Flood Preparedness

https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/md-s-1st-door-to-door-survey-for-flood-preparedness/

Re "how prepared households are ... " and "...provide resources";

Why would a household enhance their preparedness when the public sector provides ... ?

Why buy bailing buckets and sand bags; the public sector will provide.

I'm only reading the basics into the article. It can't only be me.

 

I guess it doesn't hurt to get some input, and public opinion, but IMHO individual prepping for a flood is pretty pointless. An individual does not have the resources, the space, or the manpower to prepare for a flood.

I live in a small town. When we were flooded the city/town delivered at least two truckloads of sand and hundreds of sand bags to our street. We had about two dozen people working filling sandbags, and using wheel barrows to cart them to the area needed, and we were only working to protect one house. As it turned out it was an exercise in futility. The sandbags were overwhelmed, and they still had 4' of water in their basement.

My recommendations to prepare for a flood would be to keep valuables on the highest level of your abode, second floor, attic, or in a safety deposit box. If you are warned of a risk of flood evacuate early. Move your vehicles to higher ground. Make sure you are not stranded, particularly if you have medical issues. Keep some preps in the attic including an axe just in case you have to chop a hole to escape. If you think you are going to ride it out, you better have a boat of some kind, even a decent inflatable raft.

Water is relentless, and unstoppable. Save yourself first.

 

Good morning Morgan,

We've actually saying the same thing.

Individuals and sometimes in conjunction with neighbors can fill sandbags. If the municipality did not deliver the 2 loads of sand, the sand is still needed for the preparations. This is what the citizenry must think about and plan for. It is not relevant if the public sector did or did not deliver the sand.

A public warning of a pending flood risk and the needed evacuation means a method of evac with supplies. This must be realistic and practical. I'm thinking of the wheelchair-bound Bahamian who spend ~ 2 days in waist-deep flood water in his house. The Bahamian government is not impoverished. The public sector's function is to permanently relocate, in advance, those without the physicality mobility to evac by car, eg in Missouri, or by boat, eg in the Bahamian islands.