Winter water damage in Florida caused by snow and ice... are you covered?

1/17/2018 (Permalink)

Annual accumulative snow fall over a 30 year period in the snowiest places in the southeast.

When you hear of snow and ice, you don't usually think that it would be in reference to the Sunshine State, but over the years there has been enough snow fall for two Florida cities to be considered the snowiest cities in the state.  The two North Florida cities have had enough snowfall to have an actual yearly average tallied in their honor.  This doesn't account for sleet (frozen rain) or ice.  While snow is mostly seen in the north to north central part of the state, cities such as Miami have seen snowfall.

We tend to think of winter water damage as being caused by broken pipes, but there are other factors that can cause a water damage such as accumulation of ice and snow on your roof melting or the small amount of snow and ice on the ground around your foundation melting.

If your water damage is caused by broken pipes or a roof leak from melting accumulated precipitation your homeowners insurance should cover you, but what if the damage is from melting snow or ice around your foundation?  In the latter instance you must carry flood insurance to be covered.  This is not something that we think about much in Florida, but as we have seen with the harsh southern winter this year, you can never be too prepared for disaster.  Start your preparation by being informed and having SERVPRO of Alachua County West's phone number handy in the case of emergency because we are "Faster to any size disaster."