HOUSTON – A Kingwood mother is sharing her advice for preparing ahead of a potential home flooding situation.
Carolanne Ulrich Norris shared her tips on Facebook, covering everything from important papers to tools and how to secure your home’s most valuable and dangerous items.
In Harvey, Norris and her family -- who live near Kingwood High School -- were inundated with 44 inches of water inside their home. Norris said she prepared with nearly all of the tips she shared on Facebook, barring those that account for only a small amount of water. Norris said they knew they were going to take on a a lot of water.
"Be safe first, but there are things you can do (to prepare for a flood)," Norris said.
Here is her full list, edited to generalize for our readers:
1. Take pictures and make videos of everything. Give kids the camera, too. Kids see the world differently and got shots and angles that parents might miss.
2. Get a one gallon freezer bag and put your passports, ID, car titles, birth certificates, insurance info, etc. in it. Have your kids put their school IDs in it. You may have to prove that they are your kids.
3. Make a rescue duffel bag. Put in your laptops, chargers, cell phones, glasses, any irreplaceable jewelry, medicine and pics that you can’t replace. Add your freezer bag. Wrap the duffle in two thick garbage bags. This will be the only thing you may be able to take if you evacuate.
4. Keep plastic bags with you for your phones and any other electronics.
5. If you have time to move items to a higher ground, do it. If you don’t, then at least unplug everything and put the cord above the item.
6. Right now, clean your house. You want as few things on the floor as possible. This will make walking through a flooded home safer. Also, it makes finding items in the dark much easier.
7. Take your clothes off the bottom racks and stack them on an unused bed, couch etc. Get a plastic tub and fill it with shoes and anything else in your closet that is near the floor.
8. Ladies, it costs a small fortune to replace your makeup. Stick it at the top of your closet. Add your medicine cabinet to it.
9. Secure your guns.
10. You are going to need all the tools in the garage. Move them as close to the ceiling as you can.
11. Move drinks and food to a second story, if possible. In case you’re trapped, at least you’ll have clean water and something to eat.
12. When we evacuated I had the kids wear as many layers of clothing as possible. This insures they will at least have a change of clothing.
13. You have a lot of money invested in your kids’ sports. Grab those items and put them up high.
Here is her list, in its original context:
I’ve been asked to share some advice on what to do if you think you might flood. Please add your own advice! I’ll...
Posted by Carolanne Ulrich Norris on Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Norris said one of the most important tips is to clean your home ahead of time to make sure items are where they can be found, put up and away.
Norris' home didn't flood in Tuesday night's flood.
"Our pool overflowed. We're fine. We're blessed," she said.
Norris is also asking people for their advice. What would you add to her list? Share it in the comments.