playing catch with commercial and residential buildings.
• Building materials. High winds snatch at things. We've seen fences picked up out of the ground by high winds. Roof tiles, ripped siding, even stone veneers can be snatched out of their resting places and tossed around in the wind.
• Blown away. The higher a building is, the more delight tropical storm winds take in putting their shoulders into it. High buildings can topple. Homes and lower-built commercial buildings have been known to be moved off their foundations by capricious tropical storm winds.

Property Damages From Storm Surge

The record for a storm surge during a tropical storm was in Australia in 1899. The surge traveled 13 miles inland, wreaking havoc along its path. Storm surges can travel up to 30 miles inland.

The problem with storm surges is that it eats away at both the land and buildings on it. Erosion happens to both land and highways. It can undercut the foundations of buildings as well as cause rising waters from local rivers and lakes. As high winds drive deadly rushes of water inland, it's a wise idea to run.

Property Damages From Tornadoes

The fury of movement inside a tropical storm spawns tornadoes. Also furiously moving, tornadoes wreak just as much damage as tropical storm winds and rain. Tornadoes, however, are capricious in the extreme. There's no telling which way they'll turn, how much damage they'll feel like doing, or when they'll exit stage left.

Tornadoes have been known to stomp houses into the ground, pick up mobile homes and deposit them miles away, collapse commercial buildings, snatch up trees and toss them into someone's house or store, take cars out for a spin, and make boats completely disappear.

All this is bad news to those living on houseboats, beach houses, and cabins on the lake. These places aren't only located on coasts battered by tropical storms; they're located inland on lakes and rivers. While there are warning systems in place all over Florida to alert people to the approach of a tropical storm, not everyone wants to give up control of their property to winds and rain.

Final Thoughts

The death toll following these awful storms is worse than the property they damaged. We can replace a house or a store, buy another boat or car, but we can't replace those who died trying to protect their property.

There are companies like SERVPRO of Winter Park that clean up after such a storm. The property can be put back together in time. The most important thing is to preserve the lives of the people owning the property. Heed the warning calls, and then call on the pros to fix everything afterward.