Preparing for Torrential Rain

Effects of torrential rain

There’s a range of potential consequences to heavy rain, depending on where you live and the immediate surroundings of your property. Some of the general problems that you may face in the event of torrential rain include:

Runoff – This is more of a universal issue for properties of all kinds, whereby the rain falls too quickly for the ground to absorb it, so it starts to ‘run off’. This water can transport harmful materials like pesticides, oil and other waste into areas where contamination is a possibility.

Flooding – Floods are the problem most commonly associated with torrential downpours, and serious flooding can be catastrophic in a number of ways. Without proper flood defences, land, buildings and people can be left at the mercy of large volumes of rushing water, which can cause untold damage to homes and businesses, and torrential rainfall can even be fatal to people and animals caught up in the floods.

Mudslides – This issue is particularly troublesome for properties that are based at the bottom of hills or mountains – if you’re surrounded by flat land, mudslides are unlikely to affect you. During or after extremely heavy rainfall, soil can liquify, and this can cause the ground to slip away. This debris and mud can barrell down a hillside at very high speeds, and it can destroy buildings, roads and anything else that happens to be caught up in it.

The drains in our properties can only deal with a certain amount of rainfall. Once that limit is exceeded, water will start to overflow, and that overflow can contain waste from our pipes and sewage systems. Waste can enter our homes and businesses, posing significant risks to health, hygiene and safety. Drainage systems in place below our lawns can also reach breaking point, meaning that water pools on the grass, damaging the surface and creating similar hygiene risks to leaks that occur inside a property.