Preparedness for when

Alloneword

greenbee wrote: »

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the St. Albans sinkhole... We've been talking a lot about bugging in rather than out in the event of civil unrest etc, so it might be worth reconsidering what to do in the event of being evacuated due to fire/flood/gas leak/sinkholes (not sure the last 3 are likely to apply to Mar...)

I know i'm well behind with this one but that is what i'm working on right now, I live within a few feet of the River Thames and i'm BELOW river level and having known this area for over 25 years, it has become more and more of a risk that we will get flooded sooner rather then later, where i am most of us are below river level to some degree, so far done the basic of buying a motorbike to get us out of here in a hurry, no point in car roads would be gridlocked, it can carry a fair bit so panniers on the side have 3-4 pairs of undies/socks/trousers/t-shirts/sweatshirts/waterproof mobiles (2, 3 & 4G), scans of passports/driving docs etc/insurance/bank account and other account numbers all stored in waterproof document folder, will back up on to USB as well as some kind of cloud at a later date, sewing kit, 2 weeks of meds and rotate these ever 6 months, still looking for tent as given were social housing, it will be a nightmare to get rehoused, i mean there is no stock now so Christ knows what will happen if 50,000 are put on the streets.

Some will say Govt have it in hand but i'm not so sure, i went down to Canvey Island the other day to look at there system and they have early warning, markings on road for ways to go in an emergency, Rendez Vous Point's so they have some idea of a system in place round here we have Jack S**t so i have to look after ourselves.

As i say i'm well behind here, so soz about that but will catch up later on today.

All1

Frugalsod

I think your biggest risk would probably be the river overflowing after a heavy rain and flash floods. If you are below river level home insurance might be a problem but there are solutions.

http://www.ukfloodbarriers.co.uk/property-level-protection

http://www.floodark.com

http://stormguardfloodplan.com/flood-barrier/

Also these might also lower your home insurance.

Then moving valuables upstairs out of reach of any potential floods.

Possibly removing carpets downstairs so you can sweep out any water that enters afterwards more easily. Plus it saves having to replace carpets. The rugs that you use can be lifted very quickly and taken upstairs.

Keeping sand bags in the garage or shed so that they can be placed across doorways if necessary. Though if you have flood protection walls installed then this is unnecessary or minimally so.

Keep emergency camping stove and water filters up stairs should you get trapped in your home if it strikes whilst asleep, and the lower level is flooded.

Photograph and video the downstairs possessions to assist any insurance claim and probably best to keep off site if you can.

Work out a route to higher ground should any floods occur, then at least if forced to abandon your home you will be safe doing so. In fact a bicycle would be a good option here as well as motorcycles could have their engines flooded if the water is too deep whereas a bicycle will be able to cope with even deeper water, though it will be harder to cycle through. Panniers might be able to carry a lot but loading them in a panic would be dangerous and inefficient. Just use a back pack instead, and if you have it prepared as a bug out bag already then it would be ready straight away saving seconds or minutes which could be enough to save your lives.

Get wellies.

GreyQueen

The trouble with advice about moving valuables upstairs (not having a dig at Frugalsod, I scream at the Environment Agency's website for this, too) is that is presupposing something which ain't necessarily so; not everyone has an upstairs.

I don't. I'm in a groundfloor flat. And, apart from flat-dwellers, some people are in single-story dwellings. This was one of the major problems when the levees broke in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina - lots of people had 10 ft + of water (above ceiling height) in single story houses. Which is why they were on their roofs/ in their lofts and stranded in truly appalling levels of heat (100F) for days, and that's how some people died.

Alloneword, if you haven't read it, may I recommend Flood, by Richard Doyle? It's a fiction which is very well researched, and deals with what will happen in London should the Thames Barrier be overtopped, in incredible detail, borough by borough. I have re-read it in the past few weeks and believe there will be much in there of interest and relevance to your planning.

It details how emergency services and telecoms went offline as the water penetrated exchanges and took down electrics. And how the Underground flooded. It's unputdownable.

What I can see from personal observations is that you will not be able to drive out of a wide-spreading crisis unless you have a long clear start over the rest of the populace. Mine is essentially a medieval city with subsequent developments; the middle where I live is pretty small. The whole city is prone to gridlocking at short notice. Daily traffic is heavy, rush hour traffic is horrendous, and any hiccup such as a broken down car or bus, a road accident, tree down, can cause a crisis in minutes.

Persons living in towns, villages and other areas need not feel too relaxed, as the smaller number of cars will be on a smaller number of roads. I don't think many cars will make it out of a crisis, if everyone is trying to move at once. Walkers, cyclists, motorcyclists, yes. Cars, no.

Let's think about water in telephone exchanges taking down landlines and the internet. And has anyone ever received a Happy New Year!!! text from a drunken pal, sent near midnight, and got it several hours later? Yup, every single time. I can see mobile telephony being overwhelmed with a lot of frantic people trying to get through to loved ones, and TPTB might even decide to shut systems down to prevent panic and misinformation (or even true information) spreading.

Local authorties do help each other in crises, mine has helped another one across our region by letting them use our telephony and computer power out of hours when they were affected by a bad flood. But even with all hands to the pump, advisors like myself can only talk to one person at a time. And we get people wasting our time every day with silly calls, which no sensible person would have made. In a crisis, every nervy person is going to be reaching out for comfort and reassurance, the phone lines into local authorities will be jammed with callers and lots of people, who need urgent information, simply won't be able to get through.:(

And when they do get through, the information that local authority peeps will be able to give is only as good as the information we are ourselves given, which will be subject to human error, and misinformation, and being outdated as a fast-moving catastrophe unfolds.

Which is why, gentle readers, you need to have done some research beforehand, especially about where the contour lines are, the whereabouts of floodplains, the nearest high ground, and numerous other things. Because it is extremely likely that for the first several hours of an unfolding crisis, the only resources available will be your own, and that of other ordinary people. And there may well be no one 'official' around to tell you what to do, and they might not even have the right answers.

thriftwizard

I've been living out of my BOB for the last 3 nights; it's also known as my overnight/emergency bag, and when I realised that my mother was really quite unwell, I was able to grab it & go. But have to report an oversight on my part; previously I'd be able to pick up plastic bags wherever I went, so I've never bothered to stash a couple in there. But my mother has taken it into her head that she's going to be charged 5p whenever she uses or re-uses one, so she's chucked her stash out, all except the odd Bag For Life! Which is a bit excessive to wrap a wet flannel in...

It's mildly amusing, but on another level, rather sad; she's just assuming that They will somehow know whenever someone uses one! And also a bit of a lesson to me; circumstances outside keep changing, in ways both big & small. I need a little "bingeley" imp to remind me to update the contents of the bag every now & then...

Karmacat

That's a powerful post, GQ! Thank you for posting (and thanks to Alloneword too).

Literally over the weekend, I'd started to write a blogpost on what to do in a flood, I think its ignored on a lot of prepping blogs. And I confess, I *had* started with ideas about what to put on the first floor - because I still live in a house myself, tho I'll be moving a few years after retirement.

Can I ask, what would you do? Hypothetically, even. Make friends with someone on a higher floor, that sort of thing? Because there are an increasing number of flash floods, and the maximum notice seems to be about ten minutes.

In my own situation, there are a couple of dozen pensioners' bungalows, all still Local Authority owned, and they're about 20 feet downhill from me, on the very edge of the flood plain of an active little stream, the level of which varies tremendously, as we have clay soil round here, and the stream is only about 100 yards from them. In an overnight flash flood, they wouldn't stand a chance

mardatha

How do local authorities get away with building on flood plains in the first place?

greenbee

mardatha wrote: »

How do local authorities get away with building on flood plains in the first place?

Same way as everyone else did. It was only once the flood plains were full and we reaped the results that they realised it was a bad idea.

Actually, it was only when the insurance companies started refusing to insure (and to be fair, if the risk is too high, they're in business to make money, they have a point) that planners started rethinking.

Karmacat

Just bought that Richard Doyle book, £2.81 delivered.

thriftwizard - hope everything's okay for you and your mum.

And ... this may sound a bit mad, but I've just re-discovered a great prep. I wanted something in which I could soak the round little dehydrator shelves, and fished out an old washing up bowl. The bottom was broken, so I chucked it near the bin, ready to put it in the top once it was full. But twice over the last few days, as I've been pruning the overgrown border in the front of the garden (prepping to prep, and prepping to sell) I've used the broken bowl to put the prunings in, and *then* empty them into a bag. This has speeded up the process about 500% :o:o All the faff of keeping the edges of the bag turned down so I can put the prunings straight in there has disappeared Literally, I'll be able to keep the garden a lot straighter because of this, I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier.

moneyistooshorttomention

mardatha wrote: »

How do local authorities get away with building on flood plains in the first place?

You tell me - but my last local authority makes a positive habit of it. The pattern is = It announces there will be yet another bit of building on a flood plain. The local authority are told, in no uncertain terms, that its a flood plain. They let the building go ahead anyway.

Cue for loads of "locals" standing round saying "Why on earth have they allowed that? What are they thinking of?" But then - one of the gripes in the area is that the local Council never listens to the "locals" there anyway (even though some of them are "locals" themselves).

moneyistooshorttomention

Karmacat wrote: »

Just bought that Richard Doyle book, £2.81 delivered.

thriftwizard - hope everything's okay for you and your mum.

And ... this may sound a bit mad, but I've just re-discovered a great prep. I wanted something in which I could soak the round little dehydrator shelves, and fished out an old washing up bowl. The bottom was broken, so I chucked it near the bin, ready to put it in the top once it was full. But twice over the last few days, as I've been pruning the overgrown border in the front of the garden (prepping to prep, and prepping to sell) I've used the broken bowl to put the prunings in, and *then* empty them into a bag. This has speeded up the process about 500% :o:o All the faff of keeping the edges of the bag turned down so I can put the prunings straight in there has disappeared Literally, I'll be able to keep the garden a lot straighter because of this, I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier.

Doesn't sound mad to me - makes perfect sense. Personally - I like trugs though and lug one round the garden with me when weeding and its nice and easy to do so (ie because they have handles).