Preparedness for when

BigMummaF

Just thinking...with so many properties being built on natural flood plains :mad: & 'Sandy's' water surge being double the size of that expected, where the best place to actually store your stores would be? And would they got to waste if you were told to stay out of your property for x days, maybe weeks?

Our actual building structure is 95% plasterboard on cavity walls, & predominently the supports for those are bits of rough 2be2 & the odd strip of 1/4" steel 'ribbon' brace :eek: A l-o-n-g time ago we tried to hide the wiring to a pair of wall lighs by channeling down the wall that joined us to the neighbour. The previous residents had Rtexed the complete wall--complete with stipple effect as was the vogue of the time--but we managed with the knife steel as a hammer & cheapie screwdriver chisel :rotfl: Anyhooz; cue one angry Mrs Neighbour, when a chunk of her wall suddenly fell out & into her beloved coffee! We managed to laugh about it later, suggesting a serving hatch so we need not go use the door to share a natter, but how scary is that _pale_

Another issue with our late 1970s build is the loft space goes through from one end of a terrace to the other, separated only by ply & chicken wire. Many have tried to do something to make a more permanent division but the thought of fire going through is scary enough, but then worse is knowing some undesirable may have access to your private space, by simply levering up the loft hatch :shocked: We've got four of those hook & bar latches on ours so some resistance, but with nothing solid to anchor a sizable (e.g.) bolt, it's a case of cross your fingers & get on with your Life

GreyQueen

Brings home how rubbish a lot of homes are, in terms of stability and security, and we pay an arm and a leg for them, too. I wouldn't be thrilled at the thought of inter-loft invasion.

Could you mount a motion sensor on the loft hatch (the bit on your side) so if someone tried to open it from inside the loft it'd ring off and give you a few seconds warning, assuming you were at home? A Police person doing home security advice suggested one for my front door which I didn't bother with as my front door is no more than 4 yards from anything in this flat, easily visible from my bed and if anyone tampered with it, I'd hear it just as quickly as if any alarm rang off.

I have a river 50 yards away and there is nothing higher than a 3 ft wall between it and me. My area has suffered catastrophic flooding in the past and could potentially do so again. Enviroment Agency classifies this as moderate for flood risk but if it did happen, the flooding would be severe. Plus walking past markers on local walls saying the flood of X year went this high concentrates the mind wonderfully.

In an ideal world, I'd like everything well above floor level, but this place is beyond tiny and I have to work with what I've got.

Electricals such as my sewing machine are on top of the chest-of-drawers, and the PC tower and printer are just above floor level and would be lifted if I was home and there was warning. Bed would be lost, as would washer, fridge and cooker. Freezer is a cuboid countertop model so should survive all but the most serious flooding.

Some tinned food is in wall cupboards but the majority is under the bed on wheeled trollies. They could be lifted out with ease and relocated somewhere higher. The really critical supplies (teabags ) are on a shelf 6 feet up in a cupboard. If the place was inundated, I would be very wary about using tinned goods which had been submerged but if it was just a case of a wider evac because of.......? there would be almost nothing wasted as most of it is shelf-stable.

I don't own carpets and the rugs could be grabbed in seconds and chucked on top of furniture, and could be laundered in any case.

I have a Flood Plan which involves elevating what can be elevated but a lot of things would have to take their chances and I'd lose the mattress and some of the bigger applicances, but I do have contents insurance for that eventuality.

You can only plan with the situation you have at hand and there is no absolute right or wrong way of doing it, it depends on your circumstances.

meme30

craigywv wrote: »

sitting here in nerves waiting on confirmation date for oh redundancy he gets told today SOMETIME! could be friday could be christmas time, i wish they would hurry up so we could either way put our shtf plan into action or just ramble on until date comes. we pumped up for it being this week , dont get me wrong i have planned for this and have christmas , food and bills sorted just want to know either way instead of this dangling about not knowing, sorry for rant but your my friends on here and i feel you understand thank-you all xxx i will let you all know if i told before 11am as i go to mum and dads today in prep for party for all the kids tonight ,if not told till afternoon will let you know about 9 pm as my phone is a dinosaur and cant get this site on it.

Sorry to hear that you are waiting for bad news. Waiting is the hardest bit because once you know you can get on and deal with it. Hope he gets a new job soon.:grouphug:

Greyqueen:- I had forgotten that I was craving a Kelly Kettle! I might have to delve into my small change pot after Christmas, you never know, from small pennies grow kettles!

GreyQueen

Mum started asking me this week what I wanted for Xmas and I couldn't think of anything until I remembered a Kelly Kettle was on my wish list.........hel-lo Santa, I've been a very good girl this year, don'tcha know............

grandma247

BMF you can get alarms that sound if the connection is broken. Either window alarms or a shed alarm to fasten to the hatch. It would give you peace of mind when you are in the house but will not be much good if you are out except to give the intruder a fright.

The middle floor would be safest for food storage in most emergencies we have here but if things were really dire I doubt there is much can be done if you have to get out. You would only loose fresh and maybe frozen food if you were away for a few days. In a fire or the house collapsing completely there will be nothing you can do. Insurance is a good idea anyway. Food in your freezer would be covered up to a certain amount but don't know about other. If the house was destroyed food stores would be the least of your problems.

Sorry cross posted with GQ.

meme30

Greyqueen:-I believe in self reliance and I have been looking at these, http://www.megasecur.com/Flood-Howto.htmlh:- Obviously it's large scale.
On a smaller scale there is this for a domestic doorway http://www.caro.co.uk/index.php?pageid=1659
This one looks as though you could build this yourself, well you and a friend. Wood is not an an alternative as it would swell and get stuck, but there will be many plastics that would be useful for this.

rachbc

Just listening to R4 on the hurricane in Manhatten - fab comment from nurse coming of a long shift "I found my head torch, I found a bottle of red wine, I have my knitting" Now THATS my kind of prepared!

sb44

kittie wrote: »

I was making a batch of nut milk just now and thinking what a great sub this is for milk and so easy to keep dried nuts in the house. I use almonds and just soak about 1/2 a cup all night, then rinse and liquidize on the highest speed. I add a little agave to sweeten but a few dates are good and also good adding some vanilla for a change of taste. Then filter through an ebay nut milk bag (korea and really good value). The milk is lovely on cereal and lovely in various drinks
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=20

Can be made from any nuts and I keep loads in the house in a cool place, together with my dehydrated foods

Wow, never knew how easy it was to make almond milk, thanks Kittie.

I just found this video too showing how easy it is (don't think I will buy a bag from there though as I am sure I can get one for less than £7).

https://www.greathealthnaturally.co.uk/organic-and-natural-online-health-store-uk/the-amy-zing-3-in-1-nut-milk-bag-2-free-shipping-on-this-item

I don't know how little people pay for their almonds but they are on special offer at Tesco at the minute, £3.50 for 750g or £4.49 for 800g if you can't get the 750g bag.

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/search/default.aspx?searchBox=almonds&N=4294796120

GreyQueen

meme30 wrote: »

Greyqueen:-I believe in self reliance and I have been looking at these, http://www.megasecur.com/Flood-Howto.htmlh:- Obviously it's large scale.
On a smaller scale there is this for a domestic doorway http://www.caro.co.uk/index.php?pageid=1659
This one looks as though you could build this yourself, well you and a friend. Wood is not an an alternative as it would swell and get stuck, but there will be many plastics that would be useful for this.

Thanks for those.

The complexity here is that the side of my flat which faces riverwards is the one without the door but there are vents into the cavity walls on that side. The boilerhouse which contains the industrial gas boilers for our communal heating plant are over here as well and the boilerhouse is underground. Three guesses what'll happen if the river comes over? Pfffttt! Ooops we have no elastictrickery.

I'm a tenant so am not able to do such mods to the home but if the Towers had to be evac'd the Council would have to rehouse us, in hotels if necessary (has happened before) and in interim accomodation if the Towers needed extensive works to make it habitable. Big blocks of flats are highly-strung and often seem to me almost like living organisms in terms of their complexity, circulation systems.

I have seen on riverside homes in York (where the pleasure boat cruises depart from) steel gates on the patios obviously designed to be closed in event of flood. IF it happens very fast, I have memorised a top map and know where the nearest high ground is- 3 mins fast walking will see me off the floodplain and heading up quite a steep hill. This is a relatively-hilly city but it's also an ancient one and the old town is cuddled around the river and I'm 3 mins walk from the epicentre.

If things really HTF I can bugout to the allotment shed if friends are also affected (at least 2 good pals are on nearby streets and would flood too) or across the county to family but that would leave a long exhausting commute to work and the price of the commute would wipe out most of my earnings, asssuming public transport still runs.

I may have to hunker down on an upper floor of the municple buildings.........:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

grandma247 wrote: »

The middle floor would be safest for food storage in most emergencies we have here .

yes agreed. I feel so sorry for the preppers in america who have stored everything in the basement only to have been so drastically and suddenly flooded. A terrible nightmare over there and brings it home re flooding and them potentially being without power for weeks. No power to get pumping and no power to dry out. Many many homes will become uninhabitable. I see people on tv saying they will pull together, yes I am sure they will, up to a point but what then? I doubt they will be given council homes, they will feel lucky if they get a tent or a small mobile home and a few food vouchers

I forget to say to add water when liquidizing. Better than the sm stuff as no oil added