Hello fellow UFOZSers,

I am happy to see that most of us were not affected by Debby since no one had started a thread before this one that I could see. I live in an area that was pretty heavily impacted by unexpected flooding, and since I think there are some lessons to share I figured I would go ahead and create a post.

I live in Sarasota County, Florida. This area has seen a lot of residential development over the past 30 years, and it is often argued that infrastructure and planning have taken a backseat to profits as a priority. Some of the neighborhoods that have been here for some time with never any flooding from prior storms were cut off or even inundated during and after Debby. I helped ferry friends in and out of the 2-3' deep flood waters cutting off their neighborhood because I have a large truck, and the community East of them had 3-4' of water in their homes.

I would recommend anyone who lives in an area with recent extensive development look into flood insurance. If it can be had within your budget it might be a really good idea. The flood maps here suggested that we are outside all current danger areas, but that is cold comfort to the people gutting their houses this weekend.

I agree with the need for flood insurance if there Is a chance of flooding.

I have been following the flooding in Sarasota and some of it occurred in x zones. These are zones that  are not prone to flooding. Flood insurance in such areas generally is comparatively low cost.

FEMA also allows you to search on an address to visually see possible flooding risk.

A mere 1/2 inch of water inside a home can literally cost 100's of thousands of dollars to repair.

Quote from: Raptor on August 11, 2024, 02:58:23 PMA mere 1/2 inch of water inside a home can literally cost 100's of thousands of dollars to repair.

And it's amazing what a "little" bit of water can do. I know I'm preaching to the choir here as I've been following your posts about hurricanes since before I lived near the Gulf, but I have friends that spend the weekend salvaging what they could before the demo crew arrives tomorrow morning. They even sandbagged, but the water went higher.

I saw a half dozen cars belonging to people who thought they could make it through a couple feet of water and got an expensive lesson.

Quote from: airballrad on August 11, 2024, 01:16:56 PMHello fellow UFOZSers,

I am happy to see that most of us were not affected by Debby since no one had started a thread before this one that I could see. I live in an area that was pretty heavily impacted by unexpected flooding, and since I think there are some lessons to share I figured I would go ahead and create a post.

Glad to hear you're ok.  We actually lost power the weekend before for 24 hrs here in central NC due to storms(yay prep tests!).  We ended up with almost 6" of rain and the local reservoirs are well over their banks, but no significant damage.