What should I do after my home was damaged by a tornado, fire, flood, or storm?

“If your home is damaged by a tornado, fire, flood, or storm, the first thing you want to make sure you do is to protect yourself. Is your property okay? And do whatever mitigation work needs to be done. And by that, I mean if there’s a hole in your ceiling or if there’s a wall missing, get the appropriate individuals in as soon as possible to protect that property from getting worse. Once you’ve secured that, the next thing you’re going to want to do is immediately notify your insurance company. You want to make sure you don’t make any permanent repairs and you don’t destroy anything so that the insurance company has an opportunity to come in and do an inspection and bring in any professionals they might want to. But don’t be afraid to go ahead and take those steps you need to, to prevent further damage.”