Flooding

I saw that flooding on the news. Unbelievable. So sorry you're going through that.

We get a lot of rain on the west coast but it just rains for days on end, we don't get major dumps and in the Vancouver area seldom flood. T

So sorry....I wish you could send some of that here...we could use it. Keeping a good thought for all who have been affected.

Good luck I know what all those people are going through and what a horrible ordeal they will be facing. In reality the flood is the easy part the what comes next is the killer. I have been out of the house since April and I may not be in by Christmas.

Yikes, how dreadful to have to deal with such destruction of your house. Hopefully the repair work will get done fairly promptly and that it won't be too much out of pocket for you. We here in Winnipeg are built on a flood plain and even with our floodway system, saving us on many occasions, the 1997 flood threatened to engulf the whole city. It was very scary.

Thanks. It would be easier on me if I wasn't alone in dealing this mess.

Cherry, here in the US we have groups that respond to emergencies to help people. Many churches have volunteer groups of retirees, etc, that dispatch to areas that need the most assistance and work for free.

Is there a Red Cross in the area?

Check where any evacuees may have gone to for shelter. They may be able to help you find assistance with the clean up.

I'm sorry you're having to deal with this!

I'm sorry you are going through this. Hopefully, you can find some local groups that offer assistance.

That's a tough situation for so many, wish it wasn't so.

Ugh - how horrible for you! I hope your repairs go quickly!!!!

I'm so sorry for you and your neighbors. I hope you can find some help soon.

You are in my thoughts

I'm glad to hear you have insurance and I hope with that and other means you will be able to complete the repairs needed without too much inconvenience or delay.

The article you linked to mentioned that many people were unable to get the right insurance because some areas are subject to "regular flooding". That's going to result in many sad stories and hardships. It's always something to consider when looking for a place to live- low lying areas are often subject to flood risks or even regular flooding and are best avoided when possible.

Cherry, I'm concerned for you trying to clean up your basement without help. You do know there could be unhealthy bacteria there - Have there been articles in your paper or your local news that describe the best way to sanitize, kill and not just move bacteria and contaminates around?

We had an odd set of conditions here a year ago that led to flooding in areas that hadn't previously had water. Within just a couple of days, there were volunteers signing up to help those physically unable to deal with removing the mud and the mess without help, and community wide work parties were organized for the following couple of weekends. Is there anything like that where you are, someone you could let know you need some help? A senior center (although I don't presume to know your age), church?

This is not tornado or twister country, but a freakish dry windstorm caused some damage on my mothers block only in her city about 5 years ago. From what I was told, it lasted all of 5 or less minutes but upended her neighbors garden building and sent it through a fence, and took many shingles from Mom's roof. A PUD crew coincidentally working on the next block saw the shingles flying, went to her door and alerted her, actually picked them and stacked them up for her.

Her roof was near the end of its lifespan, but her insurance company paid for a complete replacement less her deductible. That little storm almost proved to be a blessing, it saved her several thousand dollars she would have spent roofing within the next couple of years. I hope you'll have a similar outcome, please let us know.

There are agencies willing to help, but most only to those without insurance. If you have insurance but cannot afford to pay your deductible, there is limited help money wise. The "state of emergency" money is this type, so likely won't help. Renovation companies are hiring people from all over Canada to try and keep up with demand, and the waiting list for clean up is getting longer and longer. We were lucky that our end of the city got less rain, and did not flood (normally the streets do flood here). MIL got water in her basement because the rain poured down the grade entrance steps and into her OPEN basement door. No damage though except to a couple of throw rugs. She was lucky, she has flooded badly in the past. The infrastructure here has been lacking for years, but our city would rather spend money on water parks and statues. Sigh.

Cherry, a friend of mine, that went through a similar situation said, 3Mule Team Borax is what was recommended to her. She had good luck with it.

I am very sorry, you have this mess.

Moni

I have to warn you about trying to clean up the areas that have water that was from sewers and septic systems . It's extremely dangerous and can be deadly . I say this because one of my neighbors husband was in the water here doing the cleaning and he got a cut on his foot , it got infected , it was very bad , they had to amputate his foot. Well they didn't get it all so it continued up his leg , they had to amputate the remainder of the leg. Unfortunately it continued to spread through his body , organs began to fail . He recently passed away . Horrible tragedy . I was so worried about my husband being in that water . I ended up with 2 staph infections and I was very rarely in the contamination .

Please please understand the dangers involved .

Cherry, a friend of mine lives in Windsor and she too had her basement flooded. She has to get a new furnace, hot water tank, water softener, furniture etc. She rents her hot water tank and furnace from Reliance and they won't cover it so she's going through her insurance. A lot of people couldn't get flood coverage in their insurance because they were flooded before.

"I have to warn you about trying to clean up the areas that have water
that was from sewers and septic systems . It's extremely dangerous and
can be deadly"

This is so very true. What an awful tragedy for your neighbor.

I often think about this when I see news stories of flooded areas showing people traipsing around in flood waters and often kids playing in it. Seeing these stories leads me to wonder how many wind up suffering a similar fate, because any flood water anywhere is going to contain dangerous bacteria.

Thanks for the tips. I called our 311 municipal service help number and told them about the basement and that I did have flood insurance coverage but because I had 2 claims one for flood and one for water damage I could not pay both deductibles of $1000 each and asked if there was assistance in helping with the clean up. They directed me to a group called Good Samaritans. If you are senior, disabled or low income they will send in volunteers to help. You can't get flood insurance in my area any more but because mine was "grandfathered" I still have it, $10,000 limit. I am used to cleaning up the mess myself but because I hurt my back I physically can't do it right now. The only thing that has to be done is to have the floors and duct work washed down and disinfected. The only thing I am worried about now is my roof, I doubt my insurance will cover it but there is no limit on how much they will spend to fix the water damage from the leaking roof hence the replacement of the ceilings. I think the roofing inspector was here today while I was out. If the assessor from the volunteer group isn't here by tomorrow I am going to start pouring bleach on the floor. I have a few bottles of stuff I got from the janitorial supply store after my last flood that eats up mould and bacteria. I sprayed some on the duct work already.

I live in the house I grew up in. When I was a kid my street was half the size it is now and was made up with pebbles embedded into cement so some of the stones were smooth under bare feet. Our street flooded every time we had a lengthy rain and we loved it. All the kids would go outside and play in the water and there was always squishy stuff under our feet along with the smooth pebbles. Now I know what the squishy stuff was. It is any wonder none of us got sick or had infections from playing in the dirty sewage water. I am sorry Raven you had staph infections and what happened to your neighbour. I wear a mask, rubber boots and hospital gloves when I have to go down there to clean up.

When my neighbour moved in next door in 2004 I told her to be careful what she puts in her basement because basements on my street in Riverside floods. She told me she wouldn't flood, she had a sump pump, a drain in the back yard, etc. She didn't take my advice and she had her basement jam packed with stuff from her previous house, her antiques, all her good stuff she didn't have room in this new house to put out. Well, a couple of years she flooded and she was so shocked that it happened to her. She lost everything. Any time I see a new neighbour move in that I become friends with I let them know that their house floods. People have suggested to me over the years to "finish" my basement and I tell them it is not wise to do that. I don't like spending any time down there and only go down to do laundry and clean the cat litter box and sweep the floor around it.

Jasdip, I am surprised Reliance won't cover their own rental equipment. I rent my hot water tank from them and was always under the impression if something went wrong they replace it but maybe that is if it breaks down and not from flooding but it is still their equipment that should be serviced by them Bad news for your friend. I know one local rental furnace company was out servicing their equipment after the flood

Hmm, that's interesting. I've never heard of renting a water heater or a furnace here in the West. I wonder if it's a uniquely Canadian practice or if it's also known in the American East?

Raven I am sorry to hear about your friend.

Anne hope everything will be covered including roof and you get the help you need with the basement.

Elmer, I am in Ohio and I have not heard of renting hot water tanks or furnaces either.

135 mm (5.31 in)

190 mm (7.48 in)

Those are serious amounts of rain to come down in a few hours. When I was a kid living in southern Illinois, I experienced a 4 inch rain in 3 hours one summer afternoon. My mother and I were wall papering a room for a neighbor and the job turned into a mess. The air was so damp that the paste would not set and we had sheets of paper sliding down the walls.

I'd be leery of your basement flood. By your description, the water came in through the floor drains. That nornally is sewerage, diluted by rain water, but raw sewerage none the less. After it recedes, the walls and floor should be flushed with a hose before the stuff dries. Only the part up to the flood line needs to be flushed. And then, you may wish to apply a disinfectant.

I can't imagine why your roof leaked so much. That should have shed the rain unless it pooled somewhere. A roofing job done in the 1990s should have had some life left in it. The shingles may have been about 20 yrs old and possibly rated for 30 years, however, if your shingles had the trade name of Celadon and made by Certainteed, that would be understandable. I had a roof of those put on in that time period and had to replace those because it was failing at less than 10 years. The shingles were curling. The company had imported material from China that was bad. A class action suit was brought against the company and won. If your roof failed due to poor Celadon shingles, you may be able to collect a fraction of the original cost. Since then, the company has corrected the material problem, but there are plenty of bad ones out there.

I am so sorry you are having to deal with all of this mess from the flooding. Growing up, I lived with my parents and younger sister in a four room house along the banks of the river. Every few years we would be flooded out in the lower two rooms and would move stuff upstairs as much as we could, when the river would start to go down then they would just sweep out the water and that would get rid of most of the mud. Then mopped and mopped with bleach. Never did have insurance while I was at home. It never seemed that much of a big deal as I was more or less used to it. If it happened to me now, I sure would have to have help with it.

Sue

Please check your policy for additional living expenses. You should have that coverage on your home policy. As long as you do that should go towards housing you elsewhere and yes, your cat as well. You shouldn't have to stay in your home while work is being done. That can be a liability to both you and the contractors.

I hope two25acres is right, and you can live elsewhere while your home is *uninhabitable*.

I'm not understanding why your $10,000 policy isn't helping. Do you have any free legal aid available?

Really sorry for your distress. This is more than "A Bit Overwhelming"!

(I've never heard of renting a water heater either. Is that economical?)

I have the best neighbours. My neighbour Donna stopped by earlier today to see how everything was going and she noticed the Rose of Sharon bush I planted had been run over by the lawn mower when my neighbour cut the lawn a few weeks a go. I babied that thing through then drought making sure it survived and my neighbour thought it was a weed. He cuts my lawn when he cuts his because I could never get my gas powered lawn mower to start. Donna then went home and an hour later was back with a wheelbarrow and a shovel and a beautiful large Rose of Sharon bush. How nice was that!

She reminded me the city was sending around trucks Friday to pick up trash from the flood. I told her I was going to call my brother after he got off work to bring up the things that needed to go. Donna then said she would do it. Of course I was useless, I was able to bag things but I wasn't able to bring the stuff up the stairs. We got rid of just about everything down there even though it wasn't wet from being on the floor but because everything was wet from the dampness. I had a bamboo table and chairs that went out to the curb and everything else that was down there that I was never going to use. Bundles of cardboard boxes the restoration people brought in for my last flood because they were wet from the air. Most of the items were given to me by other people who thought I might be able to use them one day and they just end up down the basement. I refuse items now. There was a box with a mirror with big bulbs around it like you would see in some Hollywood dressing room. I forgot it was downstairs and not something I needed or would ever use. Then another neighbour came over to help bring stuff up and take to the curb. Even the stuff I saved from the flood that I put on the landing was so wet we got rid of it too. I am beyond appreciative of their assistance. Now that everything is out I just have to wait for the other group to come in and disinfect. I have the fan running down there now.

Chisue, re the hot water heater. I don't know if it is economical. I pay about $53 quarterly. I don't know many people who own their own hot water heaters. When I first got started renting it from Union Gas who provides our natural gas I was paying $24 quarterly, then Reliance took over the rentals. The price has steadily risen over the years plus a portion of that is 13 percent tax. People rent to own furnaces from Reliance or other providers. I have my own furnace that my Dad put in this house I think in 1968 when he got rid of the coal stoker. I have been told it is a really good furnace and not to get rid of it by the people who service it. One good thing about renting, if it breaks down for any reason Reliance will fix it or replace it.

woohoo, I just got a call from the Good Samaritans group and they are coming tomorrow to spray the basement. Good thing we were able to remove everything before they came.