I'm so sorry. Flooded basements are such a shock. I'm a brand new member, this is my first post. In Lower Alabama we were inundated with heavier than usual rain and our new (to us) renovation building flooded last week. Bunch of tools got wet but no family keepsakes. It was city street run off water and came up our 3 floor drain holes. We now have rubber plugs in each of those holes but won't know how secure they are till another heave rain. Hope your basement will dry out ok. We have 6 inch ceramic tile basement flooring which could be over a hundred years old. At least the old cracked grout allowed it to drain.

Janice: According to Clemson I was within the planting window but towards the end ( I am in the central area). I planted April 15th (planting for my area is April 5-25). But you do have a good point about planting earlier. I usually like to plant at least some early (in March) under row covers to get earlier fruit. I do know that this year fruiting (and also my leaf yellowing problem that seems somehow linked to fruiting) is at least a few weeks later than normal. But I chalked that up to the high-nitrogen chicken manure which caused a lot of green leafy growth at the expense of fruit. Two years ago I grew peppers with great success, I've tried squash and cucumbers in these beds 2 or 3 years ago which both failed miserably. But I have added a lot of lime and fertilizer since then. My pH in these beds 2 years ago was 4.0 -5.5 so one would not expect squash to do well. Last two or three years these beds have had tomatoes and peppers, because I care the most about tomatoes and wanted to put them where there was the most sun. Thanks so much for your time. It's been very helpful. :)

Back to the flooring: Let's assume your vinyl does NOT have a backing of any sort (100% vinyl top to bottom). You will need to pull up the vinyl, scrub it (in a bath tub or some other large water-holding vessel) with a mild bleach solution (5% or so), rinse it off, then lay it to dry IN SUNLIGHT for as many hours as possible (remember to flip the planks half way through the day). While you are doing all the bathing, you will be running several industrial fans (windows open and dehumidifier running full tilt for several days) until the moisture levels are back to normal. And remember to remove and throw out the vapour barrier that was laid underneath the vinyl planks. You will need more...no use keeping something that could be harbouring dangerous pathogens. Once the planks are FULLY dry (and have basked in sunlight/UV radiation to kill any bacterium left over from the bleach bath) you can stack them for the next install. Remember to lay them on a hard, solid surface. Do NOT let them bow or bend. While you are "racking" the planks, inspect each edge to ensure 100% of the click-edges are intact/viable. Wait for the basement to dry out, resintall the vapour barrier and then install the vinyl planks. Just be aware that when you remove the vinyl, you will have (roughly) 25% loss of material due to edge breakage. You will need to count up wasted planks and then purchase the same amount (or a snick more) to ensure you have enough coverage for your basement. Or you can remove the wet vinyl, throw it out and purchase everything new. It depends on what you have more of: time or money.

I spent the day digging out most of my David Austins. They all died from the flooding. I haven't got them all out yet.... It is very sad. Some of them I did know their names so they will be hard to replace..... as I said I had two Beverly's in that same section. For information purposes, one died and the other one is still going.... don't know how long it will live..... The older Beverly is the one that made it... the younger one died along with the the David Austins. It is ironic because the older Beverly sat longer and in deeper water..... but for some reason it handled it better. As I am digging, I notice a foul odor from the ground. I am not sure if that is from the brackish water, or from decaying roots. My load of horse manure showed up, After I get the Austins out, I will pile it deep and high. I think I may let that section sit fallow for a year.... or at least until spring. Hopefully the manure will break down and give me some good dirt there. I also lost all of my old garden roses. Not sure I will replace those. I lost all but five HT's..... I feel roseless..... I have someone coming over to look at everything. I am so overwhelmed. I think I need to raise a bed. I think for the HT's if I keep them where I have them I will have to cut back and give each rose a raised bed instead of a whole raised bed for the HT's, because if I raise the whole thing the water coming off the roof will be forced into the patio.... I need the water to be able to pass and go out into the yard. But I don't know how big each "personal" bed should be for a rose. The roses I get are normally on fortunina and they put their roots out not down, so if they are contained will they be unhappy?