Flooding is the #1 Natural Disaster in America – so you should be looking at flood walls to keep your home safe
Whether you are a prepper or not, you are probably very worried about the possibility of a flood or have made plans in the case of a flood. Sure, you can get the right home and contents insurance and can stock up on supplies, but replacing those treasured family items and the post-flood cleanup is just not worth the effort. Especially not when you can take steps to avoid flood damage.
If there is something we can do with the actions of those in these floods and ones in the past, it is to learn about ways in which they have mitigated their damage, or have kept their homes completely dry when every other home was flood-damaged. This isn’t just prepping, this is common sense.
I know because I have been through a flood myself where my family and I returned to our flooded home to find its contents water-soaked and beyond repair. It’s not a nice feeling and it is something a lot of homeowners battle with after a large flood has occurred.
But a steady rise of home owners have remained untouched by floodwaters with the flood in popularity of rubber flood walls that act as a self-rising barrier between them and the water. Quick Dams is one of the top US-owned companies that have been rapidly rising in popularity since their start in 2004. And they’re very trusted as well with their flood mitigation devices being used by government, military, hospitals, commercial and sports industries.
What types of self-rising flood walls can you get?
For this type of new generation in flood protection, there are a number of devices that all have their own advantages. The first is the flood barrier, which is a self-activating barrier that just needs to be laid out in its place and rises when it comes into contact with water. In less than 10 minutes these grow to 3.5 inches in height as the powder inside soaks in the water and swells up. These have a wedge on both sides to stop the flood barrier from rolling against the impact of the water.
These flood barriers are also stackable, so you are able to add extra height on them for when the flood water rises. For lengths, you can get these barriers in 5ft, 10ft and 17ft lengths and are easily joinable to make one larger continuous wall.
Next are the flood bags, these work with the same material as the flood barrier above and self-rise in 10 minutes when they come in contact with water. These are a great new idea as they rely on the exposure to water to expand, which saves you from having to use traditional sandbags and filling them up with sand. This means you can have more time on working on other home defense strategies against floods instead of having to take the time to fill sandbags.
Also, like the flood barrier above, these bags are stackable so they can be added to make sure you have enough height to protect a doorway, or a gap in a wall for instance. They come in packs of 2, 6, 20 and 120.
The next one, and the most popular type of flood defense is the water-gate. This is a self-rising flood wall designed to deal with large floods with high flood waters and is worth its money for a home’s defense against flooding. They work with water levels from 6in to 5ft high and are connectable on either side, so are designed to be used as short pieces or connect together to block a large area from flooding.
These flood walls from Water-Gate, have been tested by the US Army Engineering Corps and are used by various emergency services and firefighting agencies to divert and stop rushing floodwater. This is a very remarkable product that is easily stored and quickly deployable. For the sizing, it comes in 6in high and 30ft long, 20in high and 50ft long, 26in high and 50ft long and a number of various other sizes for longer areas.
Some of the renown places this has been used are France, the UK at Sellafield Nuclear Power Station, against Hurricane Sandy in the US, Keynote Tower in Calgary and Belgium. Some homes in Canada, Texas and Houston have been using these as well.
With this in mind, if you are looking at flood prevention or mitigation methods, learn about your area and find which item fits the best for your circumstance. As you can see, some of these home owners have saved their entire house just because they planned ahead and made the right decision.
If you are in a flood area you should also be looking at how you can prepare your circumstances better with an under $5 emergency supply and the best mode of transport for a flood environment.