How to Protect Your Home from Flash Flooding

This guide covers general protection habits, for homes in Shreveport and Lafayette alike, with no claim about any specific place. For the service itself, the flood water extraction page gives a general outline. Never wade into rising water.

Know the low points of your home

The first step in protection is knowing where water would enter your home first. Low doorways, gaps at the base of walls, low windows, and the lowest rooms are the entry points, and a walk around the home after heavy rain shows where the water gathers. Note the doorways and the corners where water pools, because those are the places to watch when the rain starts.

It is also worth knowing the ground around the home. Soil that slopes toward the house sends water against the walls, and low spots near the home gather water in heavy rain. A walk around the home after rain, noting where the water sits, gives you the map you need before the next storm.

Flash flooding is fast, and its speed is what makes it different from a slow rise of water. Rain falls hard and fast, the ground cannot absorb it, the drains fill, and water that was a puddle a minute ago is at the doorway. A home can flood in the time it takes to notice the rain, and the speed leaves no time to prepare once the water is already rising.

Keep valuables off the floor

In low rooms, and in rooms with a history of water at a doorway, keep valuables, papers, and photographs off the floor and onto raised surfaces. Move stored goods to higher shelves, and keep the lowest doorways clear of clutter, so that water can be seen early and the rooms can be reached quickly. These are small habits, and they make a real difference when the water arrives fast.

It is also worth taking photographs of the home and the belongings in it, room by room, as a record of the condition of the home. Photographs taken in calm weather are a useful record, and they are far easier to take now than after a flood.

The second step is keeping the ways out clear. Gutters carry rain from the roof to the ground, and downspouts carry it away from the walls, and when they are blocked with leaves and debris, the water overflows and runs down the walls. Drains around the home carry surface water away, and when they are blocked, the water backs up and gathers around the home.

After the water recedes

After the water recedes and it is safe to approach the home, call a professional from a dry place if water has entered. The technician will assess the area, remove the water, and check the dampness left behind. Flood water carries soil, debris, and contaminants, and it needs professional-only handling, because it is not clean water.

In the weeks after the job, watch the affected area for new damp spots or a musty smell, and call if anything appears. The entry points found during the visit are worth noting, because they show where water can get in again, and they are the places to watch in the next heavy rain.

When heavy rain starts and the water begins to rise, the rule is simple: stay safe, and do not try to hold the water back. Move to higher ground in the home if it is safe to do so, and leave the area if the water is rising around the home and you can do so safely. Never wade into rising water, and never drive through flooded roads.

Key Takeaways

• The first step in protection is knowing where water would enter your home first.
• The second step is keeping the ways out clear.
• In low rooms, and in rooms with a history of water at a doorway, keep valuables, papers, and photographs off the floor and onto raised surfaces.
• When heavy rain starts and the water begins to rise, the rule is simple: stay safe, and do not try to hold the water back.
• After the water recedes and it is safe to approach the home, call a professional from a dry place if water has entered.

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