Natural disasters are unavoidable and often happen when you least expect them. But what you can control is how you recover from these disasters. Homeowner’s insurance brings peace of mind during these emergencies and can help cover your losses when lightning (or another natural disaster) strikes. To help you prepare for those inevitable storms, it’s important to know just exactly what kind of disasters your insurance covers. Keep reading to learn more! Know Your Insurance Homeowner’s insurance protects you financially against covered damages to your home and personal belongings. There are several policy types offered for home insurance. While no policy covers all natural disasters, some will cover more than others. Depending on where you live, certain disaster coverage may not apply, which is why it’s important to find the right policy for your home. Common policies range from HO-1 to HO-8, with HO-1 being the most basic. Do your research, then make the best decision for you! What’s Covered? Before you assume your home is covered, double check your insurance policy or consult your insurance agent to make sure. While every policy has its own add-ons or exclusions, here are some natural disasters many insurance policies cover. Tornadoes & Hurricanes Tornadoes are fairly common in Minnesota and can be extremely destructive. If your home is involved in a tornado, it will likely cause damage to your personal property due to the strong winds, hail, and strong chance of fallen debris. Most homeowner insurance policies will cover you financially for these damages, but depending on where you live, your policy may require separate deductibles for wind or hail. The damages from a tornado can also include floods. Flood damage is not covered under any standard homeowners insurance policies, so purchasing an additional policy would be required to protect your home from these damages. Like tornadoes, damages caused by hurricanes are usually covered. These damages are typically limited to those caused by winds or fallen debris, and not flood damage. Fire If fire causes damage to your home or property, most policies will cover that damage. Restrictions aren’t common in regards to fire, but can be made in areas where wildfires are more likely to occur, or if the fire was set intentionally. This is something to take into account in Minnesota, where wildfires can be common. Extreme Cold Extreme cold isn’t unusual in Minnesota, where winters can be harsh and freezing. If a pipe bursts due to cold weather, the damages that water causes will most likely be protected. Damages from the weight of snow or ice will usually be covered as well. If snowmelt or the pipe bursting results in a flood, the flood damages will not be protected by insurance. Lightning Lightning strikes can cause many types of damage. Fire, explosions, or power surges can all be a result of lightning striking your home. Most homeowner’s insurance will cover these damages, even if the lightning doesn’t strike your home directly. For example, if lightning strikes a tree next to your home and the tree falls causing damage, your insurance will most likely cover it. Volcanoes For many people, this natural disaster doesn’t apply to their property at all. But for those who live in close proximity to a volcano, this is something they have to think about. A volcanic eruption causes ash, dust, and lava flow. Insurance will usually cover damages from these, but may not cover damages from shockwaves or earthquakes without additional policies. What Isn’t Covered? While many natural disasters are covered by your insurance policy, there are a few that aren’t. These natural disasters can be protected by purchasing additional policies, but aren’t included in the basic insurance. These are some natural disasters that won’t be protected. Earthquakes More than half of the states in the U.S. are at risk of earthquakes and the damage they cause. While they aren’t covered in any insurance policy, you can purchase an earthquake specific policy. This may be a good idea if you live close to a fault line. Floods Flooding from rain, burst pipes, or similar problems isn’t covered in your usual basic homeowner’s insurance policy. The cost of additional flood insurance varies based on where you live and how common flooding is in that area.Floods are quite common in Minnesota, so an additional policy would most likely be useful. Coverage costs range from $600 to even more than $1,200 per year. Tsunamis Tsunamis are giant waves that are typically created by an earthquake or volcanic eruption deep in the ocean. These disasters travel inland, damaging homes and various buildings. Flooding is a major result of tsunamis, and like stated above, aren’t covered by insurance. If you live near the coast, consider purchasing additional flooding coverage to protect your property. And, despite what you may think, our local Lake Superior does, in fact, experience its own form of tsunamis (called meteotsunamis ). Rapid Restoration is Here to Help! Each policy is different and coverage varies. While most insurance policies will cover these natural disasters, it’s important to talk to your insurance company to make sure. Find out about your coverage before the disaster strikes so you can be prepared! No matter what the natural disaster is, you have the disaster recovery experts at Rapid Restoration on your side. We offer 24/7 emergency cleanup services so when disasters happen, cleanup is a breeze. Contact us for fast and efficient restoration! We are here to help!

We all know about that stack of papers on the kitchen counter that we try to ignore but somehow keep adding to every time we check the mail! Don’t let your clutter control your life and make the changes to keep your home neat and tidy. Why Is It Important to Declutter? According to ABC News , people who live in a cluttered environment tend to have increased stress, unhealthier eating habits, and decreased focus and productivity. There are other harmful things that could be affecting your health if you have too much clutter in your home. Mold likes to grow in dark and wet places, and those places are easier to hide from sight if you have a messy room. Water damage can also be a problem if you can’t see the signs of a leaking pipe or ceiling. 7 Steps of How to Declutter Your Home! The task can seem intimidating at first, especially if it’s been a few months or a few years since you’ve deep cleaned your home. There’s no need to be scared, though! We have some useful tips that will help you clean up and organize your home! Step 1: Determine Which Rooms Need Decluttering! Take a walk through your home and assess each room. Some rooms may be cleaner than others so start with the cleaner rooms first. This will help you get in the habit and practice of how to declutter so you’ll be prepared for the messier rooms! Make sure you set small goals and try not to get too overwhelmed! Make a plan and stick to it! Keep in mind, decluttering doesn’t have to be done in one day. Span it over a week or even a few months. Step 2: Develop a Sorting System A goal without a solid plan won’t get you very far! That’s why it’s a good idea to have a way to sort through everything! That way you know exactly what you need to keep and what needs to be left behind. It’s a good idea to sort things into a keep pile, a store pile, and a toss pile. Don’t get too attached to the things that you’ll be tossing or else it will be counterproductive to the end goal! When you’re sorting through your stuff, try and only keep the things that you’ve used in the past 3 months and see yourself using in the next 3 months. This gives a good time-frame for you to determine how often you use the item and will help you live a more minimalist lifestyle. Step 3: Keep the Essentials Organized The things that you do choose to keep should be organized so that your room looks cleaner. Every person will have their preference for what kind of organizing system they want to use but several things might be helpful to everyone. Some of these things include using: Old shoe boxes or small plastic containers. Used to organize smaller items like charging cords or socks in drawers. Labels. A great way to find things kept in drawers or cabinets. Filing folders or cabinets. Have paper? These are useful for coupons, letter, and papers you can’t throw out. Small garbage cans. Put on in every room to encourage you and others to take care of trash immediately rather than leaving it around the house. Step 4: Store the Necessities If you have things you need to keep but don’t necessarily follow the 90/90 rule, you’ll want to organize those into storage. If you have extra space in your home, make sure you designate that closet or extra room to storage. If you don’t have enough room, you might want to consider investing in waterproof containers to keep things in a storage facility. Use plastic bins to keep things safe from any hazards that may occur like water damage or flooding in the event of an emergency. Filing cabinets are also useful to keep important documents in that you’ll need to keep for years to come so that they are out of the way but easy to find. Step 5: Get Rid of the Rest! Make sure you discard anything that you don’t or won’t need to use! Like we mentioned before, clutter can affect your health in negative ways but it’s important to discard of it. If you have papers, plastic, glass or metal that can be recycled, take it to your local recycling plant! Anything that can be donated to thrift stores or charity can help the communities you live in and if you want to make some extra money, then you can try having a garage sale. If you still have leftover clutter, it’s best to get rid of it! Rent a dumpster or go to the dump to get rid of the rest of your mess! Step 6: Deep Clean The last step to decluttering your home is deep cleaning. Make sure you get into every nook and cranny! This will help you keep on the lookout for hazards like mold or water damage that may have formed behind the mess! Mold can be extremely harmful if not taken care of properly and almost always starts growing as the result of water damage. Step 7: Call Rapid Restoration It may be confusing to know what to do if you happen to find mold or water damage in your home. Make sure you call the experts in charge of helping you clean up these hazards because they’ll know how to best fix the problem! Rapid Restoration does professional mold testing and inspection to make sure your like-new clean home is safe and sound! Want to Learn More? We’ve covered a variety of similar topics and the impact of mold in your home. Take our quiz to see if your home is making you sick. Learn more about the risks of black mold . Find out how to eliminate and remove mold from your home.