Rainy season safety tips

Heidi Dias, Lead Head Consultant, Operations at Mutual & Federal, comments, “It is difficult to anticipate when the first real storms of the season will take place, but in the meantime, we recommend that home-owners put in place a few precautions for both hail and thunderstorms. This will help to safeguard people from injury and will also help alleviate damage to people’s belongings.”

Here are a few guidelines to help you to plan around possible summer season weather incidents:

• When possible, avoid driving in hailstorms. If this isn’t possible, pull into an undercover facility to limit the amount of hailstorm exposure to your vehicle. Mutual & Federal offers a weather alert service for its clients which is sent via SMS upon subscription to the service. This will help drivers to plan their trips.
• With Gauteng typically experiencing rain during the summer season, road conditions often deteriorate during this time. Mutual & Federal has typically seen an increase in road accidents during the summer months in Johannesburg. When driving in the rain, drivers should increase their following distance by a minimum of a three car length, as well as decrease their driving speed and turn on their vehicle’s headlights.
• Cape Town has historically experienced floods during the fourth quarter of the year. To prevent serious damage should flooding occur, ensure gutters are cleaned from leaves and other debris and that your roof is in good repair.
• Another common weather-related insurance issue which Mutual & Federal often sees through its claim process is the damage to electronic devices through lightning damage. At the start of a storm, people should unplug as many of their electronic devices as possible such as Wi-Fi routers, cellphone chargers, UPSs and computers.