Evacuation of Contents When it is not possible to prevent the entry of water, temporary evacuation of building contents such as retail merchandise, records, files, office equipment, machinery, supplies and other valuables can significantly reduce flood damage providing sufficient warning time is available. Materials located on lower levels of a building in a flood area can be mounted on rollers or moveable pallets for easy transfer to a flood-free elevation. Figure 44 shows moveable counters used in the basement of the Horne Company department store in Pittsburgh. When floods threaten, they become vehicles for transporting the merchandise they contain as well as other items which can be stacked on top. The Horne Company's flood manual contains a schedule for the removal of merchandise from the basement and first floors to higher floors as specified flood heights are reached. The floor areas are zoned and merchandise from a particular zone is moved to an assigned area on a higher floor. Each zone has specific elevators assigned to it and store employees are organized in teams to handle the movement. An orderly plan of merchandise removal means faster, speedier recovery from flood effects by store, office, or factory. Less "shut-down time" means smaller flood losses since a drop in sales or production attributable to flooding is as much a part of the flood loss as the direct damage to property. Flood Proofing Houses Houses should not be located on flood plains when suitable sites are available on flood-free land. In some places, however, there may be no choice, especially where virtually an entire urban area, including the residential sections, is subject to inundation. Residential construction does not lend itself readily to flood proofing because of the extensive use of materials that do not impede the passage of water. Moreover, houses are seldom designed to withstand any significant horizontal pressures. Where circumstances require the location of a residence on a flood plain, certain flood proofing measures can be incorporated into the design of the house as discussed in Chapter III. In most cases in which an owner has purchased a finished house in an area subject to flooding, his success with flood proofing will depend on whether flood stages are low on his property and whether the outer walls of the structure are reasonably impervious. Under these conditions, flood shields can be designed to restrict the entry of water through openings in the walls, providing the walls are strong enough to resist flood induced pressures. This approach is illustrated in sketch form in Figure 45 and photographs of an application of it are shown in Figure 46. To be effective, the flood proofing program must also include measures to cope with sewer backup and ground-water seepage. Homeowners who have suffered severe basement flooding should consider the relocation of furnaces, hot water heaters, washers, dryers, air conditioners, freezers, refrigerators, power shop equipment and other appliances as a permanent flood proofing measure. The length of the list dramatizes the large investment many people have in itmes which often are located in basements subject to flood damage. A Flood Proofing Plan for a Structure The flood proofing of a structure is analogous in many respects to making a ship watertight and seaworthy. Flood proofing involves not only adjustments to the foundation and substructure, but also modifications of those parts of the superstructure that are below anticipated flood levels. |