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<br />CHAPTER 6
<br />
<br />REARRANGIN'G OR PROTECTING DAMAGEABLE
<br />PROPERTY WITHIN AN EXISTING STRUCTURE
<br />
<br />Description
<br />Within an existing structure or group of structures damageable property can often be placed
<br />in a less damageable location or protected in-place. It is something every property owner can
<br />do to one degree or another depending upon the type and location of damageable property
<br />and upon the severity of the flood hazard. Examples of this action are described below and
<br />illustrated in Figure 6-1.
<br />
<br />· Protecting furnaces, water heaters, air conditioners, washers, dryers, shop equipment and
<br />other similar property by raising them off the floor. This may be appropriate for shallow
<br />flooding conditions.
<br />
<br />· Relocating damageable property (furnaces, water heaters, air conditioners, washers,
<br />dryers, etc.) to higher floors. Moving property from the basement to the first floor or
<br />second floor would be an example. This action usually requires altering ducts, plumbing,
<br />and electrical wiring, and making space available at the new location.
<br />
<br />· Relocating commercial and industrial finished products, merchandise and equipment to a
<br />higher floor or adjacent and higher building.
<br />
<br />· Relocating finished products, materials, equipment and other moveable items located
<br />outside a structure to an adjacent, less flood-prone site.
<br />
<br />· Protecting commercial/industrial equipment, especially motors, by placing them on a
<br />pedestal, table or platform.
<br />
<br />· Anchoring all property which might be damaged by movement from flood waters.
<br />Combustible fuel stored in any form should be placed where it is above flood waters or
<br />secured in place.
<br />
<br />In some flood hazard areas, such as behind levees, if inundation should occur during rare
<br />events it could be severe enough to completely fill a basement or even a first floor. While this is
<br />a rare condition it has occurred and the damage potential to the structure is great. Air uplift has
<br />the potential of moving a structure off its foundation and floating it to. another location or
<br />causing structural failure of the roof. Studies have been done on ways to anchor a structure to its
<br />foundation and its roof to its superstructure (1). In the context of protecting structures at
<br />existing sites if this hazard does exist, appropriate anchorage and vents can be installed to
<br />reduce structural damage.
<br />
<br />Physical Feasibility
<br />The degree to which property can be rearranged and protected is site specific. It depends on
<br />the flood hazard, principally depth and frequency offlooding, upon the damageable property,
<br />its type, value, location and moveability, upon the availability, and adaptability of adjacent, less
<br />flood-prone locations, and upon whether the rearrangement can be maintained over a
<br />succession of flood-free years. Every structure has some property which can be either relocated
<br />or protected: the more there is, the more damage to be reduced. Shallow flooding allows the
<br />
<br />43
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