The Capt was out on the boat, replacing a battery so the bilge pump would function and the boat wouldn't sink.
It started as a trickle under the front door which was nothing unusual; we need to replace that door and the threshold. But while I went off to grab a couple of towels, the trickle became a flash flood. Details are a little vague in my memory now, I only recall sloshing around unplugging the computers, grabbing guitars, looking for large bags to carry crucial stuff out. Second-guessing a lot what constitutes crucial. And praying a lot. Shoes from the bottom of my closet, dog dishes and books floated by as I braced the front door shut again and locked it — the deadbolt held! I was furious with myself for not having filled the 15 sandbags we had in the closet, but I'm not sure they'd have made much difference.
Loaded with bags I waded across the parking lot in the downpour to Patricia's casa. She was home with her four kids, and she had some pots on her living room floor to catch drips, but no other worries. She came back with me several times to carry more things. Then she kept Chica the rest of the day, and overnight.
Meanwhile, the Capt was struggling to get back to land in the middle of the storm, and looking forward to being warm and dry, but instead he waded into knee-deep disaster. He recovered pretty quickly and we began the long process of sweeping, squeegeeing and bailing the water back out of the house. What was left was a film of dark brown silt over everything. The bottom two shelves of each bookcase and kitchen cupboard, the bottom two drawers of every dresser and all their contents were covered with a layer of mud. The squeegee came in really handy for banishing that and we wished we had two.
The last two days have been a battle against mold, mildew and rust, with breaks to reconnect computers, phones, sound systems... The Capt was able to save one of our three amplifiers, my computer mouse and a few electrical gadgets I was sure we'd have to replace.
Our next-door neighbors, who are away for the summer, have a sump pump, which we used to pump water out of their patio and as much as we could out of their house. They had no silt. By the next morning it was all gone.
I have plenty to be grateful for:
• The Capt came home safe
• The electricity and water never shut down, even at the height of the storm. So afterward we were able to begin the cleaning and drying process immediately instead of living with the mud.
• My neighbor helped a great deal
• The whole rainstorm lasted no more than a few hours, instead of 36 hours like Jimena last year.
• My fridge didn't take in any water!
• The guitars and computers were saved.
• Our washer and dryer are toast, but we were able to go next door to wash all the clothes and linens that got wet.
• Only a couple of days ago I had moved my family photo albums to a higher (drier) shelf in the bookcase.
• We have flood insurance (she says with fingers crossed)
• I didn't have a terminally ill dog to rescue along with everything else
• The boat didn't sink
• It could have been so much worse.
16 comments:
Glad you are alright. That water gushing under all openings is a bit shocking. We were lucky to not lost anything here, but many were not so.
i'm so sorry you had to go through this but as you said, it could have been much worse and i am glad that was not the case. i just said a prayer for you and all who were affected by this. good move on the photo albums.
the flood in tabasco was last year right? hopefully they didn't have to deal with that 2 years in a row.
teresa in l.s.
Leah - Well, I've learned a lot. High shelves, that's the ticket. Drawers are hopeless; one flood and they never slide right again.
Teresa - The Tabasco shot was from a blog dated July 10, 2010. The culprit was Hurricane Alex.
How about a dry moat out front of your home to divert that water before it reaches your house? Our house in So.Tex sat lower than the street and even lower than the house across the street. The rain would rush down their driveway, across the street and crash into our house like roaring rapids. We dug a rather deep french drain to take the water around back of the house before it could reach us.
Glad y'all are safe. As Hubby would tell me when driving back in after a tornado "it's just stuff..." I'm crossing my fingers on the flood insurance too.
Jeez, what a mess. Glad you´re still breathing though.
The sand bags should work if its short term flooding, the fact that the door held is good news for the future. A sump pump with 12 volt back-up and crock placed in the floor might be a good investment. If you can keep the incoming water down to the pump's rate of pumping, you should be able to avoid the "really big mess" the next time the sky opens up.
Oh, Bliss. What a drag. I like the idea of a moat or drain in front combined with some kind of wall to keep the water from hitting your front door directly.
Do the neighbors report that it has always flooded your unit or is this something new?
I'm so glad you are ok and I hope this is a distant memory soon.
I think that a boat is better than a moat and you better get ready to tie up dee boat in Guanajuato :)
We're glad you you guys are okay. Stuff can always be replaced. I recall you mentioned something about mold when you bought the place. Maybe the flooding was behind it all. Take care.
jomamma - Some kind of moat may eventually be the answer. But this property isn't all mine, outside my yard everything belongs to the condo association and I have to convince them it's needed. For now, I'm having the rock wall around my front yard raised and a strong gate put in.
Felipe - Breathing just fine, amigo.
Norm - Definitely a sump pump. Though I noticed our neighbor's wouldn't pick up water shallower than 2". Guess that's when the shop vac comes out.
Nancy - The neighbors do say my place floods frequently. That's why I did the construction out back. I just hadn't gotten the front construction done yet. I may beat it yet.
Bob - Tell me about the beaches in Guanajuato and I might be convinced.
Cyn - yes, the flooding caused the mold. I didn't know about that when I bought it. The seller gave the impression there had only been a couple of instances of minor flooding, that's not unusual in this area.
Glad you guys are ok, the sandbags at least slow the flow a little to allow you to move stuff around.
Ouch - the weather has just been crazy this year. It is good that your glass is half full - or is this a bad time to write that ;-0
Hang in there.
The idea behind a subpump crock is to get the water below grade before it gets sent to the curb or sewer or wherever you want to send it that is not in your house. A battery back-up is a good idea if the power is out when the flood starts. The battery will give you enough time to plug in a small generator, another thing you need if your going to keep the swamp at bay. I have been in floods where we were boating off the front stoop and our basement stayed "sort of dry" with a good subpump. The key is to keep as much water outside and pump like your boat is sinking. Your going to have this problem as long as you live there, my advice is to smash a hole in your floor where it is at its lowest point, install a plastic or clay crock, put in a pump, have a nice wooden cover made and hope for the best. A little bleach added to the crock during the dry season will keep it from smelling and breeding bugs.
Norm that sounds like it would work... and in the dry season the crock would just be, dry.
You can save the washer and dryer (for a while) if it was salt water -- longer if it was fresh. Clean it up - let it dry and see what happens. Ours went totally underwater in Katrina (salt water) and lasted another 9 mo or a year. We are still using the hot water heater 5 years later.
donna in Missi freakin ssi ppi
I hadn't been able to visit blogs for a while so I have just been catching up on your blog... wow! I am glad you are ok and so inspired that you can do a list of things to be grateful for! You are very strong. I hope you get your publishing dealine ok on top of everything else!
I remember seeing someone who'd been flooded here on TV and they said, high shelves and tiles on the floor and walls :)
Take care....hugs!
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