Things to Do in Cleaning Up After Flood

Containerize everything that is practical to maintain on an on-going basis in same. For items that are not, have enough empty containers on hand (of a size that can easily be carried) to pack your loose items. In advance of a predicted event, move all furniture, shelving and containers to your second floor or out of the flood zone. Have an arrangement with your electrician to remove or move to your 2nd floor (when a flood is eminent) any appliances like heat pumps, hot water heaters, A/C units, washer/dryers etc. Remove all doors and alarm sensors to second floor before evacuating. Leave garage doors open and wood windows closed. Turn off all breakers in your electrical panels. Basically your first floor should be completely empty & I mean empty. Don’t even leave the bare steel shelves in your garage. If you do, you’ll be sorry when you realize how much time you’ll be spending after the flood cleaning the greasy sludge off those items.

Remove “all” loose stuff from the yard; hoses, garbage cans, piles of woods, gates on split rails fences, flower pots, lawn furniture, paint, pesticides, gas cans etc etc etc. Laundry baskets work well for the small stuff. If you think a flood will clean out your lot, think again. Anything not tied down may float. You will be the new owner of all your upstream neighbor's debris who didn’t prepare for the flood by having their chemicals removed and floatable debris tied down or removed.

If you have any amount of land where you live, you should consider investing in a small Kabota with a front end bucket (as opposed to just a lawn tractor with mower deck). When we realized what we were getting bilked for in our first flood to have a contractor bring in a front end loader to scrape all the mud off the road/drive and remove heavy debris, we quickly determined buying one made sense from both a cost standpoint and the ability to get the cleanup started immediately, without waiting for a crew with equipment. Three floods later the various investments in equipment (particularly the small Kabota with the front end loader and the power washer) have more than paid for themselves in contractor cost savings.

During the Flood:
If this is your first, you’ll probably end up blowing some hours during the crest in getting as close as you can to your property to see the carnage unfold. But if you’ve already seen one, you’ve seen them all. Forget checking it out and get busy preparing for the first hours after you can get back in.

Call a trash dumpster supplier and order a container for a few days after the flood waters are projected to recede.

Go to grocery store and get:
* 8 gallons of bleach (if you have a well)
* 4 cases of bottled water (16 gallons)
* granola bars
* jerky
* Gatoraide
* candy
* anti-bacterial soap
* 3 gallons laundry detergent
* paper plates & cups
* ice
* other none perishable foods to consume in mass during the cleanup.
Don’t worry about gaining weight, you can eat like a squealing pig and you’ll still sweat off many pounds during the clean up. It’s the most effective weight loss program on the planet.

Go to hardware store and get:
* Olympic Mildecide (one of the only ones that not only kills mold but prevents from growing).
* Several rolls of heavy plastic and duct tape to cover your electrical panel when you power wash and milicide.
* Power washer (if you don’t already own one)
* Ample lengths of hoses and nozzels
* Several dozen rubber gloves and an assortment of work gloves.
* Paper towels
* Face mask with breathing filters
* Rubber boots
* Floor squeegees
* Large fans.
* Dehumidifiers
* Wet/Dry Vacuum
* Spray canister or backpack sprayer for applying mildicide
* Dawn dishwashing detergent for greasy cleanup from the many upstream folks who fail to secure their oil tanks and gas cans every flood.
* Flat edge shovels & rakes

Other to get:
* Gasoline for power washer
* Diesel for your lawn tractor (if have/need one)
* Large sheets of cheap plywood to place on walkway areas and in front of dumpster

* Stone ¾ clean – several dump truck loads if you have a non paved drive like we do. This is really important for locations with stone/gravel/dirt drives and/or stone in front of your garage. The amounts of mud left behind by the floods are enormous. The first thing one needs to do is remove all the mud from the entrance areas and drive. If one has a stone drive, its crucial to scrape out all the mud and the top layer of your existing stone and then put down fresh stone before starting to clean anything. Otherwise, you’ll just be tracking the mud right back into any areas you’ve cleaned. You’ll also want to lay fresh stone on any paths leading to areas where you walk your dog, so he/she is not walking on the colliform laden mud courtesy of upstream sewage treatment plants that overflowed into the river.

* Should your building by chance have an elevator - remember to leave the car up and the car door open (if you fail to leave the door open, the car will go down automatically when the power cuts out and ruin the car).

For more info and tips, check the link below:

flood restoration east auckland