Preparedness for when

Butterfly_Brain

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

Hi,
I thought myself fairly well prepared for a not quite shtf scenario, until last week. Flooding - a river decided to flow around our house.
Now, it took a while to happen, but the worst thing about it was the toilet. Our drains and septic tank became full long before the floodwater actually reached the house...we had to stop using the toilet, and sinks. After only one day of a poopy-bucket, I left and took everyone up the hill to my mums house. We could have stayed much longer because the water got into the house very slowly. I might have been able to keep mopping it perhaps, I dont know.
My point is, when you can't use the sinks or toilet for whatever reason, things go down the pan [or not!] very quickly. What is the preppers solution to this?!

Some good advice here

http://www.yourownhomestore.com/sanitation-when-the-grid-is-down/

Butterfly_Brain

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Actually, a six month supply is 208 rolls.

32/4 X 26=208.

Aaaaaaargh must get more

Butterfly_Brain

Looks like we are going to get a taste of the polar vortex next week

http://www.metcheck.com/UK
Put in your town and it will give you a forecast for your region

Bricken

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

Thanks, I dont think we've had this problem - yet - but I wont rule it out, i know which direction the drains take to the septic tank and I know they are waterlogged - I assumed that gravity would keep things from flowing back up, but Im not an expert on these things!

This is as a temporary measure if the flooding is bad nothing will stop it as a precaution a ground floor toilet can be stopped as this is often the first ingress along with what the sewer contains, once water comes through your cat flap it time to move out and call the insurance company.
In the case of water shortage this can stop smells and creatures. It is also easier to remove than spray foam.

GreyQueen

Bricken wrote: »

Invariably flood water will find a way into your house backed up sewers is just one but a disgusting one. if you have warning and time to act take a plastic rubble sack put inside a cloth bag (old pillow case) filled with a small amont of sand 1 kilo ish drain wter from loo then push the sand in the two bags into the u bend until firm then add more sand 5 kilos should do it pack down tight then pour in 1litre of water then close the bags and seal round with gaffer tape.this will allow you to put plastic bags on top to use loo as normal then seal for disposal at appropriate time.

Thank you for this.

I was vaguely aware of the technique but hadn't had to apply it IRL, but am planning to get a bag of sand anyway, to have some by me in case of needing to make a zeer pot "fridge" . Most annoyingly, I once left a bag of builder's sand at a previous home as it could be used by the incoming tenant and I had no immediate use for it.

I've read about what happens in flooding and this blow-back from WCs is particularly gross and as a ground-floor flat-dweller near to a river, this is something I've always had in the back of my mind as a potential risk. I'd definately want to leave enough water in place to block the U-bend or sewer odour would come up, and that would be rank.

One thing I'd like to draw fellow-preppers' attention to is rubble sacks in general. A lot smaller and stronger than conventional rubbish sacks, they could serve a multitude of preptastic purposes, in addition to holding sand in a WC-down situation. I have a roll of them by me at all times.

I've read that the best cat litters for emergency human use are the clay based ones, as they clump the waste and then you can use a pooper-scooper to remove it to another receptacle. Might be an idea to have the cat-litter and scoop by you already?

I just nipped outside to look at the metal covers over the gaps in the cavity walls outside the flat. There's one per flat and one half-way between flats. I've known BT to have them off when doing stuff to the landlines. They're about 12 inches above ground-level and would be a potential point of water ingress in the river came over. I will have to remember them in a bad situation and nip out there with gaffer tape if it looks like going a bit pete tong.

The Environment Agency website has lots of useful information about prepping against flooding and is well worth reading. My postcode is classified as at "moderate" flood risk (that river) but if it did flood, the classification is "severe". I've looked at their maps and it would be pretty bad here. There are historic markers on various walls and people have been photographed boating in my neighbourhood.

Thing was, they were boating on the streets not the river at the time -arrgghhh!

I have a worst-case-scenario floodplan, if I have minutes' warning, which items I will haul up on top of the furniture and which will have to take their chances such as the sofa and bed and the kitchen appliances.

I find it helpful to have reasoned which things are most valuable and portable. Not everything can be uplifted, so I've decided which items would be saved and which would have to be sacrificed. I also have the receipts and warranties and proofs of ownership for just about everything copied and stored 30 miles away (and 200 feet higher above sea-level) in case of needing proof-of-loss for an insurance claim.

Loved the story about the home-made flood embankment; what an excellent prepper that late husband was. Can you imagine what the people who thought he was bonkers are thinking now? Notice the use of clay to make it more resistant to water? Smart man.

[Deleted User]

You might want to edit that link BB, as it gives your approx location.

I suggest replacing it with just http://www.metcheck.com/UK/

alice-mary

Hi People,
Thankyou for being so nice :-), I was just very tired and then worried that I had offended somebody. I read this and the Prep for Winter thread everyday and will continue to do so and I promise that if I think of something useful or interesting, I will post it on here!

Thanks again,

Alice
xx

greenbee

I've just had a visit from the flood co-ordinator. This end of the village is fine, but some people have cellars/ground floors below the water table affected. They expect the centre of the village to flood tonight/tomorrow morning as one of the bridges has only 2 inches of clearance left despite a couple of dry days which have certainly calmed the flow in both my streams. The water meadows are currently doing a very good job, but may flood into one of my streams later potentially impacting on the filtration beds from our sewage soakaways... but hopefully as we're only a few hundred yards from the source the water it won't be a problem.

[Deleted User]

greenbee wrote: »

I've just had a visit from the flood co-ordinator.

They employ someone, whose job it is to coordinate floods?

Is that anything like synchronised swimming?

[Deleted User]

And it's raining up here, yet again.