Posted: 6/5/2016 7:30:30 PM EDT
| Have the floods in Texas made you look at your preps for a flood if you live an area prone to them? Fortunately where I live it's not very likely at all but the events in Texas did get me thinking and I thought it would be a good topic. What can be done to prep for a flood? Any flood specific gear you guys in the lowlands have that others may not need? Maybe an elevated and flood proofed cache? You name it what have you done or what do you want to do before you're flooded |
| more for hurricane and tropical storm than floods necessarily, but having several large plastic totes like Rubbermaid or Sterilite keep items dry if you have to be out in tropical rain... I have a Craftsman rolling plastic tool box in which I store my dedicated storm electronics, and to transport basic essentials if evacuate |
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Not trying to sound like a dick, but don't live in an area that floods. That is your BEST flood prep. Seriously. Our house is over 135 years old. The old timers that came here weren't dumb. They built on hills. I always say, if it looks like our house is going to flood, I should have the Ark 2.0 at least half done by then. The old houses around here are on hills, our neighbors (built in the 90's) are no kidding 40 feet lower or more, right next to a creek and a section of field that always floods from heavy rains. Another example: Fargo, ND. Seems like there is catastrophic flood there every few years. Do you know what Fargo means in the Sioux language? It means "Place where idiot white man built village on great flooding river." Every few years Fargo floods, every few years we (taxpayers) spend millions and millions rebuilding there again. Definition of insanity again? Now I know that some places just experience monumental rains, such as what happened in Texas. That much rain in that short of a time in that landscape is just not good. That said, I see houses and towns in places ALL THE TIME that have ZERO business being built where they were. |
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I have been lucky where I live but the local governments have been deploying these type devices www.usfloodcontrol.com/TigerDamBrochure.pdf
and I know at least one home in the area that has deployed something similar to this to save their house and everyone is discussing that maybe this is the next investment for their homes. |
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Quoted: Not trying to sound like a dick, but don't live in an area that floods. That is your BEST flood prep. Seriously. Our house is over 135 years old. The old timers that came here weren't dumb. They built on hills. I always say, if it looks like our house is going to flood, I should have the Ark 2.0 at least half done by then. The old houses around here are on hills, our neighbors (built in the 90's) are no kidding 40 feet lower or more, right next to a creek and a section of field that always floods from heavy rains. Another example: Fargo, ND. Seems like there is catastrophic flood there every few years. Do you know what Fargo means in the Sioux language? It means "Place where idiot white man built village on great flooding river." Every few years Fargo floods, every few years we (taxpayers) spend millions and millions rebuilding there again. Definition of insanity again? Now I know that some places just experience monumental rains, such as what happened in Texas. That much rain in that short of a time in that landscape is just not good. That said, I see houses and towns in places ALL THE TIME that have ZERO business being built where they were. We've got family in Fargo...devils lake etc up there. Dunno how they do it. But then again. I live 1/4 mile from a river...in an oak hammock.....in what many would call swamp. Think Florida version of Endor ...with out the ewoks ...and stupid humidity. But my home is built off ground. 4-5ft. So unless we get a storm surge that drowns the beachside..and few miles inland we should do ok. If not well tie a boat to the front deck and fish off the porch lol |
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Not worried about floods specifically. However, some downpours in the past few years have been astounding. I have higher ground on one side of the place I rent and the crawlspace/not a basement thing under this house actually got standing water in it at one point. The ground on the other side is lower. The ditches were full of water and it was flowing like crazy and blah blah blah, but at times the ground water builds up to where it could be an issue. I almost bought a trash pump out of one of the amazon threads, I sort of plan to just get a sump pump perhaps and have it for emergencies. The way the crawlspace and stuff is made I had no issues, but don't want to get to where I have water down below for any length of time. Sump pump would have other uses as well. Trash pump was just more than I wanted to spend at the time. Theplacewithnoname.org and all the flooding the past decade has had taught me to look for high ground. That said, easy tn has so many hollers and what not the downpours can cause problems with some of the older bridges and roads and stuff. And fast moving water is a heck of a thing. |
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Ammo cans are generally floodproof. Most ARs and AKs and G3s can be taken apart to fit in a 120mm ammo can. When Hurricane Ike ripped off a roof stuff in ammo cans was safe, but nothing outside the cans was.
Texas in Springtime often goes through what I call a "rinse cycle" - as the season changes water is picked up from the Gulf of Mexico and then is dumped inland. Sometimes this cycle hovers over an area for an extended time. Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, Memorial Weekend 2015 and the recent Texas flooding are all examples of this. It is impossible to know where these weather cells will do their mag dump. When it happens there is nowhere for the water to drain quickly. SE Texas is pretty flat. During Allison areas of Houston that had never flooded had waist deep water in the middle of the streets - I was wading through that water to help get people to safety. The evening of April 17 and day of April 18, 2016 4.7"of rainfall fell in ONE HOUR in Harris County. I spent the night in my vehicle in a parking lot because the roads were too flooded to safely get home - I was coming home from College Station, TX where I had taught at a shoot earlier that Sunday. 23.5? of rainfall was recorded in 14.5 hours in Pattison, TX just north of Brookshire in Waller County on those days. It is now known as the Tax Day 2016 Flood. Keeping jungle boots and Goretex rain wear on board are my only vehicle flood preps and they did come in handy on Tax Day. I've given serious consideration to keeping a flotation vest on board as well after reading about a young man who went missing in Brenham recently. He was swept away from his truck on a Thursday. I frequently drive past the spot where he was swept away. His body was found the following Saturday. One of Darren Mitchell's last acts on earth was to post on his facebook "I just wanted to go home." Darren Mitchell - flood victim |
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I have heard of people getting trapped in teir attics in fast moving floods. For a while various groups were recommending keeping an ax in your attic to chops your way through your roof in a flood.
I remember footage from Katrina where some people had done just that. Worst case scenario is you have a spare ax stored away. |
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I think anyone in a flood prone area and/or in hurricane alley should consider this info, and buildings.
Elevate your main living areas above the appropriate max flood/storm surge level. Flood and Hurricane Resistent buildings Plus it will come in handy during the Zombie apocalypse. |
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we've had two hard downpours in the last few years that resulted in the road in front of my house being flooded up past the curb
my sump pump ran continuously but luckily kept up with it My parents' house was on a hill and didn't have a sump pump and never had water in the basement so when I was house hunting I didn't really now anything about them and didn't think much about it when I decided on this house. Most houses I looked at had sump pumps. If I ever decide to move my next house is going to be on higher ground than the surrounding properties even if it's only 5-10 feet higher For the most part I've been ok, but I did have an issue once where the check valve's flapper broke and blocked the discharge side of the valve so the pump was running but did not good. Got a bunch of water in the basement but luckily didn't lose anything. Washer, dryer, and furnace are up on cement pads and I had grabbed a pallet from the dumpster at work for my chest freezer. Everything I had down there for storage was already up on shelves. I did have to shut off the gas to the water tank, the burner was low enough to get put out Not comforting wading through water in rubber boots and unplugging a ump from a live outlet either |
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Quoted:
I have heard of people getting trapped in teir attics in fast moving floods. For a while various groups were recommending keeping an ax in your attic to chops your way through your roof in a flood. I remember footage from Katrina where some people had done just that. Worst case scenario is you have a spare ax stored away. I think if I was in a flood plain and thought I might need to hang out in my attic instead of an axe I'd spend the money to get some kind of weather proof hatch built into the roof |
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I live in Houston. My place does not flood. THAT DOESN"T MEAN I DON"T PREPARE FOR FLOODS!
Living in an area that floods on a large scale means that you need to prepare for flooding, even if you own place does not flood. When you live down here, there is no way around it. You need to prepare for the possibility that your vehicel might need to go somewhere that's a bit less than natural. I have seen people have to turn around and drive the wrong way on highway ramps, over curb/medians and yes, through water. There have been days that I have to search around for a way to get somewhere due to flooded underpasses and closed roads. There have been times when I am looking at a map while talking my wife over the phone through a route to return home. So, how do I prepare? 1) I drive a vehicle that is way more capable than a typical inner-city car 2) I have oversized tires 3) I have enhanced towing capability 4) I have enhanced lighting so I can see in the worst storm and I can light up an area around my vehicle 5)I carry tools and survival supplies 6) I have enhanced NAV and COMM 7) I have extra food and water on hand in case there is a supply chain problem 8) I can withstand an extended power outage comfortably |
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Quoted: Those make it sound like a recipe for over confidence and disaster. Quoted: Quoted: So, how do I prepare? 1) I drive a vehicle that is way more capable than a typical inner-city car 2) I have oversized tires 3) I have enhanced towing capability Those make it sound like a recipe for over confidence and disaster.  |
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Lots of vids on youtube of not just cars but big one ton trucks getting flooded out. One thing I always keep in mind is an older neighbor I used to know. He talked of a huge flood and getting out of the road required going through standing water that was up to the radiator in height. Few weeks later as temps for the area got to proper summer temps the vehicle was running hot. He checked fluids and this and that and got to talking to someone and they both looked at the fins in the radiator eventually and saw that the fins were plugged with silt and dirt and what not. He had to take the radiator out to get it really clean, he tried the car wash wand but it pushed the stuff in deeper. Had to take it out and push it out from the back. So fast or slow moving water, can be an issue. |
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I'm curious what the towing does for flood water Quoted:
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So, how do I prepare? 1) I drive a vehicle that is way more capable than a typical inner-city car 2) I have oversized tires 3) I have enhanced towing capability Those make it sound like a recipe for over confidence and disaster. I have personally seen instances during and after floods where the ability to tow trees, vehicles, etc. would be useful. Granted, you won't be out there at high water dragging things around but, it gives you options at other times. |
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Quoted: Those make it sound like a recipe for over confidence and disaster. Quoted: Quoted: So, how do I prepare? 1) I drive a vehicle that is way more capable than a typical inner-city car 2) I have oversized tires 3) I have enhanced towing capability Those make it sound like a recipe for over confidence and disaster. Now, as someone who grew up in Tornado alley, having a large, capable truck was nice for getting through (and clearing) debris filled roads. However, it borders on irresponsible to suggest a vehicle as a prep for flooding without being clear about the risk of driving in water. |