Category Archive: Flooding

We’ve all seen the devastating pictures of cars submerged or being moved by flood water. If your car has been subjected to flood water, you’ll want to proceed cautiously once flood waters recede.

Resist the temptation to start your car once you get access to it. Flood water can carry dirt and particles into every system and crevice of your car, including the engine, transmission, drive train and fuel brake and power steering systems. If you start your car, these particles may be driven deeper into systems, making them more difficult to clean. Instead, have your vehicle inspected and all systems cleaned and flushed before you try and start it.

As you might guess, cars may need to be taken apart substantially for cleaning, which involves a lot of time and labor. Depending on the extent of the damage and the make and model of your car, the cost of cleaning may exceed the cost of replacing the vehicle. Check with your insurance provider to see what they can do for you.

Unfortunately, the same thing can happen with flood-damaged homes. If your home sustains structural damage, sometimes the home costs more to fix than it’s worth. One of the best ways to reduce the risk of structural damage to your home from flooding is to install flood vents. Our FEMA compliant flood vents have been installed in homes across the U.S.A. For more information on how Flood Solutions flood vents can help mitigate damage to your home in case of flooding, contact us.

If you live in an area prone to flooding, you’ve probably already taken precautions to protect and minimize flood damage to your home. Yet flooding can also devastate gardens, killing plants, contaminating soil and destroying decking, paths and fences. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to help mitigate garden damage.

Ideally, garden flood preparation is part of the planning and design process. By choosing flood resistant plants, improving drainage and using water resistant building materials, you can mitigate damage when flooding occurs.

Of course, most of us are working with existing gardens. This doesn’t mean you have to remove what you have and start over. Instead, as you introduce new plantings or update your design, incorporate elements that will increase your garden’s flood tolerance.

If the worst happens and your garden is subject to a flood, proceed cautiously when cleaning up. Wear heavy gloves and boots and make sure your immunizations are up to date. Scratches can lead to serious infections such as melioidosis and tetanus from contaminated soil. Do not consume fruits or vegetables that have been exposed to flood water as they may carry contaminants from sewage or other sources.

For more information on reducing flood damage to your garden, the Environment Agency (U.K.), in conjunction with BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, has some helpful information.

Before you take steps to prepare your garden for flooding, be sure you’ve done everything you can to mitigate flood damage to your home. For many homeowners, flood vents are an important part of flood preparation. Flood vents help maintain the structural integrity of your home by allowing flood waters to flow through. You’ll end up with a soggy crawlspace, but you’re less likely to sustain structural damage.

At Flood Solutions, we design and manufacture only FEMA compliant flood vents made in the U.S.A. To learn more about our flood vents, contact us.

Unfortunately, floods and other disasters attract scam artists. While donating your time, goods and money is a generous act, make sure your good will isn’t lining the pockets of the unscrupulous.

The Department of Justice and the FBI have guidelines for donating responsibly. They include:

• Do not respond to unsolicited emails
• Beware of organizations with copycat names
• Make donations directly to known organizations rather than relying on others to make them on your behalf, and
• Do not give your personal or financial information to anyone soliciting donations.

FEMA also has tips for donating and volunteering responsibly. They suggest donating through trusted organizations. To help guide you, the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) website lists both national and state voluntary organizations.

If you do encounter fraudulent activity in recovery efforts, call the National Centre Disaster Fraud toll-free hotline at 866-720-5721.

In addition to fraudulent activity, unsolicited volunteers and donated goods can sometimes overwhelm communities in crisis. FEMA recommends affiliating with an existing non-profit organization before you go to a disaster area and to donate cash instead of goods when possible.

One way to alleviate flood damage and reduce your reliance on the goodwill of others is to install FEMA compliant flood vents. Our flood vents help prevent structural damage by allowing flood water to flow through your home. Your basement will require cleaning and possibly repairs, but it will cost much less than having to repair structural damage or build a new home.

To learn more about our made-in-the-U.S.A flood vents, contact us.

When considering what to have on hand during a flood emergency, most people think of flashlights, radios and food rations. While these are important, your cell phone is also an important tool in crisis situations. Cell phone text messages are often the most reliable way to connect with family and friends and get current information during a flood.

You don’t want to reach for your cell phone in an emergency only to discover it’s not working or can’t deliver the information you need. Here are a few tips for getting the most support from your cell phone when you really need it:

• Conserve the battery life of your phone. Keep it airplane mode when not in use, reduce the brightness level of your screen and close apps that automatically pull data.
• Have fully charged back-up batteries or a solar powered / hand cranked cell phone charger.
• Keep your cell phone contacts up to date and create a group for emergency contacts.
• Minimize network congestion by keeping phone calls short or (preferably) using text (SMS) messages or email. For the same reason, don’t watch streaming videos or download music or other large files.
• Keep at least one non-cordless landline phone at home. Cordless landline phones won’t work when the power is out.
• Consider using social media, such as Twitter or Facebook, as a quick way to update friends and family.

For more information on phone preparation and use during flooding or other emergencies, check out FEMA’s Get Tech Ready page.

In addition to getting your phones ready for a flood disaster, get your home ready as well. Flood vents allow flood water to pass through the basement of your home, alleviating disproportionate flood water pressure between the inside and outside. You’ll end up with a wet basement, but you’re less likely to suffer serious structural damage.

Flood Solutions’ FEMA compliant flood vents may save you money on your insurance premiums. For more information about our flood vents, contact us.

If you’ve never delved into the basics of flooding, How Stuff Works (a subsidiary of Discovery) has a great article that covers all aspects, from the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation) to monsoons.

What makes flood water so powerful? How is it we can swim safely in deep ocean water, while even just a few inches of flood water can be deadly? The answer is force of movement. When water overflows riverbanks or bursts dikes, it moves quickly to distribute itself evenly. This movement carries a great deal of force. Water is heavy (as any backpacker knows) so only a few inches of moving flood water can be enough to knock people off their feet or even move cars.

It’s this same force of movement that makes flood vents such a good idea. Flood vents allow water to move through your home, distributing pressure more evenly between the outside and inside of exterior walls. This, in turn, helps your structural foundation remain intact, minimizing costly repairs once flood waters recede.

All our Flood Solutions flood vents are FEMA compliant and made in the U.S.A. For more information about installing flood vents in your new or existing home, contact us.

We often associate flooding with spring, summer and fall seasons. Yet flooding can also happen in the winter. Unlike flooding from hurricanes or tsunamis, winter flooding can happen anywhere, not just in coastal regions.

Ice jams and rapid snowmelt are two common causes of winter floods. Ice jams occur when frozen river surfaces break into large pieces of ice. These pieces float downstream and accumulate at obstruction points, resulting in flooding.

Sudden snow thaws can produce significant amounts of water runoff. With the ground still frozen, it can’t absorb all the water. It quickly overwhelms usual water pathways, such as lakes, streams and rivers.

To learn more about winter flooding, take a look at FEMA’s winter flooding fact sheet.

If your home is situated within reach of lakes, streams or rivers that could flood as a result of ice jams or rapid snow melt, our FEMA compliant flood vents can help reduce damage to your home. To learn more about protecting the structural integrity of your home with flood vents, contact us.

If your home has suffered property damage from Hurricane Sandy or other declared disaster, you can apply to FEMA for housing assistance. You can apply by phone, online, via a mobile device or by visiting a disaster recovery center.

Once FEMA receives your application, they may contact you to schedule a housing inspection. The purpose of the housing inspection is to assess and verify damages. Inspections take about 30-40 minutes, and you’ll need to show identification and proof of home ownership. The inspector will submit a report to FEMA, and FEMA will provide you with a written response to your application.

There’s no fee for the inspection. Beware of scam artists who take advantage of disaster-struck homeowners by posing as inspectors and collecting fees or banking information. FEMA inspectors will never ask for this type of information or collect fees. They also carry an official identification badge, which you can ask to see.

One thing FEMA inspectors look for during an inspection is structural damage. Structural damage can be devastating, with high repair costs (when repairs are possible). Flood vents can help to minimize structural damage. They allow flood waters to flow through, which helps equalize pressure inside and outside your exterior walls. You may sustain some water damage, but the structural integrity of your home is more likely to remain sound.

Flood Solutions manufactures and sells only FEMA compliant flood vents, manufactured in the U.S.A. For more information about our flood vents, give us a call at 800-325-9775 or email info@floodsolutions.com.

Now that recovery efforts for Hurricane Sandy are well underway, some observers are discussing how to minimize damage from future storms. After all, recovery is expensive, with property damage estimated to be $20 billion in New York and other parts of the Northeast.

Most of the disaster mitigation discussions cover tactics such as installing flood gates at subway entrances, moving transformers and switching stations above ground and erecting sea barriers. Although good ideas, these are big-ticket items that would require significant commitments from federal, state and local governments and agencies.

But how about individual homeowners? Is there anything you can do to help minimize flood damage to your home? Absolutely. Steps such as elevating furnaces, hot water heaters and electrical panels, using mold-resistant building materials, and not placing expensive furnishings in your basement can all help reduce damage.

However, the most expensive type of damage isn’t a wet carpet or broken electrical panel. Homes with structural damage require expensive repairs, when they can be repaired at all. Structural damage can occur when flood waters surround your house, creating a pressure imbalance between the interior and exterior of your home. This pressure imbalance can permanently damage your home’s structural foundation.

One way to mitigate structural damage from flooding is to install FEMA compliant flood vents. Flood vents allow water to enter your home, so water pressure is more equal between the interior and exterior. You may sustain some damage to the contents of your basement, but the structural integrity of your home is more likely to remain sound.

Are flood vents a good option for your home? Find out more by contacting Flood Solutions. We have FEMA compliant flood vents for both new construction and existing homes.

In this blog, we’ve written about the importance of having an emergency plan for your family and business in case flooding should occur.

Another part of the emergency planning process is putting together an emergency kit. According to FEMA, your kit should include enough food, water and supplies to keep you and your family going for at least three days.

So what food should you include? Ideally, you want nutritious, non-perishable items stored in sealed containers. Real Simple magazine recently came up with a list of foods suitable for emergency stockpiling. Some of them include:

• Peanut butter
• Whole-wheat crackers
• Nuts and trail mixes
• Cereal
• Granola bars and power bars
• Dried fruits
• Canned meats (tuna, salmon, chicken)
• Canned vegetables
• Canned soups

Be sure to accommodate for any special dietary needs and include baby food and/or pet food as needed. Also, try to choose salt-free or low-salt foods so you don’t increase your thirst, and be sure to include a manual can opener and eating utensils.

According to some experts, it’s better to have food stored in cans than jars because jars are more susceptible to flood water contamination. For more on food safety after flooding, Utah State University has helpful information on foods to keep and foods to discard post-flood.

As you take steps to ensure your family will have the food, water and supplies they’ll need during a flood, be sure to take steps to protect the structural integrity of your home as well. Our FEMA compliant flood vents protect your home by allowing flood waters to flow through. It’s easier to clean up a wet basement than tear down your home and start over. For more information about our flood vents, contact us.