How to prepare for a flood?
First, remember the saying…”Hide from wind, RUN FROM WATER“.
The best preparation has at the end of it all an exit plan. A plan to get you and yours always from the area prone to flood. In the Carolinas they have had 2 ‘500 year flood’ events in the last few years. This is because the flood maps are for traditional (rain) floods. But, the Palm Beach County Hurricane Evacuations Zones take into account not only wind and traditional (rain) flooding but also from storm surge. Know your evacuation zone and heed the evacuation notices.
Most of the real estate in Florida was built or renovated and thus updated according to a modern construction code. Jupiter has seen several strong wind storms in the last 20 years and for the most part the wind caused damage, sometimes expensive damage, but little of it was life threatening damage. As an engineer I can tell you that a standard wall wind load with wind moving at 130 miles per hour is in the range of about 40 pounds per square foot from wind. But a single cubic foot of water moving at a design speed of just 6 feet per second (4 MPH) is 43.68 pounds per square foot. 2 feet of water is about 87 pounds per square foot. When loads get up this high it’s very difficult to economically design for them. Think about 5′ of flood water moving against a house? And that the house is buoyant, so it’s trying to float at the same time. A 1000 sf house displacing just 1 foot of water is 62,400 lbs of uplift. And that the wind may be pushing on the house as well. And that these events typically bring rain measured in feet.
So, to return to the question: How to prepare for a flood?
- Buy flood insurance. For most of us it’s $450 a year that’s well spent.
- Buy supplies and store them BEFORE you need them.
- Take valuables with you.
- Bring everything inside and store it up high. Rolling up a rug and placing on top of a table may be all it takes. Most flood damage is 6″ or less of water above your floor.
- Place good quality ‘duct’ tape around the door jambs. Clean the door and jamb before placing tape on them.
- Fill larger voids (dryer vents?) with expanding spray foam. 3 or 4 cans of ‘great stuff’ goes a long way.
- Keep a few barrels of sand at your house and empty sand bags OUT OF THE SUN. Fill them when needed and place in front of larger opening like along your garage door.
- Keep in mind that the wind will move the water in with the energy of the storm (wind) behind it. But after the wind goes away the water has to move away by gravity and community drainage. Maintain your swale areas and neighborhood drains to allow to water to recede as quickly as possible.
CLICK HERE to see what FEMA has to say about how to prepare for a flood.
CLICK HERE to see an example of how to calculate wind and flood loads.
