08/10/2024
here are some things I’d wished I’d thought of/things we did. (Since you cant control it, youll want to have your head in the game. This isn’t to cause fear, it’s to equip people because we’ve been through it and wish we would’ve known. Hindsight is always 20/20).
If you think your home could flood with recent happenings/track record, then maybe pay attention. We got through it and if you do flood, I promise you will too. These things may seem extreme but trust me, at the first site of our yard flooding, and this is what we are doing:
🌀 BEFORE YOU FLOOD/PREVENTIVE MEASURES: 🌀
•have your volume on/download apps. A flash flood warning woke me up and saved me from losing way more than I could’ve.
•Documents, books, things in low drawers, pictures or basically anything on lower ground, move to countertops. Know exactly where your important info is in case you need it. That includes for your car, we lost 3 of those too.
•We lost all electric appliances because they were in our low kitchen cabinets. Move them up higher (food processor, crockpot, griddles).
•dry food- get out of lower cabinets. You’re going to be hungry while you wait for rescue. We had hot cheese and grapes to eat. Don’t be us.
•We kept our bandaids/sanitary stuff/meds/blow dryers in a low bathroom cabinet and lost it all. Anything you think you might need that isn’t in a bottle, move it up the night before.
•Turn your breaker off as soon as you start flooding even if your power is already out because you won’t be thinking of it, trust me. Somehow my magical husband did, but I sure didn’t. This can hurt you or a lineman when it back feeds.
•watch out for extension cords from your generator into the home with standing water. Seems silly to tell you that, but your brain is going to be in shock already, so let’s not shock the rest of you.
•If you have gas cans ready for your generator, don’t set them on the ground!!! Ours floated away and created toxic water all around us and in our house.
•have a bucket of some sort to keep anything electronic dry for immediate use. (Phone/flash lights).
•Get your pet food off of the ground. Have leashes on the table next to your food to get ready to leave on a moment’s notice
•Know where your paddle board/kayak is if you have one and be ready to use it. It saved us
•if your dog crates are on the floor, put them on your kitchen table or anywhere off the ground. We did this trudging through two feet of water and it wasn’t fun.
•keep the flash light on your night stand. I woke up at 5am to flash flood alert and only had a candle to see the water coming in my house and when I became paralyzed with fear, I could not find my flash light. I didn’t realize I’d need it on a second’s notice.
•park at the highest point near your house. I lost 3 cars. Get anything valuable off the floor boards. You’ll be thinking of your house, not be able to drive anyways, and it molds within a couple days. We lost unnecessary stuff.
•pack an essentials bag. We were scrambling last second to throw what clothes were dry into a bag and climbed out our window during a lull and almost got trapped because the water was rising to the truck’s hood that came to rescue us. Also why you want your leashes ready to go.
•take pics of everything in your home. Write serial numbers down of expensive electronics.
•get your diapers/kids favorite blanket/toy off the ground
•now that I have a son in a crib, I wouldn’t let him sleep alone during a storm. If we had had him prior and didn’t wake up for the alert, the water would’ve covered his face in his crib. Morbid but true.
•diapers are easiest changed on the couch, so have diapers and wipes on your couch and ready to go.
•keep your pacifier clip on your baby. You won’t be wanting to search for it in the dark, or drop it in flood waters with no way to clean it.
🌀 POST HURRICANE: 🌀
• okay, you flooded. You’re going to freeze and not know what order to do things in. You’ll panic and do irrational, unhelpful things. It will paralyze you, so force yourself to go to that place of calm, rational, and ready to take action. There’s no time to panic or zig zag around looking for stuff. First things first…before you call anyone because it won’t matter right then, TURN ON LIGHT/candles so you can quickly get room to room and see the scope of what you need to do. THEN, grab any kids/dogs and get them safe and dry. You can’t help them if you can’t see them and if you don’t turn on light first, you or them can get seriously hurt. Or you’ll be frustrated carrying a flashlight around. THEN AND ONLY THEN, grab anything off the ground you didn’t get yet and don’t want to lose. Put it on tables and counters. Once you’ve had a second to pause, then call for help. They can’t come in the middle of the storm anyways so this isn’t your first priority.
•Now what.
We used a (jigsaw?) to cut the walls. We had to do from the floor to 4 ft up, depending on how the water is. We used a generator and extension cord. But do it before you do anything else to the house and ask someone based on how high the water is, if you need to do 2ft up or 4ft up. The faster you do this the less chances of mold. We did ours next day and didn’t mold. They used a chalk line for accuracy. The drywall fits nicely if done right. Don’t wait. Chances are you don’t get your hands on enough fans to dry it out before you have to cut. But you can try.
•Don’t throw loose trash by the road. You will have so much debris, papers, random things— they will pick up what’s in contractor bags. It takes a long time for them to come sometimes so try to keep the trash neat.
•They wanted the trash organized, I can’t remember exactly but I know construction materials (walls, flooring, wood) needed a pile, garbage bags in a pile, and maybe furniture in a pile. Anyways keep it neat.
•keep a notebook of EVERY single person that calls you. Insurance, non profits, etc. Keep a detailed list of those that Venmo/send money so you can remember to thank them later because I promise you won’t remember them all and you’ll want to when you’re putting your life back together and remember the ones that were there for you.
•write down FEMA passwords, PIN numbers, insurance claim numbers, etc in this book and hold on to it for dear life. Saves so much time.
•do not keep your flooded car. Take the insurance money. Problems will come later and then you’ll be outside of the due diligence period, just trust me on that.
•get your clothes out of the house as soon as possible because of mold spores. Happens fast and you can’t always tell it’s happened
•when you take your vanity/counters and cabinets out, save your hardware in gallon bags and LABEL THEM. This was extremely not fun trying to piece everything together.
•use a pro ID account at Home Depot and keep every receipt electronic. YOU WILL need those receipts even years down the road when help gets to you
•log all repair receipts in an excel sheet. You WILL use this sheet for any kind of reimbursement
•if you are low on money, do the basic things to get back in your home: you can live with less than you think. We did walls first with a makeshift kitchen. Floors and doors came later. Paint and baseboards last.
•Change at the bare min your bottom electrical outlets. You may think they’re fine but just change them in case.
•only only only only only use contractors that are licensed, insured and verified. My neighbor was scammed out of a substantial sum of money. It was horrific.
•apply for everything. Red Cross, FEMA, county programs
•don’t commit insurance fraud. This is hilarious to say but if you don’t have flood insurance, don’t try to make it seem like the water came in through the window because they aren’t idiots and you’ll go to prison and not be able to see your kids plus it’s just wrong. (This didn’t happen to us but if I’m saying it, trust me, it’s because I know you shouldn’t do this.) 🤣
Lastly… breathe.
It might feel like the end of the world but you will get through this. If you walk away and 1) your family is still alive 2) your house didn’t slide down a mountain 3) you have food, clothes and shelter somewhere then you are leagues above a lot of people. This will pass and be a memory on a page one day.
