You will often hear me say that our houses
sits in "a global warming paradise." We are close enough to the sea
to be in a fog belt. We do not have to worry about fires. Our house sits on
solid rock. It is solidly bolted to the foundation. An earthquake would do less
damage than in many other locations. Our house is 53 feet above sea level and
1/2 mile from the sea. We would ride a tsunami well (Never mind that Pacifica
has not had a tsunami since the 1700s.) Our house sits on a hill 20 feet above
the street. It would appear that we are immune from floods.
We have one weak point. A
generator sits right in the back of the back door of the kitchen. When heavy
rain hits, water starts to accumulate. Over the years, water has risen in that
area. The house has never been menaced.
At Christmas of
2021, I found something quite interesting. It was called "Quick Dam."
Its official name was Flood Bags and Barriers. I paid $30.00 for this device.
When it arrived, I showed the device to Elena. She shrugged her shoulders as if
to say that she doubted that we would ever need it.
Yesterday we had an atmospheric
river with over 10 inches of rain. For the first time in our 19 years in the
house, flood waters menaced the back door of the house. It appeared that water
would flood into the kitchen and dining room area.
I deployed the barrier under the
back door. I love things that are elegantly simple and are "think out of
the box" original. When you stack the barrier and deploy it, water is
absorbed. The barrier inflates. It becomes like sandbags place to stop flood
waters. No water came into the kitchen or dining room. Elena worked hard
and cooked us an incredible roast beef dinner with vegetables for our New Year's
Eve dinner. The year ended well.
