Preparedness for when

greenbee

GQ - think you must have been kayaking in the same part of the southern hemisphere as me ;-)

I have a kayak and although I don't use it at home, I have two streams, one either side of the house. I wouldn't use it on those in the winter, as the speed they move at and way they move is unpredictable. The advantage of the kayak though is that it only draws a few inches, so is handy for getting across large expanses of very shallow water.

Personally I'm hoping the flooding stops short of my airbricks (ooh... must get another back of the stickers for blocking airbricks) and boiler. I have no issues with being marooned on my own little island as long as I have food and fuel.

Last year was my first year in this house, and has given me an idea of what I need to do to prepare for winter. I have bags of sand, and chemical sandbags, and empty sandbags, and plastic sheeting, and a large supply of logs (need to keep chopping and get plenty of the seasoned ones in the garage as I have more unseasoned wood to put in the log stores), and another large supply of kindling (broken fence panels). I do need to get some coal, as when the heating isn't working (like now... plumbers don't seem to be in a hurry to return my calls either) coal is better to burn than logs.

nuatha

GreyQueen wrote: »

I confess myself astonished that whenever there is flooding and rivers are in full spate, there are some absolute idiots who find them irresistable and go kayaking and similar. And, as you say, doing stupid things endangers those good souls, both professionals and amateurs, who come to your aid.

I firmly believe they have the right to do it. Unfortunately I'm not stoic enough to stand idly by when they hit the consequences. It I was, it would simply be "evolution in action" as it is it is often the rescuers who end up injured.

I do know how to use a kayak, to a degree, and have holidayed overseas with an organised group using twin ocean-going kayaks, in coastal waters which were very sheltered. Until we came around a headland from a deeply indented bay and suddenly all hell broke loose and we were in heavy swell with a driving offshore wind.

I had one of the two pro kayak guides of our party as the rear paddler in my twin kayak and we dug in like mad things pelting inshore in the bay we'd just crossed into, against a heavy swell and in potential danger of a capzize (although these particular big kayaks are pretty hard to flip). It was a hairy few minutes as the swell tried to carry us out to sea and there was only our muscle power fighting back. We rammed ashore on the sloping sandy beach and staggered out all wobbly-legged from overusing our reserves. Took quite a bit of medicinal chocolate to recover from that. :rotfl:

The joys we don't particularly have a sheltered coast, its serious workout time using a sea canoe (but a damned good excuse to eat chocolate). My health is no longer up to it and I really should find a new home for the kayak - if floods hit me here, then part of the town will have lost there third storey - possible, but hopefully I'll have baled out before then. The bug out location would see the whole of this town flooded before there was any concern, again possible but at least unlikely.

Oh, just had a LBM; what about those huge rubber trugs sold for gardening and similar? I have a couple middling-large ones on the lottie. They're waterproof, would float, and could be used to tow belongings, the family pet or even a small child through standing water, with someone holding onto the handles on each side.

Good thought, they should work well, and built in handles would be a godsend.

Frugalsod wrote: »

Re flooding I would think that a Canadian style canoe would be more practical but they can be large and unless you use it regularly it would be an expensive insurance solution. An inflatable would be cheaper and more compact in such circumstances. Though personally I would think that if you are in a high risk area then sand bags and water bottles would be a better solution. You could protect your home much better with the sand bags and you will need water bottles as the tap water will most likely be contaminated during a flood.

You need to consider how long a flood might impact your area. It could be weeks or months. In which case you will probably have to move temporarily so moving valuables upstairs so they are out of the reach of the flood waters would be a good start. Then get breeze blocks and lift all furniture and put it on the blocks as the floods start. This will at least protect the majority of your furniture if waters seep in and flood the lower floor with a couple of inches of water. If you have sand bagged the house then water seeping in will be minimal, and all you might have to replace would be the carpets, and then dehumidify the house afterwards.

Look at Carlisle and The Levels. Sandbagging is fine when you're taking about relatively small amounts of water (though even then you tend to get seepage through the sandbags. When you're talking serious amounts of water and your second floor is under threat ....
Another issue is it takes time to deploy sandbags and similar. Look at 28th June 2012 in the Newcastle/Tyneside areas. I saw the sky go from clear to superstorm in about 7 minutes, 35 minutes later there were flood problems in the town I was in.

RAS wrote: »

This http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8372604.stm was put rather delicately.

His kayak ran into a fallen tree trunk and got stuck underneath it; he was jammed between the boat and the tree. His mates tried to keep him above water.

And they were experienced serious canoeists.
I know I was fairly blunt, if being blunt causes one person to rethink, then it was worth it.
What I now see a lot of are moulded plastic things that you sit on top of, these also get described as kayaks - well your at least a foot higher above the water, have something that will resist your movements rather than move with you. the only advantage is that you aren't inside the body of the boat, however these things look a lot less safe to me.

GreyQueen

I'm glad I'm not the only one who looks at those plastic sit-upon kayaks and has misgivings. I like to be in the kayak, with a nice spraydeck snuggled tight.

Those twin ocean kayaks are pretty manoeverable in shallow waters and we were carrying an astonishing amount of kit in 3 twins and one single kayak. You wouldn't want to have packed those loads on your backs.

greenbee, ATNP, by any chance?

Doveling

Glad we live on a bit of a brow. Enough money for the flood defences people need doesn't appear to be forthcoming.

RAS

nuatha many many people underestimate the power of water. Essential in small amounts, potentially lethal en masse. Never forget a video of a guy having his feet washed away from under him in a foot of fast moving flood water. He struggled to get his head above water (arms upstream).

Fortunately it was actually a high street and some bystanders grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and hauled him out - with folk holding them.

GreyQueen

RAS wrote: »

nuatha many many people underestimate the power of water. Essential in small amounts, potentially lethal en masse. Never forget a video of a guy having his feet washed away from under him in a foot of fast moving flood water. He struggled to get his head above water (arms upstream).

Fortunately it was actually a high street and some bystanders grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and hauled him out - with folk holding them.

Too right.

My Dad, a man of extreme natural caution, was walking alone in the Scottish mountains when he came to a bridge over a burn which was on his OS map but had subsequently been removed for some reason. He made his way cautiously across the very shallow but fast-moving burn. He was knocked off his feet and carried downstream for some little way, getting his shins and his hands badly scraped and getting throughly soaked.

It could have been so much worse if he had a head injury, or if he hadn't been coming off the mountains to the car in summer and been at risk of hypothermia. And he's a very cautious man and it must have looked perfectly safe, or he wouldn't have done it, but over he went.

An acquaintance of mine is a volunteer with a 4 x 4 rescue service. Has a mega vehicle with the exhaust pipe venting up above the windscreen and had taken that into water up to the tax disc. He is a professional driver for one of the top motor manufacturers, but reckons that most people have no clue about how dangerous flooded roads are.

greenbee

GreyQueen wrote: »

greenbee, ATNP, by any chance?

Yep, that's the one. It was the description of rounding the headland that gave it away... :cool:

I use a sit-on kayak because a. I hated canoeing at school as I always managed to get stuck when I had to role and b. I kayak with small children, so prefer to know they will float off in their life jacket rather than end up stuck under water. As I regularly fall off the thing in the surf, or am crossing marshland and having to get in and out, I find it easier than a traditional kayak. But I wouldn't want to do any serious kayaking in it...

RAS

GreyQueen wrote: »

My Dad, a man of extreme natural caution, was walking alone in the Scottish mountains when he came to a bridge over a burn which was on his OS map but had subsequently been removed for some reason.

I will walk quite a distance to avoid the same sort of situation. Knackering but I do not respond well to being underwater.

GreyQueen

I loved the place, minus the black flies, of course.

The bay where we nearly got into trouble is the one with the island where the seal colony is. We were to paddle to the island and around it (you can't land because it's a seal colony) but as soon as we got around the headland, the waves were seriously scary and our experienced guide considered that if we went out as far as the island, we might get blown out to sea proper and not be able to get back in.

I had sore patch on my left hand, where I had eroded several layers of skin from the area between my thumb and forefinger from friction from the paddle. It hurt like billy-o but it's amazing how you don't notice it when you're paddling like a lunatic for the shore.

We rafted-up the kayaks like a catamaran and sailed with a sail made form a square of ripstop nylon and the paddles as masts later on that trip, mega fun.

greenbee

GreyQueen wrote: »

I loved the place, minus the black flies, of course.

The bay where we nearly got into trouble is the one with the island where the seal colony is. We were to paddle to the island and around it (you can't land because it's a seal colony) but as soon as we got around the headland, the waves were seriously scary and our experienced guide considered that if we went out as far as the island, we might get blown out to sea proper and not be able to get back in.

I had sore patch on my left hand, where I had eroded several layers of skin from the area between my thumb and forefinger from friction from the paddle. It hurt like billy-o but it's amazing how you don't notice it when you're paddling like a lunatic for the shore.

We rafted-up the kayaks like a catamaran and sailed with a sail made form a square of ripstop nylon and the paddles as masts later on that trip, mega fun.

We did two days on the trip - other people were doing longer. We did manage to go round the island, but the next headland proved to be a problem! I was kayaking with my brother (who had refused to go with his girlfriend as so many couples they knew had had major fallouts doing the same trip!).