Flood Preparation

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

When the levee breaks I’ll have no place to stay

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

I'm sitting here hoping the lights stay on… the flood waters are lapping around the end of the drive, but are already at next door's threshold.

I reckon we have about 8" before the garage is reached, another 3" for the house. Sandbags over the airbricks, but if it gets over the front step we are in trouble.

Almost everything is high enough to be above a 12" flood in the house… I've gone a bit mad in the workshop, lifting stuff and randomly spraying WD40 on any exposed steel!

It's going to be a nervous night.

Neil

[Grizzly bearParticipant @grizzlybear]

May the gods be with you.

Regards Bear..

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Hope it goes well for you Neil.

MichaelG.

[chris jParticipant @chrisj]

Good luck Neil.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Thanks folks.

Lots of wet people here now, having waded through knee-deep water.

Still dry in the house, but I just saw a lorry go full pelt at the flooded road and change his mind at the last minute – not so much aquaplaning as log flume

Neil

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Good luck Neil! Sounds like you have done all you can, I am always amazed when people go to bed and in the morning they are suprised when their wordly possesions are floating down the road, after a week of flood warnings. If I was in a flood area I certainly wouldn't sleep a wink and would be monitoring the situation hourly.

Tony

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Someone pull the plug in the drain already!

Good luck Neil and others in wet areas.

JD

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Good luck Neil

I'll be thinking of you. I'm sat here in Devon – you may have seen the pics of the railway line near Exeter on BBC yesterday. No floods just where we are luckily as we are at the top of a hill but the water was running down the road like a river. The problem though can be to get out – all the roads round about flood.

I think we may have a couple of days respite here but it's so wet everywhere that any new rain will set it all off again.

Still, as some cheerful soul said to me the other day – just think what it would be like if this was snow!

As I say good luck and stay safe.

Norman

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Bon chance Neil

Russell

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Fingers crossed for you. I've had a weekend off t'internet in Devon owing to half a tree doing a strength test on the line. Now back home with trusty underground cable.

Edited By Bazyle on 26/11/2012 21:39:23

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

What irks is that we asked the solicitors to get confirmation the property didn't flood when we bought it. The seller confirmed this – we later found out it had flooded 9-12 months before the sale.

Strange, all we can do is sit round, chat and sup Cava Brut and munch walnuts!

One positive, when cleaning out a cupboard, i found a Dapol Scammel Scarab, unassembled!

Neil

Edited By Stub Mandrel on 26/11/2012 21:45:10

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

Neil – hope the worst is over for you now. Can't do much once Nature decides to turn nasty.

We were flooded last November when there was a North Sea 'surge' and a coincident gale. The house is on the Norfolk Coastal Path and VERY adjacent to the salty stuff – lovely! SWMBO was standing in the lounge admiring the HUGE clouds of spray and spume and noticed that her feet seemed to be getting damp!! The Coastal Path has had zero maintenance and the sand had built up above our dpc. The path was flooded to about 18" and gently oozing through the wall. Bit of a shock when I realised that we had an uplighter controller gently glowing to indicate power on, resting in the slowly encroaching puddle. Quick trip of RCBs and joined Madame to enjoy the show!! Compared to the poor souls suffering this and previous floods, we were ridiculously lucky.

Stay safe

Rgds

Bill

[dcostaParticipant @dcosta]

Good luck Neil !

Dias Costa

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

Hope you stay dry Neil

Martin

[DustyParticipant @dusty]

Hi Neil, it sounds like you may have compensation coming your way. I would be hammering on my Solicitors door as soon as possible. Take photographs of any flooding for evidential purposes. i would venture to suggest that even if previous flood waters did not reach the house but did reach the property then you have been given an untrue statement, this could invalidate the contract of sale.

[chris jParticipant @chrisj]

Neil

Are you there ?

Did you survive, hope so.

Chris

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

All depends on answers given in Solicitors questionaire. If evey question is answered with, "the Vendor is not aware"(of potential problem referred to), then I very much doubt if anything can bo done unless it can be proved beyond all reasonable doubt that an answer was a deliberate lie intended to deceive…..

May be worth getting hold of a copy of that document and taking legal advice on it, ensuring that said advice is from another Solicitor. Potentially an expensive venture and at the end of the day, someone has to have assets to be worth sueing. Watchout!!

[Sandy MortonParticipant @sandymorton10620]

Hi Neil, hope everything goes well for you but to put it into perspective if my house/workshop floods global warming will be real. I am about 50 yards from the sea at high tide!

[SteamshyParticipant @steamshy]

Hi Neil, I trust that all will turn out well for you and the floods do an you any serious damage. Just blame the government, its probably there fault anyway.

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

Hi Neil

I sincerely hope that no news isn't bad news and that the night passed without the flood waters getting into your house or workshop.

Cheers

Martin

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Herllo All,

Thanks for the good wishes. The water stopped rising – at 3:00 am it had come up by about another inch, some of our neighbours were less lucky, it just reached some front doors and one neighbour told my wife it had come in his airbricks and he had fouls water below the floorboards – nasty, but not as bad as it could be. We got away with just sewage in the front gaarden where the drains backed up.

I fear the solicitor's response was 'buyer is not aware' – that phrase rings a bell. And from some of teh letters that came I doubt the vendor had many assets… More cross with myself for not asking more questions

They finally closed the road last night, before any of the idiots caused a crash. It only opened at 5:00 this afternoon, and is still down to one lane.

Thanks again for all good wishes.

Neil.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Welcome back, Neil

Amazing stuff, WD40 … a Force Shield for the whole house.

Keep Spraying !

MichaelG.

[SpringbokParticipant @springbok]

Hi neil
We live close to the river Frome and our fields are already floded so fingers crossed for everyone, and my workshop is in the cellar.

Bob

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Hi Bob,

I hope you make it unscathed as well.

Neil

[Author]

Posts