Preparing for Winter V

GreyQueen

Flood waters can also originate inside the home. A pal had a hot water tap supply pipe leak for the best part of a working day. Clean water, but the damage was horrendous and the drying out process took weeks with big fans and dehumidifiers running nonstop.

Might be an idea to keep a wary eye on all plumbing....

Floss

I'm on a hill at the bottom of which is the canal, so unless we have biblical rain I think I should be ok...and if it is biblical, my home runs across the direction of flow in a block of 4 with my front door facing down hill so in theory water should flow past my back door. Wouldn't want to test the theory though!

Shropshirelass

Another longtime lurker, living near the top of an incline, we don't get flooded, but surrounding roads do, and we have been without access to shops, GP, etc at times, so keeping prepared is sensible. I do worry about trees coming down, not only blocking roads, but we have had a few near misses from neighbours ' trees. They are well aware of the possibility, and keep promising to trim/remove the threatening monsters. I love trees, but am attached to the roof too :-)

VJsmum

We lived half a mile from the sea when i was growing up and two years' running the sea came up to our doorstep - late 70s early 80s it was.  The first picture (sorry, blurry) was taken from our front garden a little after the waters subsided, the second is looking across towards our house (which is just off camera to the left..)


Our neighbours were a little lower than us and had the water inside.  After this the council built a sea wall.

The first year we were woken at 3 in the morning by the police and coast guard driving round the roads (the water in the photos is covering a large field), sirens blaring, knocking on the doors telling us to prepare for the water to come in.  We got some stuff upstairs but most had to take its chances - as i say, we were spared.  The sea itself cleared the town centre (which is between it and us) quite quickly but it lingered on this field for many days.  I will never forget looking out of my bedroom window and seeing the sea rush across that field in the pitch black.  It was quite a sight.

greenbee

GreyQueen said:

One thing I’ve noted from holidays in Greece is that it is common to run one course of floor tiles up the adjacent wall, meaning no wooden skirting boards to get sodden. Perhaps a thought when home renovations are in the picture? Makes daily mopping very easy.

I’ve done this in my utility room, in case the washing machine or dishwasher leak.

I’m in a relatively high flood risk area, but so far the house has been ok due to its position on the highest part of the plot and being raised up so you have to step up into it. You can see that the damp course is several bricks above the ground.

GreyQueen

  Nice to see you, Greenbee. A utility area is an excellent place to prep for leaks.

Vjs, omgoogness, that must have been a frightening experience. Glad your childhood home was spared.

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

GreyQueen said:

Flood waters can also originate inside the home. A pal had a hot water tap supply pipe leak for the best part of a working day. Clean water, but the damage was horrendous and the drying out process took weeks with big fans and dehumidifiers running nonstop.

Might be an idea to keep a wary eye on all plumbing....

Good point. My dad always tells the story about my grandparents house. The hot water tank in the loft exploded. Apparently the water damage was so bad the wallpaper just slid of the walls (could be my dad exaggerating though lol). My grandparents had to move out for a number of weeks.

annieb64

In the oldest part of our town a couple of the streets have stone slabs sticking out at right angles to the houses. A local historian  told us they were placed to divert water away from the houses into the road and down the hill.

The road just a bit lower down from us was flooded last year due to a blocked drain so even on a hill you are not safe.

Greenglockenspiel

boultdj said:

Greenglockenspiel said:

I think next year we should have a preparing for summer thread, as I count this heatwave as extreme weather! <melts>

One thing that makes flooding worse is paving/astroturfing over the garden so if anyone has done that, it is easier for the water to drain back into soil without a barrier. I suspect gravel without a membrane would be the best option for driveways. Sandbags around doors are the other obvious thing that springs to mind. And keeping your important documents upstairs!

Blackberries are starting to ripen here, have already picked some. We have what I think is a damson tree in our garden and I think some of the fruit on that is ready but I’ve never had damsons before so not sure what to do with them. Any suggestions?

Damson and green/ yellow gage are part of the larger plum family, when fully ripe I find them sweeter than plums, but you use them the same way.  They make a lovely jam, which is one of the expensive one's if you can find it in the shop's, that is if you like jam.

Thank you! I’ve only ever made jam once before (under more experienced supervision), but we have so much fruit it’s definitely worth a try! 

MingVase

Huge lightning storm here last night, went on from 7pm until 4am. No thunder just constant horror film flash flash flash of lightning.  I looked out the back door at one point - torrential tropical rain and a river running down at the bottom of the steps. I've been here 30 years and never seen anything like it. So then I went to bed and started thinking out a plan for if the house got struck by lightning and we had to get out fast.