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<br />closures can be misplaced. To be dependable, a dry flood proofed building should be <br />inspected periodically, and its owner should conduct drills to ensure that the closures can be <br />located and put into place in time. <br /> <br />Several communities have funded projects that combine dry flood proofing with a barrier. <br />The building walls are made watertight and small flood walls are built around the windows <br />and doorways. This provides permanent protection that does not need human intervention to <br />close the openings. An example of this is illustrated in Figure lion page 25. <br /> <br />Cost: Minimal to $20,000+. The cost ranges from $100 for the waterproofing <br />compound/sandbag approach, to $20,000 for a more secure and attractive approach that does <br />not need human intervention and blends in with the building's appearance. <br /> <br />2.4 Wet Flood Proofing <br /> <br />Hydrostatic water pressure increases with the depth of water. Depths over 3 feet have been <br />shown to collapse the walls of a typical house. Basements can be subject to 6 or 7 feet of <br />water pressure when the ground is saturated. As a result, watertight walls and floors may <br />crack, buckle or break from shallow surface flooding. <br /> <br />One way to deal with this is simply to let the water in and remove or protect everything that <br />could be damaged. This approach is called wet flood proofing. It employs several techniques <br />to modify a building to ensure that floodwaters are allowed inside, but damage to the building <br />and contents is minimal. Such techniques range from moving a few valuable items to <br />rebuilding the area that might be subject to flooding. <br /> <br />In the latter case, structural components below the flood level are replaced with materials that <br />are not subject to water damage. For example, concrete block walls are used instead of <br />wooden studs and gypsum wallboard. The furnace, water heater and laundry facilities are <br />permanently relocated to a higher level (see Figure 5). Where flooding is not deep, these <br />items may simply be raised on blocks or platforms. <br /> <br />Wet flood proofing is usually not used for one-story houses because the flooded areas are the <br />living areas. However, many people wet flood proof their basements, garages and accessory <br />buildings simply by relocating all hard-to-move items, such as heavy furniture and electrical <br /> <br />Figure 5. Wet Flood Proofing <br /> <br />Openings provided <br />to let water in <br /> <br />EE <br />= <br /> <br />~ <br />m;;JO <br /> <br />~", <br /><~:~,- <br /> <br />o <br /> <br />EEEB <br /> <br />D <br /> <br />,..' "" <br />I'--.l.'"l '>\':::::'i::i":'~::"l <br />-; :'_1 L.: :-~-~:--- t ' <br /> <br />= <br /> <br />Furnace and utilities <br />are relocated Large appliances are moved <br />or wrapped in waterproof hags <br /> <br />-6- <br />