WASHINGTON — The big blizzard will soon be followed by the big melt — and there’s just enough time to prepare your house.
The region is expected to warm into the 50s on Sunday, and the 60s next week with a chance of rain, according to Storm Team 4.
The conditions could mean some flooding.
Billy Simons with Rust Insurance — D.C.’s oldest independent insurance agency — says there may still be snow on your roof, so make sure your gutters and downspouts are clear of ice and debris.
“Where the water exits the downspout, you want to make sure that the whole area surrounding that allows the water not only to come down, but to flush away from the house.”
He says if you still have large snow piles right next to your house, it’s time to grab a shovel and move that snow elsewhere.
“Make sure that you’re really giving your foundation a little elbow room, so that you don’t have all of that standing snow just melt directly into the ground.”
If melted snow seeps through your foundation and into your basement, like it does in many homes around here, you could be in trouble.
“Seepage isn’t typically covered on a typical homeowner’s policy.”
He says the best thing to do is plan ahead.
“If you have anything in the basement that’s of any kind of value, you want to make sure that you’ve either got it up off the floor, or you’ve got it in Tupperware containers; big Tupperware containers that are water resistant [or] waterproof.”
Even better, he says, would be to move your valuables to a higher floor.
