Sunday, August 30, 2009

Flood Safety Tips: Emergency Plan

Follow these flood safety tips to develop an emergency plan in case of flood. If a flood arises and your family gets separated, you should plan to meet up at a designated location, and plan a way to communicate to one another. A good idea is to contact an out-of-state relative to serve as a designated contact. After a disaster it is easier to call long distance than locally. As a precaution, make sure everyone in your family remembers the name, address, and phone number of the contact relative.

Also, make sure that all of your family members know how to respond after a flood. Teach them how and when to turn off the gas, electricity, and water. Teach your children how to call 911 and how to listen to the radio station for emergency information. Follow these flood safety tips to prepare you and your family before the flood.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Flood Safety Tips: Prevent Sewage Backups

Follow these flood safety tips to prevent sewage backup during a flood. If you your home is in an area that is prone to flooding, you should consider installing sewage backflow valves. These valves can stop sewage from reentering your house due to sewage system backups that are caused by flooding. If these types of valves are not installed, raw sewage can backup throught your toilets and sinks. A sewage backup can cause an unwanted mess and introduce harmful bacteria into your home.

Backup valve installation must be performed by a licensed contractor. Call around and get the best prices and references before you select your contractor. The valves should be installed on all pipes that leave your house or that connect to equipment that is below the flood level. As a result, these valves may need to be installed on washing machine drain lines, laundry sinks, sump pumps, and sewer connections.

Backflow valve installation is not cheap, but it is an invaluable investment to protect against flooding in your area. A little money spent today could save a lot of money tomorrow. Follow these flood safety tips to prepare you and your family before the flood.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Flood Safety Tips: Before The Flood

Follow these flood safety tips to stay safe before a flood. First, call your local emergency management agency to find out if you live in a flood-prone area. Ask about the flood history in your area and if there are any flood shelters near by. You can also contact you local zoning offices and ask if your property is above or below flood level. Educate yourself about your community's warning system for flooding. If you can, study flood preparation literature and start putting the learned information into practice.

If you find out that are living in an area that has frequently flooded, note the following. Store some emergency building materials off-site, such as plywood, plastic sheeting, lumber nails, hammer, saw, pry bar, shovels, and sandbags in a dry unfloodable area. These will come in handy after a flood to quickly recover from any damages. Also install check valves in your sewer traps to prevent flood waters from backing up in your sewer drains. If you can't take this precaution, as a last resort, you can use large corks and stoppers to plug showers, tubs, and sinks.

Always have an evacuation plan and emergency routes. Practice the evacuation procedure and routes a few times before a true emergency occurs. Make sure that you have several routes planned, in case your first one or two choices are flooded out. Keep a flood kit handy and have disaster supplies on hand. Gather items such as: flashlights, extra batteries, an emergency radio, first aid kit, emergency food and water, can opener, cash or credit cards and towels. Follow these flood safety tips to prepare you and your family before the flood.