Basement Flooding! ... Twice!

It's true.  The basement has flooded ... not once, but twice!  On Friday, July 5th, our family was on its way up to a large Ahlstrom family reunion (Lisa's Mom's side).  We had planned to camp, but became a little concerned when the weather warning system cut in on the radio - warning of torrential rains and lighting bringing up to 1 inch of rain in 30 minutes, possible hail of 1-inch in diameter, and up to 70 mph winds.  This was serious!  The warning system even recommended that everyone get to the lowest place in their homes and away from windows until further notice!

What were we thinking at the time? - What a Blessing! It sounded like the rain was going to be quick and short and would pass over by the time we got to our reunion.  It could have been a disaster if we had already had our tent up.  Well, the storm did hit - and there was a lot of rain - and we were perfectly dry sleeping in our tent that we set up after the storm. :)

We returned home Saturday night, and it wasn't until Sunday afternoon that we noticed it.  Our basement had flooded during the storm.  About 200 sq/ft. of carpet had been soaked in our entertainment room, and water had lightly covered both our laundry and storage room floors.  We spent that whole evening and night vacuuming up the water from carpet and pad.  We pulled the carpet back and ripped out the pads after vacuuming and were able to carry the pads upstairs.  All-in-all, we vacuumed 25-30 gallons of water out of the carpet/pad.  Our good friends the Ashtons were kind enough to let us use their Air Movers (carpet drying fans) and we were able to get the carpet dry within a few of days.

How did it happen?  We weren't quite sure.  When we moved in, the McFarland's (home owners) informed us that they had had flooding before.  They warned that if the rain gutters were not kept clean, they could clog and the water would spill over into the flower bed - flooding a window well leading into the entertainment room.  We had made sure that the gutters were clean, so the only logical answer is that the rain was just so significant that it overwhelmed the drain system as is.

Pads in the Garage, Lisa vacuuming at 2 AM (not happy), Pulled-back Carpet, Moved Funiture, etc.  Fun!

Yesterday, it rained again.  Not as hard as the first - but a lot.  Steven called and informed us that the weather warning systems were again warning of flooding and torrential rain.  We were in the kitchen and could see the rain gutters from the kitchen table.  Nothing.  The rain gutters worked great!

Except ... as I went out and sat on the front porch to observe, I noticed that all of the rain gutters for the front of the house drained into that very flower bed that sits just outside the entertainment room.  As I watched, I saw the water begin to pool ... then flow ... then rush towards the house.  I scrambled to get the Wet-Vac and buckets in place again - and by the time I was ready, the water was already 4 inches up the window.  So ... Lisa and I spent the next hour or more vacuuming up the water as it seeped through the window cracks.  Of the 40-50 gallons that we ended up carrying back up the stairs, only a couple ever hit the floor, and none of it got the carpet (as we already had pulled it back).

Lisa Vacuuming, again.  Notice the waterline on the window!

Benson cheering us on.  We didn't have time to put him to sleep, so he stayed up to help.  Thanks Bud!

Sean McFarland came over at 10:00 pm with some 4-inch black tubing that we attached to the end of one of the rain gutter downspouts and we temporarily corrected the problem.  We'll have to find a more permanent solution later, but we're sure glad that we can now rest easy that we won't be vacuuming water in the basement any more!

Note to self: If we ever serve a mission when we are older, make sure someone is living in our home.  This could have been much worse if the home had been left vacant.

Two floods in Ten Days!  Crazy!