Aqua Dam saves home from flooding.

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I've seen those things in use before during other hurricanes and tropical storms. Seems that they work - bet they are pricey. But better than losing everything. My question is - how do you keep it from blowing away during the 100mph winds?
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
I've seen those things in use before during other hurricanes and tropical storms. Seems that they work - bet they are pricey. But better than losing everything. My question is - how do you keep it from blowing away during the 100mph winds?


If you watch the video the owner stated it cost a bit over $8K. A good investment against the expense and time to repair flood damage that could easily run over $100K.

A past neighbor in Katy has 2 estimates to repair flooding that runs over $200K and 16 weeks. Flood insurance and FEMA will cover about 25% and no living expenses. A home down the street protected by an Aqua Dam has only rain and wind damage which is in fact covered by a standard homeowner's policy and repairs are estimated to be complete in 60 days and their complete expenses including a motel and meals are covered. Big difference.

No user has ever reported the dam blowing away even with winds over 100 mph when correctly set up.

It's time to tell people that houses on stilts are beautiful.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Originally Posted By: Miller88
I've seen those things in use before during other hurricanes and tropical storms. Seems that they work - bet they are pricey. But better than losing everything. My question is - how do you keep it from blowing away during the 100mph winds?


If you watch the video the owner stated it cost a bit over $8K. A good investment against the expense and time to repair flood damage that could easily run over $100K.

A past neighbor in Katy has 2 estimates to repair flooding that runs over $200K and 16 weeks. Flood insurance and FEMA will cover about 25% and no living expenses. A home down the street protected by an Aqua Dam has only rain and wind damage which is in fact covered by a standard homeowner's policy and repairs are estimated to be complete in 60 days and their complete expenses including a motel and meals are covered. Big difference.

No user has ever reported the dam blowing away even with winds over 100 mph when correctly set up.

It's time to tell people that houses on stilts are beautiful.


Makes me wonder about what type of flood policy they have. My flood building coverage is 250,000 with 100,000 for contents with 1,250 deductible on both.
 
I would worry more about a hard object crashing into it and creating a leak. I think the video said there is more inside than just water. How difficult would it be to get that dam to start leaking?
 
Originally Posted By: paulri
I would worry more about a hard object crashing into it and creating a leak. I think the video said there is more inside than just water. How difficult would it be to get that dam to start leaking?


Go see one for yourself. I can't imagine that it's easy to puncture that material. The one I saw was repeatedly struck with a carpenter's hammer and that did nothing. And as far as being blown away, it's filled with water. Good luck even moving it with a tractor.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Aqua Dam saves home from Harvey flooding.

That's not Harvey. That video is from 2016.
smile.gif


Still neat, though, but only protects up to about 30". Some areas hit by Harvey got more than that.
 
No sound on this computer so I wasn't able to hear anything on the video. Filled with water makes sense - much less likely to blow away for sure.

For most hurricanes and tropical storms, 30" should be enough unless you're right next to the ocean or in a super low lieing area.

I live in a swamp ... even this wouldn't stop flooding at my place!!
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete

Still neat, though, but only protects up to about 30". Some areas hit by Harvey got more than that.


That's my biggest concern - if the water spills over the top, anyway
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Miller88 said:
It's time to tell people that houses on stilts are beautiful.


They are. You can also keep your chickens, and a pig underneath. Or your OPE, but don't mix them with the farm animals, because they'll rust like crazy.
 
Great idea provided you can get it setup and filled in time. I'd imagine ~100-1000 homes trying to load them at the same time could get interesting. A lot of water.
 
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Yeah that video isn't Harvey, it's from a year or two ago.

The odds are flooding won't go higher than that, so it definitely paid for itself.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Yeah that video isn't Harvey, it's from a year or two ago.

The odds are flooding won't go higher than that, so it definitely paid for itself.


Really? Flooding won't go higher than 30"?

Where are you getting your information? Storm surge is often several FEET. Can be over 20 feet in a big hurricane.

Here is a picture of the 2009 Nor'easter in my neighborhood. Surge from that storm was seven feet. That is four feet of water in the street...see the mailboxes? if you had a dam of 30"... well, it wouldn't have made any difference. A couple folks nearby lost their houses due to flooding.

 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Yeah that video isn't Harvey, it's from a year or two ago.

The odds are flooding won't go higher than that, so it definitely paid for itself.


Really? Flooding won't go higher than 30"?

Where are you getting your information? Storm surge is often several FEET. Can be over 20 feet in a big hurricane.

Here is a picture of the 2009 Nor'easter in my neighborhood. Surge from that storm was seven feet. That is four feet of water in the street...see the mailboxes? if you had a dam of 30"... well, it wouldn't have made any difference. A couple folks nearby lost their houses due to flooding.


I said "the odds are".

Because if it were extremely common for neighborhoods to flood out over 30", then every single house on every single street would be rebuilt every single year.

Just because there's a hurricane doesn't mean your house WILL flood. It PROBABLY won't go over 30", which IMO makes this dam worth it.
 
Nick - you don't live near the water, so perhaps this isn't making sense to you. Coastal flooding from a storm surge (hurricane) is several feet. It's the surge of the ocean itself, so the amount of water is basically unlimited. We have flood insurance, because we are required to, because we live in an area that floods. Actually floods.

I just don't see this dam set up working in anything more than minor flooding. Well, for minor flooding, your house, if it's in a flood area, should be built above that level. No worries. No need for the dam.

For major flooding, like a hurricane, or, if the wind direction and tide are right, from just a Nor'easter, the dam is too low to make a difference. We had a seven foot surge in the picture. Seven foot increase in sea level height. That caused four feet of water in our street at high tide. It destroyed the house across the street. Now, that house was razed, and a new house was built, ten feet above the mean high water line, so for future events, they'll be fine.

But when dealing with several feet of water, as coastal areas can experience, or as the Midwest experienced with the Mississippi River going several feet above flood stage, I just don't see what good a 2.5 foot dam can do. It's a pretty limited set of circumstances in which this would make any difference.

A 2.5' dam for flood prevention is like selling a bulletproof vest that works on "all calibers up to .25"... well...um...what about the fact that nearly every gun uses a bigger caliber?

I just see this dam being overwhelmed by every serious flooding event. We've had several in our neighborhood (we are coastal) in the past ten years. This dam wouldn't have done any good in any of them.
 
A buddy of mine lives in Houston and a friend of his actually used that type of [censored] during Harvey. His house never flooded whereas everyone around him did. He said they still had small leaks from water getting in, but it was easily pumped out. But, that [censored] cost him 18K. Ouch.
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Nick - you don't live near the water, so perhaps this isn't making sense to you. Coastal flooding from a storm surge (hurricane) is several feet. It's the surge of the ocean itself, so the amount of water is basically unlimited. We have flood insurance, because we are required to, because we live in an area that floods. Actually floods.

I just don't see this dam set up working in anything more than minor flooding. Well, for minor flooding, your house, if it's in a flood area, should be built above that level. No worries. No need for the dam.

For major flooding, like a hurricane, or, if the wind direction and tide are right, from just a Nor'easter, the dam is too low to make a difference. We had a seven foot surge in the picture. Seven foot increase in sea level height. That caused four feet of water in our street at high tide. It destroyed the house across the street. Now, that house was razed, and a new house was built, ten feet above the mean high water line, so for future events, they'll be fine.

But when dealing with several feet of water, as coastal areas can experience, or as the Midwest experienced with the Mississippi River going several feet above flood stage, I just don't see what good a 2.5 foot dam can do. It's a pretty limited set of circumstances in which this would make any difference.

A 2.5' dam for flood prevention is like selling a bulletproof vest that works on "all calibers up to .25"... well...um...what about the fact that nearly every gun uses a bigger caliber?

I just see this dam being overwhelmed by every serious flooding event. We've had several in our neighborhood (we are coastal) in the past ten years. This dam wouldn't have done any good in any of them.
You aren't putting your listening ears on.

I said "the odds are".

Once again, this LESSENS the chance of the house flooding in a storm. Of course if this is a huge storm it isn't going to help, but it obviously makes sense since the man who bought it had a dry house right? All of his neighbors had lakes in their houses.

The odds are with a decent storm this can save many houses.

If the flood waters were over 30" every time it rains, then nobody would live there. They'd be stupid to rebuild their house twice a year, every year.
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
Great idea provided you can get it setup and filled in time. I'd imagine ~100-1000 homes trying to load them at the same time could get interesting. A lot of water.

I guess you could wait until all the water you need comes to you... Of course you'd need a pump that works pretty quickly!
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Yeah that video isn't Harvey, it's from a year or two ago.

The odds are flooding won't go higher than that, so it definitely paid for itself.


Really? Flooding won't go higher than 30"?

Where are you getting your information? Storm surge is often several FEET. Can be over 20 feet in a big hurricane.

Here is a picture of the 2009 Nor'easter in my neighborhood. Surge from that storm was seven feet. That is four feet of water in the street...see the mailboxes? if you had a dam of 30"... well, it wouldn't have made any difference. A couple folks nearby lost their houses due to flooding.



I guess you could do a small inconspicuous berm of a couple feet and then add the water dam when needed. Seems like your area might get flooded enough to make it pay though?
How much is flood insurance? 5% of the house value per year? I don't see how a insurance company could make money in an area that floods every couple decades?
 
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