Copyright (c) 2012 Floodsense
When a home gets inundated by high water, residents lose thousands. When the same thing happens to businesses, the results are exponentially worse. Commercial flood protection is an absolute necessity for modern firms, and they don't have to be located close to large bodies of water to need it either.
Floods can rise up out of sewer systems and travel across miles of flatland, making protective measures a must no matter where one's facility is located. Here are a number of commonly used protection methods that make it easier for businesses to survive flooding incidents.
Defending the Property
Many flood protection efforts begin with the erection of impermanent water barriers. While these are commonly found in the form of disaster sandbags, most businesses opt for movable waterproof gates and other devices that can be set up faster by fewer people.
Flood water walls and doors are mounted on a permanent track and can be set up in minutes. They usually hang across openings in stone property walls and other landscape barriers. Their impermeable surface prevents the intrusion of water into large areas of otherwise unprotected property.
Preventing Building Inundation
Most commercial buildings have numerous purposeful openings where water can enter. The most obvious of these are the air bricks and open vents that dot the low areas of external walls. While these serve important functions for equalizing air pressure to relieve building stresses in normal conditions, their locations close to the ground makes it easy for high water to get in. Flood protection professionals usually tackle these issues by installing external sealed covers that can be opened or shut as needed.
Sewage lines are another huge issue. When flood waters strike an area, they generally cause water levels to rise inside sewage pipes and storm drains. Eventually, waste water can back up into buildings through sinks, drains and toilets. The solution to this problem is to install a single-direction outlet valve in the pipe connecting one's facility to the local sewage system.
Sump pumps, common in many homes, are also essential flood protection components for businesses. When water has already intruded in a commercial space, sump pumps ensure that levels remain low, reducing the amount of damage the incipient moisture can cause.
Finally, no commercial flood protection system is complete without the inclusion of a flood alarm and an entry point check. Flood alarms alert building staff to incoming water so that they can rapidly set up flood barriers and close vents. Entry point checks performed by flood protection professionals include sealing up cable conduits, repairing cracked basement seals and re-mortaring external walls. Preventing internal flood damage is much easier when all possible water entry pathways have been eliminated.
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For 15 Years Kevin Williams has restored flood damaged properties from domestic dwellings to commercial factories.In 2010 He set up Floodsense offering his expertise in Flood Prevention Techniques, Systems and Services.For a free E-book and further info on Commercial Flood Protection, professional advice on Flood Prevention from a leading UK flood protection company visit http://www.floodsense.co.uk
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Great article and very well written. It is so important to be prepared for a flood. The damage that ensues can be quite costly if you are unprepared.
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