On Oct 25, 7:41 pm, h wrote:
Yes, any water heater that is located where leakage will result in
damage should have a pan with a drain routed to take any water to a
safe dumping point. And a $10 water alarm, which you can set in the
pan or on the floor.-

Ok, what am I missing? How can a water heater flood the kitchen when the
water heater is in the basement and the kitchen is one floor up? How many
people don't have full basements? Is it really a house if there isn't a full
basement? Certainly not in upstate NY. I don't even think it's legal to not
have a basement here.

-- Ok, what am I missing?

Perhaps you missed this line in the OP: "Our water heater resides in a
closet that is part of the kitchen".

That said, how do you know the kitchen isn't the basement?