What If There Is Water Damage At My Store?

Owning any type of business comes with inherent risks: an evolving marketplace, staff turnover, transportation hiccups. As an owner, you try to keep the space safe for teammeners and clients.You keep the parking lot well lit and the floors dry to prevent slips. This last year you even had to plan for a worldwide pandemic-– mask up and sanitize those hands!

As the person responsible for the bottom line, you constantly mitigate all the known risks. In a retail store, the chances of water (a flood, burst pipe, overflowing toilet) ruining the showroom or inventory is always there. You might even get water damage after a sprinkler system is set off by smoke or fire. Even more rare is the potential of a window break from a storm or tornado.

Potential Dangers

A retail store is filled with inventory on the floor and in the stock room; this area will be dangerous when wet. At the moment that they see standing water, employees face a risk from electrocution and exposure to potentially contaminated water. If the space and all contents are not cleaned up properly, it could become a breeding ground for harmful microorganisms like bacteria and mold. This danger can then spread to your team, clients and vendors. 

When re-opening a water-damaged retail store:

• Assess the area carefully before re-entering the store’s premises.
• Watch out for damaged electrical wirings, uneven flooring and falling stock.
• Water flowing into the store may have caused heavy stock to shift, so watch out for falling objects.

Staff Responsibilities

After any electrical hazards in the store are cleared, the staff can start basic cleanup by moving merchandise to an elevated place while waiting for the professional cleanup team. Then let the Restore Rite team focus on extracting as much water from the area as they can.  

If your store had flash flooding that left  windows broken, the manager should have the windows boarded up immediately to protect the property from risk:  weather elements, looters, vandals.  The store manager or supervisor should document details and keep record of all costs incurred due to the water damage.  

Research Insurance Options 

Many commercial property insurance policies will cover a pipe breaking but will exclude damage from flooding, groundwater, and backed-up sewer lines. The insurer  looks at the source of the water damage when deciding whether you’re covered. Before a flood, you can add a rider, or an endorsement, to your policy to extend coverage to hazards that are excluded from your policy to ensure your business is protected. (But not after an event.)

Explore opportunities to shift your risk to the insurance agency. Commercial insurers will likely not pay for all flood losses after a natural disaster, but they may offer endorsements to a property damage policy that can compensate you for certain costly effects of flooding. For example, consider coverage for business interruption. This insurance provides payment for up to six months of lost profits that allows owners to cover emergency costs, open a temporary location, pay employee wages, and pay for the increased cost of working until the structure has been repaired.

While the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) covers flood damage caused by a natural disaster, these policies are limited in the types of coverage they provide. Again, your insurance agent is an invaluable resource in navigating the available programs.

Protect your business with Professional Water Damage Cleanup 

After a water intrusion in Idaho Falls, you’ll need  both short-term and long-term action to get back to normal business operations. So develop a strategy  to enable an orderly and timely recovery BEFORE you need it. And call Restore Rite immediately to bring in manpower and expertise in water damage cleanup to get the business up – ASAP. 

When it comes to water cleanup and restoration, it is best to leave these tasks to trained professionals. Trust Restore Rite as a resource when you have a major water disaster at your business. When you call with a water damage emergency, the team responds immediately. Experts assess the amount of damage and then create a plan of action to restore the property as quickly and efficiently as possible. Call for help preventing or cleaning up water damage to businesses in Idaho Falls.