Batten down the hatches: How to stormproof your home

As storms batter Ireland today and Friday, here are expert tips on protecting properties from gale-force winds, heavy rain and snow

As wind warnings have been issued for Ireland from this afternoon as Storm Dudley approaches it’s a good idea to batten down the hatches on all fronts — not least at home.

A Status Yellow wind warning comes into effect from midday, with damaging gusts of up to 110km/h possible.

The warning will be in place until midday tomorrow.

But Storm Dudley is only the first of two storm systems over Ireland this week — it will be followed by Storm Eunice.  

Met Éireann warns that Storm Eunice has the potential to be disruptive and multi-hazardous, tomorrow night and Friday.

Both storms will bring strong and damaging winds and Met Éireann has issued weather alerts ahead of their arrival.

Storm Dudley will see mean wind speeds of between 65 and 80km/h with damaging gusts of 100 to 130km/h, which will be stronger on exposed coasts and on high ground.

The UK Met Office has issued an amber warning for counties Antrim and Derry, while a yellow warning will be in place for counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry.

If you live in a high-risk area, it’s not too late to protect your property from the damaging effects of gale-force winds and heavy rain. 

These expert tips will help stormproof your home… 

Protect your valuables 

Flooding might follow heavy rain, and water can cause irreparable damage to your home and valuables.

“You can move items that cannot be replaced — such as photograph albums — to safe places on upper floors,” says Ian Paton, partner in building consultancy at Cluttons (cluttons.com). 

Other items to consider relocating include “cars, pets, furniture, electrical equipment and treasured possessions”.

If you don’t have an upper floor, consider moving things like important documents to higher storage spaces, rather than keeping them in drawers close to ground level.

Suzy Tiffany, home claims director at More Than (morethan.com), says: “If you spot any problems immediately before a storm, try and find an expert to get them fixed as soon as possible. But if no experts are available at short notice, try and move any treasured items away from that area of the house, just in case.” 

Inspect roofing and gutters 

 “Check roof tiles are in good order and gutters are free-flowing, and cleared of all leaves and debris,” says Michael Jones, national waterproofing manager at Rentokil Property Care (rentokil.co.uk) and Peter Cox (petercox.com).

“It’s important to check your roof is of sturdy build, with no structural damage, such as rot or woodworm, that may cause a collapse due to the weight of snow on the roof."

Plan for evacuation 

If there’s a risk you need to evacuate your home, it’s important to be prepared.

“Make sure you are registered with the Environment Agency Flood Warnings Direct scheme and check with your local council to find out where your nearest evacuation centre might be if required,” Paton says. “You should also check if pets are allowed — if not, consider moving your pet elsewhere.” 

In the event of floodwater entering your property, make sure you know how to turn off gas, electricity and water mains. 

Paton adds: “Check insurance is up to date and covers storms and flooding, and that the value of your contents is up to date.” 

Prepare a flood kit 

A flood kit contains copies of important documents and practical items such as “torches, spare batteries, a windup radio, bottled water (fill all spare vessels with clean drinking water), medicines, spare clothing and blankets”, Paton says.

He also advises keeping a paper copy of “emergency phone numbers in your flood kit, including doctors, energy suppliers, local police, local builders, family and neighbours”.