Flood Awareness: Be Prepared Before it Strikes
by Ashley Purcella
It’s raining, it’s pouring, the flood alarms are roaring! Oh no! We’re not prepared for this! This is the dilemma some districts find themselves in and, unfortunately, when a flood is at your door, it’s too late to form a plan of action other than wait for it to subside and clean-up the aftermath.
You might be asking yourself, “How do we prepare for a flood?” It’s really not hard to do. The first step is to find out if the property is located in a flood plain. The term “flood zone” is also used for identifying areas that have a tendency to flood, but for this article we will use the term “plain,” commonly used by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Flood zone information can be found at the county’s appraisal district or online at the FEMA website as a free download.
Establishing whether the property is located in a flood plain will determine what Emergency Action Plan you should take. Just because the property is located in an area that is not known to flood does not eliminate the risk of being susceptible to a flood. Because of development and changing environmental factors, an area that is not known to flood can become vulnerable to flooding.
After you have determined if your property is vulnerable to flooding, it’s time to prepare a plan of action to reduce the effects of flood damage. If your district is located in a flood plain, FEMA has developed a checklist (Agency, 2009) of recommended actions:
- Elevate the furnace, water heater, and electric panel if susceptible to flooding
- Install "check valves" in sewer traps to prevent floodwater from backing up into the drains of your buildings
- Contact community officials to find out if they are planning to construct barriers (levees, beams, floodwalls) to stop floodwater from entering the buildings in your area
- Seal the walls in your basement with waterproofing compounds to avoid seepage
If your district is not located in an area susceptible to flooding, it is advised to develop a plan of action for a “just in case” scenario. Flooding should be part of your district’s emergency operations plan. This action list is recommended for susceptible and non-susceptible districts:
- Develop a calling tree with names of responsible persons and their duties
- Appoint an Incident Commander that will implement the Action Plan
- Appoint a person that will keep up with developing weather situations and report to the Incident Commander
- Develop a team that will report to the scene if necessary
- Appoint someone or multiple persons that will take pictures after the flood has occurred (your property coverage adjusters will also take pictures)
- Assign a clean-up crew
These are just a few instructions on how to prepare for an emergency flooding situation. It is always better to be prepared for the storm than to not and suffer a total loss of property. Floods are uncontrollable and can happen anywhere and at anytime. Remember, always think “Safety First” and don’t go into unknown flooded areas.
