Flooding

By Rick Metz

This is a story Rick wrote years ago after serious flooding in Northwest Ohio. All of the ideas are still important today and forever in the future. Rick is a basement and drainage expert here in the Great Black Swamp.

This past Saturday, A Firm Foundation was pre-empted due to Michigan Football, but the prior week we delivered tangible information, including actions, that homeowners can take to avoid the flooding of their homes that had inundated many communities here in Northwest Ohio. Due to the importance of this subject, here is a summation of those solutions.

The first thing to remember is that a flood can happen in any season! Even though the conditions in August were tragic, imagine dealing with the same flood in colder months - even worse yet having flood waters freeze and not being able to be pumped away.

For those individuals that may be building a new home in the future, don’t skimp on fill dirt or cheat on the elevation of your home to save money. Here in Wood County, some of the most benign-looking streams, even ditches, can turn into raging torrents during heavy rains. Check with the County Engineer for 100 year flood elevations, then go a couple of feet higher for a safe margin. Most of the roads in Wood County are above the flood plain, so use the crown of a rural road as a starting point, then go

higher!

If you just had a flooded basement at your home, here are some essential tips. (1) Have some type of alarm on your sumpump. Inexpensive alarms are available at the local hardwares store, work like a smoke detector, and will afford you some warning of pump failure.

(2) If you have a finished basement, have some type of backup pumping system. First, be sure you have enough pump capacity for high water situations, a good outlet for the pump away from the house, then invest in a backup system that fits all the possible failures that can happen at your home, including a prolonged power failure.

(3) Pay attention in your home at how often your sumpump runs under normal conditions, this information will help your plumber advise you as to the needed backup systems for ultimate protection.

(4) As soon as you are done reading this column, call your insurance agent to make sure you have water backup coverage on your homeowner’s insurance. Water backup coverage is an add-on to a homeowner’s policy!

The legal definition of a flood, by insurance regulations, is more than 2 acres of land covered by water and more than one house flooded. The worst

situation we saw last month was a complete flood: A house, surrounded by water with water on the first floor of the house; what can be done? Look for a permanent solution! If it happened once, it can happen again! Here are some permanent solution possibilities:

(1) Raise the elevation of the house, in many cases it can be done. Explore that as an option.

(2) Cover up or fill in all basement openings, i.e., windows or outside doors, by blocking them in; try to make them waterproof.

(3) Study the surrounding area; is there a place to pump the water? If there is a large, safe area to pump a large volume of water, consider a dike around the house, with an outside pumping station for emergency situations like what happened last month.

(4) And, finally, if there is nothing that can be changed, your house or business is going to get flooded periodically, then be ready for a flood! Put mechanicals, possessions, and anything else of importance or value above the highest possible level the flood waters can reach.

Don’t dismiss all this advice and say, “it will not happen again for 100 years!” It could happen again next month!