Flooding Issues...

Just over three years since our last major flood on Father's Day, 2019, we had another even bigger flood. :( The drainage in this part of town has always struggled and the thunderstorms - certainly in terms of rainfall amounts - are getting more intense. This one came with severe thunderstorm late on Sunday, July 24th, and the rains kept coming down. The crawlspace filled up again and the two sump pumps couldn't keep up. The water level tripped the breakers. 

Candace and I (with three sleeping kiddos and an anxious dog) evacuated our home in rising waters at 23h45 (11:45 pm) at night, but struggled to get anywhere since the roads were flooded. It was really stressful. We eventually made it to a friend's house on high ground, where we hunkered down for the night. The photo here shows a manhole spewing water several feet in the air.

Upon returning the next morning, we discovered that the water level had peaked at the third layer of siding and had come within an inch of flooding our floor boards. Our garden was a mess and pots and watering cans had floated across the road and into neighbours' properties. The sump pumps were quickly put back into service and had the crawlspace empty again within five hours - although far from dry.

The next several weeks have been spent drying out the crawl space with multiple fans and dehumidifiers, and running dehumidifiers in the house to keep the moisture level down. Our HVAC ductwork was completely trashed (the weight of the water tore them down and filled them up) and we do now have some mould concerns, but we are thankful that our floor and the interior of the house was spared. None of the damage we incurred is covered by insurance, unfortunately.

There are many families in town who had it far worse and it seems that there is not much support here. Candace and I are doing what we can to help in the community, but this event has certainly made us reevaluate our future in this part of the USA. The water level on the house can be seen in this photo.

Water level can be seen on the fence - just about a third of the way up.

The water covered both the front and back porches and broke Candace's large pot.

Mess in the garden. Water level is clearly seen on the shed.

Thankfully, we were able to get our lawnmower - stored in the shed - working again.

Our neatly-stacked woodpile was no longer neatly-stacked.