The weather this year has brought a lot of heavy rains and flooding. When you are a home or business owner in West Palm Beach, Florida, the weather can be frustrating and scary. Homes and businesses are at risk of suffering major structural damage due to hurricanes and flooding on top of many other disasters that could happen.
Hurricane season in the Atlantic brings with it a plethora of dangerous and devastating weather. But how does all of this get started?
All hurricanes are essentially fueled by two simple things: heat and water. Hurricanes generally begin above the equator, where the waters are significantly warmer. The air just above the ocean’s surface takes in heat and moisture and, as the hot air rises, it leaves the air below it with a lower pressure. This cyclical process repeats and produces swirls in the air, according to NASA. This creates a thunderstorm that has the potential to turn into a hurricane.
Warm water in the Atlantic is really the first key element hurricanes need to get started. Another important key factor is wind shear. Wind shear, according to Federal Aviation Administration, is a change in wind speed and/or direction over a short distance. Wind shears can be either horizontal or vertical and are most commonly caused by strong differences in temperature. These contribute to the cyclone of warm and cool air that starts a hurricane.
These two ingredients for hurricanes don’t just happen on their own, though. Gerry Bell, the lead seasonal hurricane forecaster for NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, says that “there are two dominant climate patterns that really control the wind and pressure across the Atlantic.
The El Niño/La Niña cycle is the first of these climate patterns. El Niño is a large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction that causes periodic warming in the ocean surface temperatures. These effects are seen in the winter season, with wetter-than-average conditions expected. La Niña is essentially the opposite of El Niño, in which it represents below-average ocean surface temperatures, but slightly warmer temperatures in the Southeast region.
The second climate pattern that impacts hurricanes is the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). This is a climate trend that has a time span of 25 to 40 years and is generally associated with warmer waters in the Atlantic. When the AMO is in a warm phase, there tends to be stronger hurricane patterns. Currently, we have been in a warm phase AMO, conducive to hurricanes, since 1995.
Hurricanes start out as tropical cyclones. Once a tropical cyclone’s winds have a sustained speed of 39 to 73 mph, it is then considered a tropical storm and it gets a name from the list put out by the World Meteorological Organization. If the sustained winds reach speeds of 74 to 95 mph, the storm becomes a Category 1 hurricane.
| Category | Sustained Wind Speed | Potential Damage |
| 1 | 74-94 mph | Minimal – some roof leakage, gutter damage, snapped tree branches |
| 2 | 96-110 mph | Moderate – major roof and siding damage, uprooted trees causing road blockage, power loss for days to weeks |
| 3 | 111-129 mph | Extensive – gable and decking damage, many uprooted trees, extended power outages |
| 4 | 130-156 mph | Extreme – roof and exterior walls destroyed, snapped trees, power outages for weeks to months |
| 5 | 157 mph or higher | Catastrophic – high fraction of framed houses destroyed, power outages for weeks to months, large areas uninhabitable for weeks to months |
About Regency DRT
Regency DRT is a nation-wide leader in emergency services and property restoration services with 7 offices in Florida and Michigan, including West Palm Beach, Orlando, Sunrise, Port St Lucie, Panama City, Fort Walton/Pensacola and Detroit. Regency DRT was founded on the belief that a restoration company should provide exceptional quality of services to their customers while maintaining the industry’s highest standards.
Regency DRT offers 24 Hour Emergency Response and has extensive experience in working with insurance companies and claims adjusters on property insurance claims, coordinating everything from initial response until the property is restored to pre-loss conditions. With our extensive training and knowledge of restoration services, we are able to quickly respond with the necessary amount of equipment, resources and staff for the unique needs of the job, whether it’s a single residential loss, large loss or area-wide disaster.
Regency DRT is also a proud Member of Disaster KleenUp International (DKI), North America’s largest disaster restoration contracting organization. Being a DKI member also provides us with nationwide affiliates and partners to provide nationwide coverage to our clients. Call us at 1 (888) 354-2447 or visit our website at RegencyDRT.com
Sometimes natural disasters come at us with such little notice, but there are things you can do to prepare your pets before the disaster is even predicted! Read on to learn more about pet emergency care in a disaster.
Like other things in life, thunderstorms differentiate depending on certain conditions. Sure, we’ve got severe and non-severe storms, but are you aware that there are four different types of thunderstorms?
How Harmful is Soot on Appliances, Countertops, Walls, and Other Surfaces After a Fire?
Once a fire has been put out, you may feel that you are in the clear. This isn’t necessarily the case; while extinguishing a fire does indeed remove a clear and present danger to your home and your family, it leaves behind smoke damage, ash, and soot, all of which can cause long term damage on their own.
Soot is residue from burned materials, which includes fuels, wood, and more. In large deposits, such as within a chimney place, it can even re-ignite. The type of soot that you’ll be dealing with will be less concentrated, but no less of a hazard. Inhaling soot can lead to cardiovascular problems in people of any age or level of health.
Mold, every home owner’s worst nightmare. Not only does it look unsightly, but a mold infestation can be detrimental to your family’s health. In this FAQ we will answer common questions about how it grows, who it affects, and how to get rid of it.
So.. What Is Mold Exactly?
Typically seen mold is a form of multi-celled fungus which is constantly present in the atmosphere in the form of fungus spores. These spores can make themselves at home with you, so long as they have a cozy environment such as a moist, generally undisturbed area. Additionally, they require a food source such as paper, wood, fabric fibers, dead skin cells, and more.
That Sounds Kinda Gross! What Impact Does It Have On Your Health?
Touching or inhaling the mold can affect anyone in the household. However, some people are more sensitive to the mold spores than others. Infants and the elderly, people with allergies, suppressed immune systems, and those suffering from asthma feel more effect from the mold spores. Typically they will experience inflammation of the sinuses, sneezing, runny nose, cough, congestion, itchy eyes, and skin rashes.
Yikes! Isn’t Mold More Of A Warm Weather Problem?
While it’s true that mold thrives in warm and moist environments, many onsets of mold occur in the home due to winter conditions. During the winter months, homes are less ventilated and water vapor will condense on cold surfaces such as windows and walls.
What Can I Do To Prevent Mold From Growing In My Home?
The best way to help prevent the growth of mold in your home is to minimize humidity inside the home. Spilled liquids should be cleaned up promptly, and damp clothing which cannot be laundered right away should be hung outside to dry. Ensure that your A/C drip pans are empty and the filters cleaned. Open windows to encourage ventilation in rooms such as the bathroom and kitchen. Also, be sure your appliances such as your dryer are properly vented outdoors.
I Think I Already Have Mold In My Home… What Can I Do?
The first thing to do is begin eliminating the sources of moisture in your home. If possible, open windows and doors while running fans to dry out the moldy area. When cleaning, never touch mold with your bare hands, always wear rubber gloves and a face mask.
If the mold damage is too extensive, you should seek out the help of a professional. They can inspect the property and give you an accurate estimation of what the cleanup will cost and how extensive it should be. If you would like to know more, feel free to visit our website.
Do you know what the EPA says about discarding moldy materials?
It’s not as easy as just tossing them into the trash can, which is what some homeowners might be tempted to do when they try out some “do-it-yourself” mold work.
It’s natural. It’s human nature. You don’t really think about this very often.
What are we talking about? Water, fire and smoke damage.
When you do think about what may happen to your home, and then take action to prepare, what you do is usually minor and easy to do… such as turning off your outside water supply when winter approaches and testing smoke alarms and replacing fire extinguishers on a regular basis.
Yet there is one very important action you should take right now in preparation for the unthinkable. That’s right, protecting your important documents, such as your birth certificates, marriage license, financial papers, insurance policies and social security cards.
Most homeowners keep all their important papers and documents in what they consider a safe place, such as in an organized folder in a home office or secure location where they know exactly where everything is. Unfortunately, that’s not really very safe when there is flooding or fire and
smoke. Others might utilize a water and fire proof safe, which is a great idea.
Yet there is something additional you can do to 100% guarantee your important documents are safe no matter what happens.
Scan them and put them on the “cloud.”
You may already do this, and if so, congratulations. No matter what happens to your home, your documents are safe and can be accessed from any device connected to the internet.
But if you don’t, get a cloud-based storage account that has plenty of storage space for your needs and start scanning those documents. Keep them organized in online folders, and make sure those in your family who should have access to them have username and passwords they can use in an emergency. You should still keep the originals as safe as you can, of course.
And when the unthinkable happens, when you do have a fire, flood or mold damage, don’t forget there is professional assistance for you: Call your disaster restoration pro for help.
Flooding is one of the biggest causes of damage to homes throughout America. As a result, the need for water damage restoration is great. The prepared homeowner will take certain precautions to minimize the effects and influences of flood damage. Although a flood may come despite those preparations, this homeowner is well-prepared to begin the restoration process, work with their insurance company, and not be overwhelmed by the task looming before them.