flooding; what would you do?

[wareagle69]

we have all watched the news lately in the north(owl girl turf) minnesota and my old stompin grounds of ohio plus the south texas and oklahoma(the ok state)ppl are getting flooded out of their homes very fast, that ruins the bug in concept but then where do you bug out to becuase you have no idea what is and what isn't flooded now fvr doesn't have to worry and when i lived in the arizona mts i never thought about it either but to all my freinds in the flood plains what is your contingency plan(s)


remember
always be prepared...

[FVR]

I had a good friend in New Orleans, he kept a homemade flat bottow bayou boat in his downstairs.

When Katrina hit, the boat just floated up to their second floor, he loaded his wife and the imp. stuff and paddled out of his house.

If I was in the flood plain, def. would have a boat, a med. johnboat would do just fine.

[Chris]

Step 1, don't live in a flood zone.

Throughout history highground has always been the best places for human settlements, why has this changed?

It is also worth it to stay away from active volcanos and fault lines.

So ya, buy or build a house on a hill. But atleast owning a boat like FVR said would be practical.

[wareagle69]

where would you go? if your talking a small boat you couldn't live on it and if everything is flooded it's hard to b/o somewhere

[Sarge47]

we have all watched the news lately in the north(owl girl turf) minnesota and my old stompin grounds of ohio plus the south texas and oklahoma(the ok state)ppl are getting flooded out of their homes very fast, that ruins the bug in concept but then where do you bug out to becuase you have no idea what is and what isn't flooded now fvr doesn't have to worry and when i lived in the arizona mts i never thought about it either but to all my freinds in the flood plains what is your contingency plan(s)


remember
always be prepared...

I was raised in Burlington Iowa, right on the Mississippi. When that river floods, well, look at 1993 and you'll get the picture. Lots of livestock killed with some human fatalities as well every time the water rises. And it don't even have to rise to kill you, that under current is deadly. I prefer to avoid living in the low lands, but flash flooding can happen just about anywhere, and look what they're going through over by Owl girl's 'hood!

[FVR]

I'm not going to live on the boat, just going to pack up the wife and kids, dogs, hamster, and dump the fish into the water and start rowing. I'll find land, but if it takes too long, we gonna be cooking the hamster.

Poor, poor Angel.

[FVR]

Back when I was a kid, my mom was going to move us to this nice house right on the Rancocas river. We were already to close, and my mom asked the little boy, "do you like living here" the boy responded "yeh, it's real fun when it rains and we get water in our living roome".

Needles to say, we did not move to the house on the Rancocas river. Three years later, house washed away.


Honestly, if I lived in an area designated as a 10yr or less flood plain, I would own one of the large V hulled john boats. Equipped with a dependable motor of the appropriate size, storage space under the seats, and ready to go.

But then, I'm a little paranoid.

Oh yeh, reason number one not to in a flood plain. It floods.

[wareagle69]

new home update,

well we lost the 100 acre place we were looking some city boy with more money thought that lifestyle would be fun. fun you say what about a way of life you numpty oh well, so i looked at another way out also straw bale constructio drilled well solar and wind power w/ generater b/u been on sale for a yr i think ppl get scared of straw bale construction but they are superior in my mind.

[nell67]

I'm not going to live on the boat, just going to pack up the wife and kids, dogs, hamster, and dump the fish into the water and start rowing. I'll find land, but if it takes too long, we gonna be cooking the hamster.

Poor, poor Angel.

FVR, skip the hamster,more meat on the dogs LOL...unless they are chihuahuas, then maybe the hamster.

[FVR]

Rotty and a boxer/weiner dog.

They eat us first. The weiner dog will kill us while we are sleeping, the rotty will just sit back and get fed.

Just don't trust that weiner dog.

[wareagle69]

i've got a brittney spaniel ,whippet and pit(big suck) usta have a rotti but my ex got him poor bastard.

[owl_girl]

I agree a boat would be good to have. Also make sure you remember which direction the closest high ground is in case it floods at night.

[trax]

Rotty and a boxer/weiner dog.Just don't trust that weiner dog.

yeah, I know what you mean, they just look "shifty" to me, but about flooding, when the Red River flooded in Winnipeg in '97, all these people that lost their homes were whining about the government ponying up money for them and the feds did! I was thinking...what did you think was going to happen when you bought river side property??? duh...and they paid extra for it too.

Have a boat, know where high ground is, and make sure you have a reliable motor and oars, because there's going to be a lot of crap floating in that flood water that can screw over your motor pretty badly. A smaller outboard is your best bet, you need reliability not super speed.

[nell67]

I know this is an old thread,bringing it back because we are under flooding in our area right now,schools are either closed or on a 2 hour delay to see if the water will subside (it's still raining and will be quite heavy the rest of the day!).
We were having issues with the drains at work yesterday,bet they are having fun today,and the ceiling in the dining area was leaking as well.

I live at a much higher elevation than in the city I work,so far the rain is creating a muddy mess for me.

[Rick]

Very timely, Nell.

The FIRST thing you do is put a plan together BEFORE you need it. What you need to take with you, where you will go, how you will get there and how you will communicate. Then PRACTICE it to ensure you didn't overlook something. Don't forget your pets or any members of your family with special needs. All their requirements need to be included in the plan.

Check to ensure you have Federal Flood Insurance. Most private insurance companies (State Farm, Allstate, etc.) do NOT cover floods. You must be enrolled in the Federal Flood Insurance program to be covered. They even have a link to determine what the risk is where you live and what the expected costs would be to ensure your home.

http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/

[nell67]

Are you getting the rain as well Rick?? Not sure how far North this is going,but the Ohio River is flooding,they are putting up the flood barriers,and the crest isn't expect until tomorrow,one of the floating casinos has closed at least until tomorrow.

[Rick]

Yes. They are predicting 3 inches but not a worry for me. I'm about 30 feet above the lake and everything from here is down hill.

[nell67]

We got 3-4"inches yesterday,and expecting another 3-4 today.

The mobile home sits up on a hill,on one side of me,I have a 6' deep creek,that dried up last summer due to the drought,and on the other side a little "valley" between where the home sits and another hill,would take alot more than predicted to actually get up to the mobile home,so I am not worried.

[crashdive123]

Hope you guys are doing OK. Looks like we're in for that rain today, along with Georgia and Tennessee.

Something to note on the federal flood insurance is that it must be in place for 30 days before coverage begins. That prevents people from getting it "just before" the big storm hits.

Again, hope you guys are doing OK.

[Beo]

Okay its March 19th and we have had nonstop rain, I got 4 inches of water in the basement and its climbing, sump pump is running full tilt as is the drain, Chris said the first rule is to not live in a Flood Zone, well I don't live in a flood and I live on top of a hill, problem is after geting 14 inches of snow and now three days of rain the ground is saturated with nowhere for the rain to go, has to go somewhere so it eventually soaks through the concrete foundation. I have even used drylock on the inside of the basement wall, not worried cause it'll receed, used the wet/dry shop vac. to suck alot out but now I'm at work and the day will tell. Sure feel sorry for the Water Rescue guys today they been out since 230am and looks like they're working all day, the Miami river flood stage is 17feet, it is now at 26 and rising, the Ohio here is growing too.