Friday night we settled down to watch a nice night of Stargate, planning to go to bed nice and early so that Ben and Laura could start their drive before noon. And Laura wanted to color her hair. We watched the first episode, then sat down to read the instructions on the box of hair color at about 8:30 - and the power went out.
It affected the whole neighborhood. We watched the crocks as the battery-powered sump strained to keep up, and the water rose and rose. Around 9:30 the water actually started coming in through the overflow drain in the floor of the laundry room, and Ben and I started hustling. We raised everything up about three feet and I removed the wall to access the emergency drain pipe. The only things we didn't raise or remove was the two large area rugs - everything else which could be affected by water was elevated. I also turned off the gas to the house. The whole time the water alarm screamed and screamed, finally turning itself off around 10.
Ben and Laura went to bed, and I stayed up to wait in case a) the water rose to the level of the emergency drain pipe (14 inches), b) the power came back on and I could turn off the emergency stuff and turn the gas back on, or c) I could be ready in case of some new emergency. The power flickered on a few times for a few seconds, but nothing came of it. Around 3 AM the water alarm kicked back on and wouldn't shut up. At 4 or so the power came back on for about 5 minutes, which was long enough for me to go downstairs and yank all the wires out of the battery sump to silence it ... which didn't work, and left me standing in the dark a few moments later when the power died again. (And *that* was fun, I can tell you.) On top of everything else, the local cell towers' power was also out so our phones didn't work; I had to drive around the neighborhood in the Prius (which has a booster antenna) to get a strong enough signal to call the power company to ask for an estimate. Which they blew over and over again.
Overall we had about 1.5 inches - that's inches, not feet - of water in the basement. Which is much more on par with what most people think of when they say 'the basement flooded'. So, good for us. I sprayed the standing water around 5 AM with the handy bleach/water combination, just in case. The power came back on at 6, and I turned on all the things that needed to be turned back on. It took the sumps about twenty minutes to empty the basement, and I set up fans and brushed/swept the biggest puddles towards the drain and sprayed the floor with bleach again. And went to bed for a few hours.
Around 11 I got up and repeated the process. I rolled up the area rugs that we hadn't removed before and took them outside to drain, and spent the rest of the day cleaning and drying the floor. Laura and Ben finished the laundry and packed and mostly stayed out of my way. That night we watched the rest of the Stargate disc and ate leftovers for dinner.
Sunday they left for Winnipeg around noon and I drove down to Faire to help Ed set up a post in front of the shop. He had already dug the hole by the time I arrived, and I helped him with the actual post and setting it in place. It looks very nice, really. We chatted a bit and walked up to the office to get our passes renewed - but I had left mine at home, so oops. Home and out to Blockbuster, where I rented Blades of Glory and Juno. (The video clerk suggested Charlie Bartlett, which I'll try to remember.) I finished with the basement and opened it up again, and spent the rest of the night watching videos and relaxing. Laura and Ben made it to Superior around 7 and turned in for the night, and should finish their trip today.
Tonight I've got some errands to run and then I'll do some chores. And, for the rest of the week I expect the same schedule.
And now, on to work...
Posted by trent at June 22, 2009 09:10 AMJust a note to say: No books, audio tapes, furniture, or anything else was lost in this flood. The only water damage was to acrylic rugs, which are made of artificial fibers for just this reason, and they're already dry and back in place.
My in-laws and all the neighbors agree that we need a generator for just this kind of emergency.
Posted by: Paul at June 22, 2009 09:17 AM