As Labor Day rolls around and autumn winds pick up, the Atlantic Coast reaches peak hurricane and thunderstorm season. These sudden and powerful weather events can bring a flash flood and storm surges that can wreak havoc on low-lying areas or overloaded drainage systems.

While no one can control the weather or completely avoid household accidents, homeowners can take proactive steps to avoid or minimize damage. Just as with fire or intrusion systems, American Alarm can install sophisticated water and environmental alarm systems to give timely warning of flooding, gas leaks and dangerously high or low temperatures. We also can deploy robust backup communications solutions, in case the main landline and cell grid goes offline.

Because flooding is a leading cause of mortality in many disasters — and has been in the news lately in New England — now is a good time to consider your home’s security from environmental hazards.

Preparing for Mother Nature’s Worst Floods

New England is renowned for chaotic weather. Flooding is a regular hazard, and the winters can bring heavy snow that melt quickly. And with climate change, the intensity of storms seems to be increasing, making life for those living on the shoreline ever more precarious from rising tides and pounding waves.

This year’s winter and spring nor’easters battered Cape Cod, causing some of the worst flooding parts of the region had seen in 40 years, according to a local news report. An astronomically high tide flooded sections of Route 6A, making the highway impassable. In Provincetown, some streets were the scene of whitewater rapids.

The danger is not confined to the shoreline. In July, a series of crippling thunderstorms and floods suddenly struck throughout Massachusetts and beyond, as a NECN story details. Three tornadoes struck the Worcester area during separate storms, and streets across the state, from Boston to Springfield, were underwater. Downed trees and power lines left some 3,000 electrical customers in the dark.

What Can You Do Before the Deluge

If you are seeking protection from potential flooding, there are variety of steps to take, courtesy of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. They include:

• Creating an emergency response for your family
• Figuring out an escape route to higher/securer ground
• Monitoring the appropriate emergency response channels
• Clearing street basins to enable drainage

Going the Extra Anti-Flooding Step

Not all floods are vast catastrophes, however. There are smaller inundations that may take hours or days for you to detect, while in the meantime, your property is being destroyed. Simple precautions can help protect your home and family from all sorts of flooding (as well as for fires, burglars, carbon monoxide, and other environmental hazards).

Consider making a high tech, flooding alarm part of an integrated response system. Such an alarm must work 24/7/365 and report to a U.L.-certified central monitoring station. Response times should be in seconds, to give you a head start in case your cellar starts to flood. It can also enable you to address the causes of the flood as quickly as possible, and save yourself thousands of dollars in property damage. You can also enable the alarm system to receive official (and potentially live-saving) severe weather alerts.

There are recent, real-world success stories from American Alarm. Our systems detected a flooded basement In New Hampshire; a water-tripped fire alarm in a Rhode Island mansion; and a leaky sprinkler in a Massachusetts restaurant.

Next Steps

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