Tim Downie wrote:
Whenever I hear about the poor b*ggers waiting for months to get back
into their flood damaged houses I always wonder whether the repairs
shouldn't just stop at "repair" but should be aimed at making a house
flood resistant.
By this I don't mean "keep the water out" as I suspect that this is
actually very hard to achieve. I'm thinking more of waterproof
non-absorbant walls (possibly tiled) downstairs, all electricty
cables coming from upstairs (or from the loft) *down* rather than
from under the floor up, solid concrete floors downstairs and maybe
even a floating "raft" floor on top of the concrete floor for your
furniture that would float on top of flood waters keeping your
valuables dry.
How much of the above is practical? Would it be terribly expensive? What
other measures could one incorportate to make recovery from a
flood in a flood prone area just an inconvenience rather than a
disaster?

I recall a program where someone had done just that. It seemed to work
well. Tiles for the first 3-4ft downstairs, Electrical sockets further up
the walls. I can't recall what they did about kitchen units, unless the
kitchen was upstairs. I also know of a pub which is regularly flooded,
though I expect they have far more stainless steel items. Each time it
takes 3 or so weeks to re-open. Where there's a will there's a way.