In the United States, the cost of a flood disaster amounts to billions of dollars per event. For building owners, it means cessation of operations, loss of revenue and repair expenses. That’s why if you own a building, you should be proactive in protecting your property from flooding to minimize flood recovery costs. 

It’s crucial to understand flood risks from both flood water elevation and flood frequency aspects. This blog post explains the importance of determining a property’s flood resilience and explores the different flood protection strategies. 

Flood Resilience

Flood resilience is the capability of a property to absorb, adapt, and recover from damages caused by the flood. Once you determine the flood resilience of your property, you can better know the best strategy for flood protection and the costs associated with the installation, implementation, maintenance, and system inconvenience. 

Flood Protection

Flood protection aims to minimize the impact of flood disasters and the loss of property and life associated with such calamities. An individual or organization must have a good grasp of localized and comprehensive watershed issues and related risks that impact a property. 

Careful planning should go into the flood protection design to address features that need to be incorporated into the system. It’s a must to examine implementation requirements and ways to keep the system well-maintained and operational. 

Anyone who contributes to designing a flood protection system should have specialized skills and the ability to see the minutest details.

Different Strategies for Flood Protection

The building owner should know about flood risk, flood resilience, and the different flood-proofing systems to make an informed decision when choosing the best flood protection strategy for the property.

Once you ascertain the level of risk to justify spending money on flood protection, you can consider two strategies: wet and dry flood-proofing systems. Moreover, a dry flood-proofing system has two methods, namely, active and passive flood protection measures. 

Wet Flood-Proofing System

Wet flood-proofing is a measure applied to a building and its contents that resist or prevent flood damage by letting floodwaters enter the building. This flood protection method is meant to equalize internal and external hydrostatic pressures and minimize the loads on floors, walls, columns, and other structural elements. 

It’s crucial to use water-resistant materials for wet flood-proofing, and you should protect and isolate mechanical and electrical systems. Make sure to consider the insurance and code implications and the impact on operations in this flood-proofing method. 

Moreover, take into account the cost of cleanup. The downside of this flood protection measure is the risk of sewage or chemical contamination. You also have to be aware of unbalanced loads due to wave action and high-velocity water flow that can lead to structural damage. But it can be prevented if you design the system to address unattended wetting and drying cycles. 

Dry Flood-Proofing System

A dry flood-proofing system is a measure to reduce or prevent potential flood damage by not allowing floodwaters to enter the structure. You can accomplish this system by constructing an external protective barrier or making the building watertight below its flood-proofing elevation. 

A dry flood protection system is a common measure to make your structure resistant to flooding. There are two methods to this system, namely, active and passive dry flood-proofing measures. 

• Active Dry Flood-Proofing Method. This measure requires human intervention to activate the system. You need someone to deploy the floodgate manually. Other active measures that must be employed include flood panels, flood logs, vent covers, sandbags, and doors. Any flood-proofing strategy with components that need to be manually activated to secure breaches is under the active protection category. 

• Passive Dry Flood-Proofing Method. This measure requires no human intervention because the system has components that are permanently deployed or other components that self-deploy if needed. Examples are permanent barriers like a berm or wall or components that float up as water rises to prevent the structure from getting flooded. A passive flood protection system can cost roughly the same as an active system. The disadvantage with a passive flood-proofing measure is that it’s difficult to address potential issues on site without human interaction. 

Flood-Proofing Process

• The first phase of a flood protection process is the viability study to set the parameters of the project. This stage determines the points of exposure to the facility. 

• The second phase is the assessment of the practicality of flood protection in terms of finances and constructability. 

• The third phase is the designing of the flood-proofing system based on the data from the feasibility study and assessment. 

• The fourth phase is the construction of the system which must be done by a team of individuals with specialized skills. 

Takeaway

Having a flood protection system is a must for buildings located in flood-prone areas. Building owners should ensure that their properties can prevent or provide resistance to damage caused by flooding. They should know what’s the best flood-proofing to put in place to protect their buildings.