As Beryl churns toward the Texas Gulf Coast, AAA Texas offers important advice to help residents prepare their families and property.
“Now is the time to gather supplies, fortify your home and document your belongings,” said AAA Texas Corporate Communications Manager Doug Shupe. “It’s also important to prepare for heavy rainfall and potentially hazardous road conditions.”
AAA Insurance Advice:
- Review your home insurance policies. Contact your provider to ensure you have adequate coverage for any damages. If you do not have flood insurance, it is too late to get a new policy for this storm.
- Check your auto insurance policy to ensure you have “comprehensive” coverage. This helps with vehicle damage like flooding or if a tree falls on it.
- Store important documents in a portable waterproof container. Documents could include insurance policy information, birth certificates, social security cards, and more.
- Take Inventory. Document your belongings by walking through your home with a video camera or smart phone. Keep a record of large purchases including the cost of the item, purchase date, and model and serial numbers.
- Protect your home. Bring in loose items like patio furniture, bikes, and children’s toys – which could all turn into dangerous projectiles in high winds. Trim trees near your house. Ensure you have materials to make sandbags and board up windows, if necessary.
AAA Evacuation Advice
- Identify multiple destinations in case the storm shifts or roads close.
- Reserve a hotel room early, if needed. Hotels along evacuation routes often fill up fast due to high demand. If you are traveling with pets, be advised that some properties may loosen restrictions to be more accommodating to evacuees.
- Pack important documents like insurance policies, marriage, and birth certificates.
- Bring enough food, water, and supplies for each family member, including pets.
- If you are evacuating, leave early. Last minute evacuees often find congested highways and long lines at gas stations.
- Follow the advice of local authorities and leave if instructed to.
- Before you go, turn off all utilities and unplug every electrical item in the home, to minimize the risk of a fire.
AAA Texas urges drivers to be patient and courteous of others on the road. Tensions are likely to be high with an approaching storm, but getting in a crash would only make matters worse.
AAA Advice for Wet Roads
- ‘Turn Around Don’t Drown.’ Never attempt to drive on a road that covered with water. Turn around and find another route.
- Think about personal safety first. Should you encounter a situation where your vehicle takes on water, always think of you and your passenger’s safety first. Leaving a vehicle to get to safer, higher ground to prevent injury or loss of life should always be the priority.
- Do not use cruise control. Driving on slick roads means your tires will have less traction, and you should be prepared to adjust accordingly. If something goes wrong while you have cruise control on, there may not be enough time to take over the vehicle.
- Use your headlights in the rain, even when it is daylight.
- Increase your following distance. When facing reduced visibility, you and other drivers will need more time to react to surrounding traffic. Leave ample space between you and nearby vehicles to reduce the need for sudden reactions.
- Drive more slowly. Hydroplaning is an ever-present danger with as little as one-twelfth of an inch of water on the road. Some tires can lose contact with the road even at 35 mph. Reducing your speed will help you remain in control of the vehicle.
- If visibility is poor, pull over to a safe place and wait until conditions improve.
- Know how to respond to a skid. If your vehicle begins to skid, remain calm. Avoid slamming on your brakes; doing so could throw your vehicle off balance and out of your control. Instead, look and steer in the direction you want your vehicle to go.
- Never try to start a car that has taken on water. Flood waters are corrosive and contain debris that could enhance any damage the car has already received as a result of taking on water. In some cases, vehicles may be salvageable by drying out, but starting a car in flood waters can force water into systems that may not be damaged by standing water.
AAA Vehicle Maintenance Recommendations
Vehicle maintenance is part of safe driving by making sure everything in your automobile works properly. Be sure to check the following components: that way, you have less to worry about when you need to drive in the rain:
- Windshield wipers. Keep your vision as clear as possible by replacing your wipers every six to 12 months. Streaking or chattering are signs that it is time to replace wiper blades.
- Lights. Ensure your headlights, taillights, brake lights, and turn signals are functioning properly so other drivers will see you more clearly. Clean haziness from your headlight covers.
- Tires. Check them before driving in inclement weather at least once a month. Maintain your car’s recommended tire pressure. If you see uneven or excess tread wear, consider a suspension repair or wheel alignment.