Do you currently own a home? Do you have proper home insurance for in case of a catastrophic event or emergency that causes damage to your home or the items in it? You never know when disaster could strike, so it is important to be as prepared as possible. You should know what type of disasters or emergencies typically occur in the area you live in, how to handle them when they are happening, and what to do after the emergency occurs. You need to be prepared to handle repairs and maintenance after a house fire, after mold removal and when there is interior water damage.

Not sure what types of emergencies or disasters you should be prepared for? Keep reading to learn about different reasons why it is important to have home insurance, and why it is important to be prepared to handle the situation after a house fire or when there is home water damage.

Natural disasters and emergencies cause damage to homes more often than you might think. It is not all that rare for homeowners to need to take advantage of their home insurance every once in awhile. In fact, during 2015 alone, there was over $16.1 billion in insured losses from natural disasters. That number was up over a billion from the year previous, too.

Some types of catastrophic events that can affect a home range from tornadoes, to floods, to mold, to winter storms, to wildfires, to heat waves. It really is dependent on where your home is located in the United States as to what type of disaster could strike your home. At the end of the day, it is best to prepared for any and all scenarios, though. In almost all these cases, insured losses have increased over the years. For instance, when it comes to winter storms and cold waves, the 10-year average was nearly doubled in 2015. Insured losses reached $3.5 billion instead of the average $1.8 billion from the decade before.

Another type of disaster that commonly strikes home is water damage of any kind. Whether it is a flood, flash flood, or mold, water damage can cause a lot of problems for homeowners. More than 20 percent of homes that are damaged need insurance claims due to water damage. That is why it is important to stay on top of a water leak repair and water leak detection. It is easier to fix something along the way than to let it get worse and deal with it when it is more difficult to repair and more expensive to fix.

When it comes to floods, they are entirely unpredictable. At times, the walls of water produced during floods can reach heights of 10 to 20 feet high. These are often considered flash floods. Normal floods are one of the more common types of natural disasters. Around 90 percent of incidents that are declared natural disasters have to do with flooding. If your home is 2,000 square feet, it would not take much to rack up a repair bill pretty quickly. You could need to invest $50,000 into your home if there is 12? of water damage from flooding, according to Floodsmart.

Wildfires, house fires and heat waves are another form of natural disasters and emergencies that can strike homes resulting in the need for home insurance claims. Wildfires are actually the most widespread natural disaster in the United States currently. After a house fire of any sort, you want to know what exactly you need to do to start on maintenance and repairing your home, if it is repairable. If not, you want to know what steps to take to file all your home insurance claims properly so that you can receive the insurance money you deserve and start looking for a new home to live in.

Have you ever been involved in a natural disaster at your home? Has your home ever been extremely damaged after a house fire or from a flood or tornado? Let us know in the comments about your experience handling home insurance claims after a natural disaster or emergency struck your home.