Food After the Flood

I live in farm country, so I hear a lot about the effects of the floods on the soil — farmers rely on their ground for their income, so it’s a common (and very complicated) subject of discussion. Once the dikes and levees have been repaired and the river starts to behave, landowners will be busy getting their fields back in shape for producing the crops on which we all rely.

Scraping off the sand and silt to get down to real soil is the first step, followed by filling any channels or ruts cut by the running water and burning or removing the debris left by the receding water. New soil surveys will be taken to determine what kinds of fertilizer are needed, and whether contaminants are present. A lot of fields won't get planted this year because they’re still under water, fully a month after the flood.

Contaminants
Flood water is a lot dirtier than normal river water. Once the water comes out of the river banks, it will start to pick up contaminants from various sources that the river normally doesn’t access:

• Waste treatment plants are usually close to rivers, and when they get flooded, they add raw or untreated sewage to the flood waters.
• Livestock and wildlife drowned by the flood will decompose and add some nasty biologicals to the mix.
• Farm sheds and barns tend to collect leftover chemicals, so if the buildings get flooded, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and all of the solvents and other chemicals needed to work on large equipment will likely end up in the flood water.
• The fluids in all of those vehicles now under water have to go somewhere. Fuel and oils are lighter than water, and will be carried a long way downstream. Most farms also have fuel tanks for equipment, normally 500-1000 gallons each; these can leak or rupture (when they try to float) and spill their contents into the flood waters.
• Look around at local businesses. We have entire towns under water, so anything stored or used by the various industrial companies can end up in the flood water, too.

Unsafe Foods

https://amzn.to/2VbsX0p

One of the local delicacies around here is the morel mushroom. Since morels grow well on the land near the rivers, a lot of the prime mushroom hunting ground got inundated by the recent floods, and that has led to warnings about eating them this year. Anything that has come into contact with flood waters is unsafe to eat unless you can remove the chemical and biological contaminants present in the water, and as you can see by the picture of a common morel, with all those nooks and crannies, there is just no way to thoroughly clean them.

Also considered unsafe to eat this year are all root crops grown in soil that was covered by flood water: carrots, radishes, beets, onions, etc. are all likely to be contaminated by the soil in which they are growing. Good Friday is the traditional time to start planting potatoes, but they’re not going to be planted in a lot of gardens this year; either those plots are still under water, or they have yet to be sanitized of the contaminants.

The last of the potentially dangerous foods includes any crop that lies on the ground. Melons, strawberries, and the like are simply at high risk of picking up too much crap to be safe to eat.

Safe Foods
Things that are safe to plant and eventually harvest are the foods that grow well above the dirt: peppers, tomatoes, corn, and anything else with a sturdy stalk or stem that keeps the fruit off the ground. To be safe, discard the fruit or vegetable if its weight caused the plant to bend until the fruit touched the ground (think vine-type plants such as tomatoes that might escape their supports). Wild berries and fruits will be safe by the time they mature if the plant survived the flood itself.

Believe it or not, trees can drown if their roots are under water for more than a few days, so pay attention to your trees; even if they don’t bear fruit or nuts, your shade tree next to the house could come down in the next storm because it died in the flood.

Mother nature will take care of most of the contamination, but it takes time. A full year of sunlight, microbial action, and aeration will clean up the soil and get it ready for next year, but anything you can do to help, like tilling the soil to expose more of it to light and air, will speed up the process and assure the quality of the soil for the next growing season.


Food spoilage is one of the lingering effects of a flood that doesn’t get much attention. If you’re planning on growing your own food, the soil near a river is usually some of the best you can find, but if it gets hit by a flood, you could easily lose a year’s worth of production.  If you are scavenging for food, watch for signs of recent flooding, and choose your edibles with care.

Flooding, Part 2

We’re still experiencing flooding here, but the first surge is done. I stayed dry, my house is above the flood plain, and so far, the place where I work has been spared. We got lucky where a lot of friends and family didn’t; the rapid spring thaw, combined with above-normal snow still on the ground and a moderate rain storm, caused a flash flood event that took most people by surprise.

Unlike the “normal” floods caused by the Missouri River, this one was mainly on the tributary rivers and was made worse by the Missouri being too full. If the tributaries don’t have an outlet, they back up and seem to run backwards. This blows out levees, and since we had a lot of ice on some of the rivers, it lifted that ice and created blockages at bridges. Nebraska lost 27 bridges and one dam, and has hundreds of miles of roads that are destroyed. Iowa had several small rivers go out of their banks and flood the areas between levees, and some of that water is still standing in the fields almost a month later, because it has nowhere to go. Rivers are still running high, and we have more rain in the forecast. This is going to be a long, wet year.

This was a true “flash” flood. We had maybe two hours’ notice that the rivers were going to break free, and once they did, a couple more hours before the water came. There was no time to empty businesses, and a lot of people got out of their houses with what they could carry in one trip to the car. A local motorcycle dealer managed to get his rolling stock of 400 bikes moved to higher ground, but lost everything else in the business. The used truck (semis) dealer across the street from him wasn’t as lucky, and about 200 of his trucks were submerged. Campgrounds near the rivers were swept clean, with campers and motor-homes being washed downriver. (More on the problems with vehicles and flooding in a future article.)

People are starting to get back to their homes and beginning the process of cleaning up and carrying on. That’s what happens after a flood; people continue on with their lives as best they can. I’ve seen this after the regional floods in 1993 and 2011, and the more localized flooding in 2007. Even when a house is completely destroyed, most people will rebuild if they’re allowed to do so. After the flooding in 1993, several unincorporated areas on the Missouri River were abandoned and re-zoned to prohibit new construction, but that is rare. Humans like living near water; it is a staple of life and civilization. [There is also the consideration of whether or not they could sell the old place in order to finance a move to a new place; this frequently locks people into rebuilding whether they want to or not. ~Editor]

Cleaning up after a flood is one of the few things you can prepare for. Local communities will come together and the outpouring of supplies often overwhelms some of the collection centers, but having your own supplies means you don’t have to rely on others and it makes getting started easier and quicker. Assuming that you evacuated and have returned to find your house mostly intact, there are a few things to take care of before you can start the clearing process.

The Checklist

• Make sure the electricity is off. Check with the power company and ensure that they have killed the feeds going into your area. Find out when they will be restoring service. Electricity and water are a bad combination, so stay safe. Do not enter a flooded house if you are not certain the power is off.
• Check your natural gas or LP supply. Make sure the gas is off at the meter or tank before entering a building. Because of the many odors stirred up by flood water, you may not notice the odor of natural gas/Liquid Propane. LP tanks float, so even if you did own a tank before the flood, you might not have one to worry about anymore — I know where a few 700-gallon tanks are sitting in the middle of a field right now, but getting them out is going to be a challenge. LP is heavier than air and will settle into basements, while natural gas is lighter than air and will accumulate in the upper floors.
• Check with the Water Department if you’re on the grid. Find out how long it’s going to be before they can restore service, and then how long before the water is potable. They may not have answers, so keep asking and listening for information.
• Pay attention to the weather. It doesn’t take much additional rain to turn saturated dirt into mud.

Clearing the House
Depending on how high the water rose, you may have areas of the house that stayed dry. Leave those areas for last; start at ground level and work your way down before going up. You want to clear a path on the ground level and then get the wettest stuff out first. You may need to remove standing water, so having a way to pump it is useful.

• Remove everything that came into contact with the flood water.
• Clothing may be salvageable, but furniture is not. Anything with stuffing or filler is unsafe to keep. Carpet and padding also has to go; area rugs may be salvageable if you have a way to clean and dry them.
• Discard all food that the water touched. You would not believe the variety of chemical and biological contamination present in flood water, so any container that got wet is suspect. Sealed containers can be sterilized by removing the labels (that makes meal time a mystery) and washing them in a dilute bleach solution.
• Hard plastic, ceramic, and metal can be cleaned, so set them aside until you have a supply of clean water, soap, and bleach. Soft plastic and rubber items should be discarded. Wooden utensils go in the trash or burn pit.
• Electronics that got wet are almost always trashed. Even my waterproof cell phone is only rated for 30 minutes underwater, so your 80” TV is toast.
• If your interior walls got soaked, start tearing them out once you have the rooms empty. The gypsum that drywall is made of is the same chemical you’ll find in larger desiccant packs, so you’re not going to be able to dry it out. Removing the drywall allows airflow to the structure of the house and will speed up the drying. Older lathe-and-plaster walls aren’t as likely to retain moisture as drywall, but will be damaged and start to decay as they dry out so you’ll need to remove it. Wood paneling should be popped loose or removed to let air get behind it and may be reusable once cleaned and dried. Insulation may also need to be removed and replaced.
• Windows and doors that got submerged should be removed to let the framework of the house dry out. Wet wood tends to swell, so removing the wet doors and window will remove a source of stress on the remaining structure, and improve airflow. Once they dry, windows and doors may be reusable if they haven’t warped.

Have somewhere to take all of the discarded materials. Our local landfill doubled the price of waste coming in due to the sudden influx of trucks. Don’t be that guy that just dumps stuff in a ditch somewhere! All you’re doing is shifting the mess to someone else’s yard.

Cleaning
If the weather cooperates and the ambient humidity drops below 50%, you can prevent mold and mildew by drying out the interior of the house as fast as possible. Biological contaminants and the various fungi known as mold are treated with the same things you work to avoid when storing food: heat, sunlight (specifically the UV part of it), and oxygen.

• Heat may be an option if you have a safe way to generate it. A wood-burning stove would work; a forced-air furnace probably won’t, if only because they are usually in the way of the floodwaters. Raising the temperature of the air through whatever means will also help the drying process.
• Opening or removing windows and doors will let sunlight in and keep mold from growing wherever the sunlight reaches. UV or “black” lights set up in dark rooms will slow it down, but you need to watch your exposure to high-strength UV, because it’s bad for your eyes. A little-known fact: most commercial laundries and food-production plants use UV lights to filter air, and there are some water treatment plants that use it to kill pathogens in the water.
• Fresh air contains about 20% oxygen, so getting air moving through the house is important. Common bleach and hydrogen peroxide are sources of oxygen — that’s the source of their cleaning power. Potassium permanganate is another oxidizer that is fairly easy to find, but a bit harder to use. Be careful with all of these, as they are toxic.
• If you have electricity, run dehumidifiers and air conditioners as much as possible to help remove moisture from the air. Use fans to circulate air into every room. This is very important in areas below ground level with limited or no natural air flow.

Inspecting

• Have an electrician check your wiring and breakers. Anything that was under water for more than a few hours will likely have to be replaced. I did a lot of equipment removal after the flooding in 1993, mostly consisting of commercial electronics that were full of silt and mud. This is actually easier, since you’ll have most of the interior walls torn out already.
• Have a licensed contractor inspect the structure of the building. I’ve seen flood water move houses off their foundations, and there may be damage that you won’t recognize.
• There’s a good chance that the local government will check your buildings. If they find too much damage, they will deem them unsafe and may condemn them. Unsafe can be repaired, but if they condemn it, you’re in for a court battle if you want to live there.
• If you have flood insurance, or really good home-owners insurance, contact your agent and get on the list for an adjuster to inspect the damage. Be prepared to fight their estimates; they don’t make money by paying claims. Taking pictures as you clear the house will greatly back up your side of the story if it goes to court.

Once you have everything out of the house, the drying process will take weeks or months before you can start to rebuild. I’ll cover rebuilding later, once we actually get to that point around here.

Since floods are an area disaster, building materials and replacement furniture are going to increase in price (supply and demand) and become harder to find until the supply chain catches up. The delay while you’re waiting for everything to dry should give prices time to stabilize and maybe even come back down a bit.


Floods are an act of nature that we can’t control, and preparing for them largely consists of getting out of their way. Dealing with the aftermath is something that we need to think about before it happens.

Prudent Prepping: Reflect, Review and Prepare

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

It’s time for me to clean up and check my equipment as I move, and in the middle of the mess I hear a report that a dam in northern California may be releasing water very soon due to all the rain and now snow melt.

Reflect

Yes, it’s the Oroville Dam I talked about in these posts. The thing that has the locals worried are the cracks in the face of the spillway, similar to the cracks that caused all the problems mentioned in the news articles (linked above) from February 2017. The state water department says everything is just fine, but area residents are understandably worried. After a billion dollars spent to repair and supposedly improve the dam, everyone believes it should work much better than previously.

This was what caused me to go down the rabbit hole of explaining to the people I’m living with why I have emergency gear and food. This is a conversation I wanted to have, just not quite so soon. I thought it could wait until everyone was settled, unpacked and rested.

Review

Everyone to whom I’ve been talking remembers the dam problem and knows what a flood looks like, at least from news reports. Only one person was living in the San Francisco Bay area for the Oakland/Berkeley Hills fire in 1991, but the recent fire in Paradise and fires elsewhere in the state were real wake-up calls about what can happen in an urban area close to open spaces. My new place backs up to open space/grasslands with scattered trees, but the lack of trees isn’t a guarantee against winds blowing embers onto everything. My friends have several fire extinguishers from previous rentals, but I don’t know how current they are. These are for the kitchen, laundry room and garage, and don’t count the one I have for my room.

New meet-up locations have to be set, alternate places to stay found, emergency phone numbers for friends passed around, along with everyone learning the locations of the water meter and gas meter, as well as how to turn them off.

I’m making a list of everything the Master Chief and I had worked out as the starting point for where I’d like to see everyone in one month, six months, and a year from now.

Prepare
Oh boy, where to start? I’m going with personal safety at the top of my list. I have a fire extinguisher and first aid kit, but I’m on the second floor and I seriously hate being off the ground if there is a fire. What I’m looking at is something like this, the First Alert EL52-2 Two-Story Fire Escape Ladder.

https://amzn.to/2I8pj0u

I like this model since it has stand-off legs. From the Amazon listing:

• Easy to use two-story 14-foot fire escape ladder
• Fully assembled, ready to use
• Strong steel construction, tested to 1,125 lbs
• DuPont Cordura nylon strapping for extra strength and maximum durability.
• Complies to ASTM standards; 6-year limited warranty; For sill widths of 6 to 10 inches.

My window sill is less than 10” deep, so I’m set, but I need to convince my friends on the other side of the house to get one also, which shouldn’t be too difficult. As I really do have a Blue Collar Prepping budget, this will be my first order for my new place.


The Takeaway

• Never stop thinking about how to be safe.
• Planning isn’t expensive; figuring things out under stress can really cost.

The Recap

• Nothing was purchased this week, but next week one First Alert EL52-2 from Amazon for $34.97 with Prime shipping is going to be on my porch!

***

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If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned or given in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Floods and Roads

Last week was a mess. The rapid rise in temperatures coupled with abundant snow, three inches of rain, and still-frozen ground led to widespread flash flooding over most of the upper Midwest. Iowa and Nebraska got hit hard and fast, with rivers and streams rising out of their banks and levees breaking from the pressure of the surge of water. I had a nice policeman knock on my door and tell me that I was in the area under mandatory evacuation, even though my house is higher than the 500 and 1000 year flood plains. They aren't forcing anyone out of their houses (so I'm staying put), but they are going around and shutting off water, electricity, and gas service to any house in jeopardy of being flooded.

I've been through floods here in 1993 and 2011, and those were both slow, drawn-out rises in the Missouri River that caused tributaries to back up and flood low areas. This year the water didn't have time to get to the Missouri; the tributaries couldn't couldn't handle the sudden melt/rain. After the wet fall we had last year the ground is saturated, and the exceptionally cold winter pushed the frost line down below three feet. That means that we have solid ice at least three feet deep where dirt should be, and ice doesn't absorb water like dirt does. Even when the ground thaws, it's still saturated from last year, and most new water will run off. There is still substantial snow on the ground upstream of us that has to melt, so our rivers are going to stay full for a long time.

Fatalities have been mercifully low in Iowa and Nebraska, though a handful of people have paid the price for driving around barricades or trying to drive through a river running across a road. The main issues for us range in scale from "There is water in basements that have never been wet before" to "Entire towns are underwater." Grain bins full of corn and soybeans are sitting in several feet of water, and several small cities have been turned into islands with no possibility of ground traffic in or out. The flooding is still underway, so we don't have a good accounting of the amount of livestock killed and equipment lost, but it's going to be a rough spring for area farmers.

Right now the biggest problem is the old "You can't get there from here" joke; roads are under water, bridges have been washed away, and debris is everywhere. I live on the edge of a small town that sits on the intersection of two highways, one running north/south, the other east/west. We have one additional route out of town in each direction, both of them gravel roads. By the second day, all but one of those routes were under water, and all of the routes cross rivers or large streams/creeks.

Information is vital in situations like this. The Federal Highway Administration has a website with a nice map of the states where you can click on each state and get redirected to a page that will take you to the state's page (after sending you to a page to remind you that you're leaving the federal site). I've trimmed out the extra steps and have compiled a list of each state and their road conditions, with a bit of commentary on each. Some of the links were broken, which is to be expected with internet sites constantly evolving; add to that the fact that we're talking about government sites, and I'm surprised there weren't more broken links. I can't promise that they will all work forever, but they worked when I found them.

• Alabama
  An interactive map with live updates, pretty standard.
• Alaska
  There may not be a lot of roads in Alaska, but here's a live map of the current conditions. It has an email alert sign-up pop up that needs to be dismissed before you get to the map.
• Arizona
  Another interactive map, this one has an annoying route planner covering the left quarter of the map until you dismiss it.
• Arkansas
  Standard map with color-coded travel conditions.
• California
  CA can't be normal, so this one is a confusing mess of a map requiring you to select an area to get any information. Even the 511 information is broken up into regions.
• Colorado
  Not a simple map to navigate like most states have, but rather several pages with much more information. Colorado does have some rather unique travel hazards.
• Connecticut
  Nice clean map of the roads and conditions.
• Delaware
  The link on the FHA page was broken, so I dug around and found the DelDOT page. Nice clean map with standard features.
• Florida
  A typical interactive map with the route planner that covers part of the screen.
• Georgia
  Different color scheme than most travel maps; you'll need to use the pull-downs on the left to select which data you want displayed. My first visit had some pop-up windows for email alerts.
• Hawaii
  No single map, but a link to the roadwork for each island. Weather related road closure doesn't seem to be an issue for some reason.
• Idaho
  Full-service road conditions. You'll need to select what type or level of information you want to get to the maps.
• Illinois
  Another state with plenty of options to choose from for what information you need.
• Indiana
  One of two choices from IN, this one is the simpler of the two. Common road condition map, even if it does start zoomed out too far. The hazard indicators covered the entire state until I zoomed in enough to get some scale.
• Iowa
  Interactive map with various options for internet speed and level of detail. Phone app available.
• Kansas
  Oddly structured site with somewhat confusing layout. The link from the FHA site was broken, but I found the KS page.
• Kentucky
  Probably the most annoying of all the state pages with splash screens to close, pop-ups to ignore, and then finally you get to a standard interactive map. Typical of my experiences with this state.
• Louisiana
  Simple, basic, interactive map with the information you need.
• Maine
  Part of the “New England 511”, a regional map with Vermont and New Hampshire.
• Maryland
  Redirects from the md511.org linked on the FHA site to a newer site with more information choices.
• Massachusetts
  Standard interactive map with route planner.
• Michigan
  I almost missed this one because the hyperlink was hard to see. Standard interactive map.
• Minnesota
  Another example of a DOT that gives you options. Pick the type of internet connection and the level of information you need to get to a decent map.
• Mississippi
  Choose between viewing the map or downloading the app; either will give you the road conditions.
• Missouri
  A simple travelers map with plenty of information and a ticker scrolling important information along the bottom.
• Montana
  Several options available, this is the cleanest map of the bunch.
• Nebraska
  Choose your level of information and get to a good map. Common format among the sites for states with lots of truck traffic.
• Nevada
  It took a few clicks to find the road conditions map, but it is there.
• New Hampshire
  Part of a regional map with Maine and Vermont. Map updates very frequently.
• New Jersey
  A standard 511 map that shows all of the routes out of NJ.
• New Mexico
  Nice, clean map with road conditions.
• New York
  A good map for the 95% of the state that isn't NYC.
• North Carolina
  This one took a bit of clicking around to find the map. Good map, but the alerts take up a lot of the screen.
• North Dakota
  Having traveled ND quite a bit in my younger days, this is one that needs to be bookmarked. There are long stretches between towns and the terrain is perfect for blizzards and floods.
• Ohio
  Interactive map with the option to download their travel app.
• Oklahoma
  All of the links I could find were broken; OK needs to upgrade their IT staff and servers. I finally found a way to their site through www.safetravel.com
• Oregon
  The default settings make the map a bit busy, so uncheck the boxes for information you don't need to make it more legible.
• Pennsylvania
  Another map with an options bar on the left that takes up too much screen.
• Rhode Island
  A landing page with options. Most of the information is segregated by region.
• South Carolina
  A nice landing page with options that include a map of traffic and road conditions.
• South Dakota
  No official state map, but a link to a commercial (?) site with the information you'll need.
• Tennessee
  A few clicks to get there from the FHA site, but TN does have a map of traffic and road conditions.
• Texas
  A busy map, which isn't surprising. Location pop-up before you get to the map.
• Utah
  Fair map, but with auto-playing traffic cams.
• Vermont
  Part of a regional map along with Maine and New Hampshire. Basic map with constant updates.
• Virginia
  Clean, simple, easy to navigate.
• Washington
  After being sent to a confusing landing page, I finally found the map. I did learn that WA is no longer printing paper highway maps.
• West Virginia
  Busy map until you uncheck some of the default information boxes.
• Wisconsin
  A good, simple map once you close the panel of alerts on the left.
• Wyoming
  A simple landing page, and the map is easy to find.
  

All told, the Federal Highway Administration is a fair source of information. I also ran across SafeTravelUSA and saw a lot of mentions of Waze, which is a community-driven travel app for your smart phone. Crowd-sourced information may be a good way to avoid a traffic jam in good weather, but I'm not sure how effective it would be in a serious storm or disaster. Maybe one of the more tech-savvy folks out there would like to look into Waze for us?

Chaplain Tim

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

I received this email from Chaplain Tim last night:

Subject: Thursday post

I'm going to try to get one together,  but I just had a nice policeman at my door inform me that the my section of town is under an evacuation order due to flooding. They're not stupid enough to force evacuation, so I'm not going anywhere.

Electricity is off for 25% of town already, the rest is possible. Power company put the substation in the flood zone.

This crap just came out of nowhere. Blogfodder, but it is going to be a while before I get it worked out. 

As of 4 pm today I texted Tim with "Are you staying dry?" He responded with "River breached the levee on the opposite of my place, so I am good for a while."

If you're the praying sort, please spare a good word with $deity regarding those in Iowa affected by state-wide flooding.

GunBlog VarietyCast #159 - We Agree With Nancy Pelosi. Yes, We're As Surprised As You Are.

"Lickspittle" is an excellent pejorative that deserves more usage.

• Beth taught a USCCA class in Connecticut this past weekend, where apparently the state wants to make it as difficult as possible for people to get CCW permits or firearms, with blocks at every turn! Where's reciprocity when you need it?!?!
• What kind of person robs a bank and murders 2 tellers in the process? The story quotes the FBI report, but Sean reads the criminal record.
• Barron is on assignment and will return soon.
• Do you know a loved one's most important medical details when they need to be taken to the ER? Stuff that will be needed RIGHT THIS MOMENT? Miguel has some suggestions for us.
• Our Main Topic is The End of Antifa. Their left wing allies are telling them to knock it off. It's a cynical Sister Souljah moment by the establishment.
• Tiffany is on assignment and will return soon.
• You survived the hurricane - now you have to survive the flooding. Erin gives prepping advice based on what she's seen in Houston.
• Former Bloomberg lickspittle Mark Glaze goes out on his own, and now he’s out for blood! Weer’d looks at Glaze’s talking points through the ages.
• And our Plug of the Week is for the Wondery podcast, "Tides of History."

Thank you for downloading, listening, and subscribing. You are subscribed, right? We are available on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and Google Play Music!

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Blue Collar Prepping Transcript -

Flood Preps

Back in episode 51, when Tampa was flooded, I discussed what to do if your car was caught in floodwaters. Given the situation in Houston, it seems timely and relevant to discuss what to do if your home is flooded. The most important piece of advice I can give you is something that I’ve echoed many times before: If you know a disaster is coming and you have the ability to get out, do so.

I know the mayor of Houston told people not to evacuate, and I can sort of see his reasoning for it: the Houston interstate system is also its flood control system, with the water designed to follow the roads until it lets out into the Gulf - and the last time Houstonians evacuated, which was in 2005 for Hurricane Rita, the roads quickly became jammed because Houston is the 4th largest city in America. A combination of gridlock and a heatwave resulted in up to 118 deaths before the storm even arrived, as opposed to only 113 deaths caused by Rita itself.

So from a logistical point of view, I can see why Mayor Turner didn’t demand mandatory evacuation. But the key word there is “demand”; just because you don’t have to go doesn’t mean you shouldn't go. From my point of view, evacuation not being mandatory just means I have an easier time getting out of town! But let’s say you’ve decided not to evacuate for whatever reason. You’ve stockpiled food, water, batteries, and medical supplies, and your house made it through the storm in one piece - but now you have to deal with flooding.

Ideally, you live on high ground, which means your house isn’t flooded. But even if that’s the case, you are likely without power and running water, and you may need to leave your house to get supplies. If you aren’t on high ground, you definitely need to move so that you can get a warm, dry place to sleep, because floodwaters cause hypothermia, structural damage to houses, and disease with them. Your three biggest needs are waterproofing your preps, communication, and transport. 

Waterproofing is a subject that I discussed in its own segment in episode 29. I won’t repeat all of that here, just add that if you’re going to go to the trouble of making preps, you need to keep them dry and keep them from floating away. Having food in a waterproof box does you no good if that box has floated off in the floodwaters! So lash your preps your something strong. 

And I do mean strong. Two feet of water can pick up and move trucks, so don’t think that lashing your boxes to a 100 pound shelf is going to do you any good. I mean strong as in a structural support or part of the foundation.

Where you put them is also a bit of a gamble. You don’t want you preps on the ground floor if you’re expecting floods, so many preppers store theirs in the attic - which is great, except for the fact that hurricane-force winds have a distressing tendency to peel roofs off. 

The best advice I can give is to keep your preps with you wherever you shelter, so keep them portable, and have a variety of places where you can secure them. Make sure they are visible, with bright colors on the lids and sides, so you can find them if they are covered by dark water. 

Communication sounds difficult because the best kind in a situation like this is a HAM radio. Most people think this requires a lot of expensive gear and a large antenna, but they’re wrong. For the low price of around $25 you can get the Baofeng UV5RA, a handheld HAM radio that looks like a thick walkie-talkie. This means that they’re not only portable, but that you can also keep them in waterproof containers until needed. 

Best of all, not only can the Baofeng listen to FM and weather bands, but there are also local repeaters nearly everywhere. You can set your radio up to link into these repeaters, and the repeaters then send your signal out at a significantly stronger and more efficient range. This means that your inexpensive handheld 2-5 watts radio can communicate up to several hundred miles if you get into a linked repeater system.

The drawback to these is that you need a HAM license in order to broadcast on them. But from my point of view, if it’s a survival situation, you use what you have to call for help and to paraphrase Ellen Ripley from Aliens, “The FCC can bill me later.”

Transportation is where it gets expensive, because I’ve been told that the owner’s definition of “a boat” is “a hole in the water into which you throw money”. But if you have a fishing boat, a flat-bottom utility boat, or even a rowboat, you’re doing well -- assuming, of course, it didn’t get floated away.

If you don’t own a boat, the cheapest option would be to buy an inflatable raft of some kind and store it along with your preps. Right now, the best kind I can find is an Intex Excursion 5-person inflatable raft with oars for $115 on eBay.

If you go this route, make sure you have the following accessories with it:

• A tow line for securing it
• Life vests for everyone who will use it, including pets
• Extra oars - if you have 5 people, then 4 should be paddling and 1 should be steering
• Repair kits, in case debris in the water pokes a hole in it
• Some way to get it and yourself out of the attic, such as a fire ax, if that’s where you keep the raft. 

A raised inflatable mattress, like the kind you get from Serta, can also serve as a makeshift cargo barge. The twin version is rated to support 250 pounds or more, and the queen size ought to be at least double that. A cargo net, or one made from paracord, would not only secure what’s on it but also give you tie-downs for towing and securing it. Check out the video in the show notes.

Stay strong and stay dry, Texas.

• Baofeng UV5RA Ham Two Way Radio - http://amzn.to/2jHuHge
• Intex Excusion 5 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intex-Excursion-5-Inflatable-Rafting-Fishing-Dinghy-Boat-Set-Open-Box/292143666582?epid=1400688767&hash=item44051e9596:g:s7cAAOSwfRdZOIMk
• How to Make a Net for Bushcraft Purposes - https://youtu.be/y4HjzuKqy18?fref=gc&dti=1438639369705777

Prudent Prepping: Blue Skies and Emergencies

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

Everyone has heard about the overfull reservoir here in California by now, right? Did the people interviewed sound like anyone you know?

Emergencies Are Not Required to Have Clouds
As a Californian, I expect to be hit with earthquakes or wildfires. Floods are not on that list, given that we have had five years of severe drought. People living near rivers in other parts of the US have floods, levee breaks and the like; California never has too much water.

Here is a news clip from a local television station explaining what happened to the dam. Looking back through the station's page will show many, many people lining up to buy gas, clogging the roads trying to get out of the towns in the evacuation zone, and talking about how they left with just a pillow, blanket and their pets. The Sacramento Bee newspaper reported people at temporary shelters being without prescriptions, and how there are no early warning systems in place to alert many communities of expected disasters like tsunami on the coast or fires in inland forested areas.

I am not an engineer or a politician, so I will leave any discussion of reconstruction, blame and funding any fixes to others. What I do want to mention are fixes to the obvious, personal failings of many of the almost 200,000 people forced to leave their homes.

What Went Wrong
The people controlling the dam unwisely chose to limit outflow. Again, this is out of our control as citizens. But here is what Californians could have controlled, but didn't:

• No (or very little) gas in their cars. Evacuation centers were set up in two areas, one as little as 50 miles away, but lines to enter gas stations were blocks long and contributed to the horrible traffic leaving the town of Oroville. 
• No plan for leaving their homes on short notice. 
• No system for meeting separated family members after evacuating.

What Went Right

• The Dept. of Water Resources increased the outflow on the damaged main spillway, reducing the threat of a collapsing emergency spillway. Again, out of our hands. 
• The various communities enforced mandatory evacuations, with almost 100% compliance.
• No one died during the evacuations. 
• The reported arrests for looting are less than five. 
• The Red Cross, FEMA, and local groups all came together to provide food, blankets, cots and assistance to those needing help filling prescriptions. 
• Even with the mandatory evacuation being lifted, many people are afraid to move back into their homes, in fear of leaving again if the rains return. 

What Can Be Done To Improve
For most of us here on Blue Collar Prepping, there probably isn't much to do. For friends, family and co-workers, though, there's possibly a lot that could be done.

1. Ask if they have seen the Oroville reporting
2. Ask if they have a plan to leave their homes quickly.
3. Ask them what is the meet-up point where everyone will be expected to go after leaving.
4. Talk to them about your plans.

The last point is a bit of a sticky one for me. I don't share much personal information with my friends and even less about my preps, including my involvement with Blue Collar Prepping. I have had the conversation that many of you have related -- "Oh wow! Do you have an underground bunker, armored car and machine guns like that TV show??"  -- followed by laughter and not much listening when the discussion gets to buying extra rice and beans stored in a metal trash can or food-grade 5 gallon pails. I get tired of this reaction, so I am picky about with whom I talk  about prepping. Too picky, I'm sure, for their own good.

The Recap

• Use your local or national news as an icebreaker to start the prepping conversation. Even if you aren't comfortable with starting it like I am, do it anyway. 
• Bunkers or not, what we don't do now can come back to hurt those around us.
• Good luck, and be safe.

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Floods

While we're still in the depths of winter, we're not far out on the time when the snows melt and the water flows. And as this gif recently shared with the BCP Facebook group shows, some floods can come fast and furious, and with zero warning.

View post on imgur.com

But some floods do come slow and steady as well. What they all have in common is that awareness and a bit of preparation can easily prevent or mitigate damage and injury.

Preparation
First, know your risk level. In a previous article, Erin linked to a handy site that gives your flood risk zone based on your street address. If your risk level comes back as minimal, congratulations! You have one less thing in your life to worry about.

If it comes back elevated, you'll need to make some plans. Step one is to make sure that you have appropriate flood insurance. There is obviously an associated cost, but if extremes descend upon you, you'll have help recovering.

When storms are pending, listen to the news on the radio, or TV, or on some manner of weather band radio. If a "watch" is announced, it means that flooding is possible in your area. If they announce a "warning" instead, it means flooding is currently occuring or will occur in the very near future. These may be accompanied by official instructions.

If you're advised to find high ground or evacuate, do so if at all possible. Crises have a real hard time hurting you if you aren't there.

When traveling in flood conditions, know how little water it takes to sweep you away. On foot, water over your ankles is enough to trip you and pull you away. In a vehicle, it takes less than two feet of water to move even large vehicles. In addition, flood flows carry all sorts of debris that can injure or kill you. Attempting to cross floodwaters is a recipe ripe for disaster.

If you can't relocate, do what you can to keep water at bay. Sandbags are backbreaking, but are excellent for this purpose. In Erin's linked article, she talks about an easy bagging tool that takes the pain out of sandbagging, and could easily be worth its weight in gold. In addition, move any valuables to the highest point possible. Unplug any electrical devices that could be exposed to flood waters.

In short, don't be there if you don't have to. If you have to be there, build the berm high and tight.

Flash Floods
Flash floods are, with very few exceptions, far less likely to hit you where you live. They are phenomenally dangerous though, striking with little to no warning, and pack a tremendous amount of force. In fact, they are the #1 weather-related killer in the USA.

Even the driest deserts are susceptible to flash flooding. Pay attention to weather reports and severe weather warnings. A storm miles away can cause flooding, especially in dry riverbeds, culverts, or other waterways.

Aftermath
After a flood, utilities are almost guaranteed to be compromised. Don't trust any water you haven't purified until you get word from local authorities. If necessary, or if advised by authorities, turn off your utilities. As waters recede, be careful of any wildlife that may have taken shelter in your home, outbuildings, or vehicles. In addition, be conscious of any food or other supplies that may be contaminated by water, waste, or debris.


You can't prevent flooding, but you can do some big things to minimize the damage.

Lokidude

Hurricane Preparedness: Riding it Out

Not actually Erin.
Picture by KJ Photography
& is used with permission. 

This is Part 3 of my "Hurricane Survival" series. Part 1 may be found here, and part 2 here. 

Today I talk about what you can do to maximize your chances while staying and riding out the storm -- which, let's be honest, is probably the best example of "bugging in" that exists without the corresponding SHTF that follows.

(I phrase it like that because if, post-hurricane, the feces really has hit the oscillator, you ought to have evacuated in the first place *coughKatrinacough*. Remember, the First Rule of surviving any crisis is "Don't be where the crisis is.")

Make Sure Your Home Is Not In a Flood Zone

Good news:  It's very easy to do this. Go to https://msc.fema.gov/portal, enter your street address, and see what zone you're in based on the map.  Ideally, you want to be in Zone X, which means you have 0.2% or less chance of annual flooding, and if it does flood there will be less than 1 foot of water. Now, please note that a hurricane is not a flood, but it will give you an excellent idea of whether or not your home is in danger of water damage (either from storm surge or from the tons of rain that is being dumped) based upon the drainage conditions. 

Bad news: If your home is in a flood zone, you're kinda screwed. If you're lucky, you'll have access to earth-moving equipment and enough dirt to make a levee....

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/05/mississippi-floodwaters-roll-south/100069/

... but even then, that's not a guarantee it will work. Fortunately for you, the above picture is from the Mississippi River flood of 2011 and not a hurricane.  Depending on where you live, you may only need a few feet of sandbags to protect your property, in which case I recommend the EZ Bagger -- it takes a slow, back-breaking 2-person job and turns it into a fast, 1-person operation.  I've used it before (to prevent excess rain from flooding our porch) and it WORKS. 

I can't speak for other states, or even for other counties, but where I live the local Dept. of Public Works provides mountains of sand and free bags during the wet season -- all you have to do is go over there and fill them yourself. To be safe, investigate what your county does for hurricane season before one starts to roll in. 

If you live in a flood zone that's deeper than can be handled by mere sandbags, you should not be bugging in. GET OUT. 

Prepare For Rain - Lots and Lots of Rain

No, I mean LOTS. Think "Noah and the Flood" amounts of rain. Think "I can no longer see where I'm driving because the water is hitting the windshield so hard that everything whites out and the wipers can't keep up" lots. (Another good reason not to drive during a storm.)

Even if you're not in a flood plain, you can easily expect feet of water to be dumped on you during the course of a storm, and so sandbags are again a good idea to keep the water from getting onto your porch or creeping up under your door. If you have low points on your property -- ideally, some kind of drainage ditch or canal nearby -- you can dig trenches leading toward them and away from your home, but be careful that you aren't instead making a highway for rising water right up to your door.  Remember that with enough rain, sewers can back up and canals can rise.

Water will also find a way in through your roof and windows if possible. 

• Inspect the caulk around windows and doors to see if the seal is still good. 
• If you have drains or sump pumps, make sure they're in good working order. 
• Read this article from DisasterSafety.Org titled "5 Ways to Protect Your Home From Water Damage During Hurricane Season" for more information.  (Heck, I'm going to be linking to this site a lot, so if you have the time, it's worth a read -- especially if you're handy with DIY.)

Protect Your Home Against Wind

There are two checklists here:  what to do before there's a storm (i.e. NOW) and what to do when it's bearing down on you.

Before a Storm

These are good things to do regardless of whether or not you intend to evacuate. The more of them you have done, the greater the likelihood that your home will survive the storm. You do want to come back, right?

• If you have a gravel driveway or decorative rocks in your yard, replace them so they don't become airborne hazards. 
• If you have trees in your yard or nearby, check to see if they are large enough to be a hazard to your home if they fall. It may be necessary to call an inspector to see if they need to be removed. If they do need to be removed or relocated, check city ordinances first; it may be illegal to cut down a tree without permission. 
• Inspect your roof  to see if it needs repair or replacing. If your roof goes, the rest of the house is probably a loss. 
• Ensure your roof soffits are anchored.
• Make sure your garage door is pressure-rated. If it's not, find a way to reinforce it. 
• Brace the gable end truss of your house. This is something that can be retrofitted to existing homes. 
• Buy metal shutters for your windows, or pre-cut plywood and number them so you know which sheets go where. 
• Read this PDF on wind mitigation in case I've missed anything. 

When a Storm is Approaching

1. Get all of the loose objects out of the yard and put them indoors if possible. Lawn furniture, backyard toys, and even cars can be picked up by the wind and slammed into your house. 
2. Cover your windows. Ideally this should be done with metal shutters, but if you have to use plywood then follow these guidelines. This will help protect your home against the things you can't secure, like rocks or your neighbor's crap. 
3. Windows that can't be shuttered (like decorative windowlets on doors) should be secured on both sides with the strongest duct tape possible. They might break, but hopefully the tape will keep them from falling apart. 
4. I've never progressed past this point, having never actually experienced a hurricane strike. If any of my readers have, please let me know if there is more here that I should add. 

Inspect Your Bug-In Gear and Provisions

If you are extremely lucky, you'll only lose power for a few days and then life will return to normal. If you aren't, there's no telling when power and water will come back, so have at least a week's worth of food and water per person (including pets!) if you intend to bug in. 

• Make sure you have enough water.  I recommend filling a WaterBOB before the storm hits as there is no telling how long it will take before water service resumes. 
• Have a means of filtering or boiling water. There will likely be contamination of the water supply by the storm surge. Pairing a water filter (like a Katadyn Base Camp) with a means to heat it (like the Kelly Kettle) would be ideal for this. 
• Have food you can open. Canned food does you no good if you have no can opener!
• Have food you can prepare. A barbecue grill or a camp stove (I've reviewed several) will serve you well in this regard. 
• If you have a dedicated freezer, here are two useful tricks:
• Take some gallon jugs (like for milk), fill them nearly to the top (to give the water room to expand), and freeze them. Not only will these large ice cubes help keep your food cold for longer, but they will also be a handy source of water once they melt. 
• Take frozen food and put it into heavy-duty trash bags.  That way if the food spoils, cleaning it up will be as simple as throwing the bag away. 
• If you plan to use a generator, get fresh gas for it well before the storm hits. The day before is NOT the time to be gassing up!
• Put fresh batteries into your flashlights and radios.  A radio that can pick up Weather Band as well as local AM/FM is ideal. 
• Charge your cellphones that are text-capable. If you still have cell service after a disaster, the circuits are going to be crazy busy, and texts are more likely to go through than phone calls. Text your loved ones to let them know you're all right; save the actual phone frequencies for 911 calls. 
• Keep a flashlight on your person at all times, or have flashlights or lanterns in every room (especially the bathrooms). 
• Make sure your family knows where in the house to shelter if the roof comes loose or wind and water start to get into the house. If you have a room set up as a tornado shelter, use that. A bathroom without an external window is idea. 
• Have your first-aid kit out and ready to use, but still protected from any wind or rain that might get in. Ideally, keep it in a centralized, safe location. 
• Know where your electrical cut-offs are. 

Remember That You WILL Forget Things

I'm certain that I have forgotten a critical piece of advice. There's just so much to remember when it comes to riding out mother nature's fury. That's why I've provided you with these checklists -- so that you can look at them instead of having to remember it all.

But still, odds are good you'll forget something. Don't kick yourself over it; what's important is keeping a clear head through the crisis. Adapt, improvise, and overcome, and then learn from your mistake so you won't make it again the next time.


Now, everyone be safe this hurricane season, and let me know if there's anything I need to add!