European Floods:

[Donn]

Any of our European friends dealing with this? It's in the news every day here, particularly Prague, but apparently more widespread.

[Wild Dingo]

I know Martins in Germany but Ive sorta been wondering the same thing... its been pretty quiet from over that way lately... I might just send him an email.

Take it easy
Shane

[Ed Harrow]

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20020816/mdf89164.jpg
The flooded court of the famous Zwinger museum of art is seen in the eastern German town of Dresden on the Elbe river, August 16, 2002. Record floods engulfed the historic city, swamping its Baroque architecture and driving thousands from their homes. A tide of debris-laden brown water also submerged other towns on the River Elbe, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands while volunteers battled to save the center of Dresden, the capital of Saxony 120 miles south of Berlin. (Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20020815/i/1029423908.3221422146.jpg

[Hugh Paterson]

They have been and gone here in Glasgow, but two weeks ago one of my nautical friends watched the basement and ground floor of the house fill with water from the burst banks of his local stream, it had turned into a raging river. He knew things were getting bad when his caravan started floating down the driveway and into the street that was doing a good impression of Lake Superior.
Needless to say his home is a mess, he has a high water tideline, (mud) just below his living room ceiling. :eek:
Shug.

[Jim H]

My condolences to your friend. We had our's last year with TS Allison. Inches of mud left in your house, walls ruined not to mention anything else you could not get above the high water mark.

Jim

[Hugh Paterson]

Sailing cancelled, fed up getting sodden wet. At least the boats still floating, oh for a sunny summer, now if I could find a suitable job in a warmer part of the world, I suspect I might bolt Scotland :confused:
Shug.

[ken mcclure]

Ok. Perhaps a bit late, but here's a bit of cleanup advice:

1) If the water is clean runoff, everything can be cleaned and perhaps saved.

2) If the structure hasn't been dried out, remove anything that could be further damaged by the high humidity in the structure. This "secondary damage" is usually greater than the initial damage of the floodwaters.

3) Wash everything down with a mild bleach solution. (everything that would not be damaged by the bleach, that is) Chlorine bleach is a great disinfectant.

4) Think SAFETY.
-Disconnect electrical power. Even if power to the area has been disconnected, having the electricity come on when you're in the basemen hip-deep in water could be a disappointing experience.
-Turn off natural gas.
-ALWAYS WEAR SHOES IN THE WATER. You never know what's lying around under there.
-If you don't know for sure that the water is clean, always wash your hands before smoking or eating. Keep your fingers out of your eyes and nose until you've washed your hands. Use a mild bleach solution as part of the hand wash.

If any of you have any specific flood or drying related questions, email me. I spent a few years in the restoration industry, and specialized in water damage stuff.

[martin schulz]

Actually I didn't even get everything about the catastrophe at the Elbe because I spent my vacation sailing in (former) East-Germany. I did now and then gather some information because I was hearing the weather news, but to tell you the truth when I came back yesterday and watched tv I was totally shocked. I can only remember seeing this kind of pictures from other parts of the world (of course equally shocking - but far away). And then in those countries, like China, they do almost everything to brutalise the earth in the sake of industry - and so the "earth" strikes back. But to see such a catastrophe happen in a country were ecological thinking is even present in one of our political-party at power (the "greens" team up with the socialist-party to rule the country at the moment) is absolutely incredible.

Now as to where I am personally involved - so far I am not, but the water is coming to the Northwest which is first Lauenburg - a very beautiful small city with a couple of steamships - and the of course Hamburg. weather the water will have the same damaging effect like in Dresden will depend on weather there is floodtide or ebbtide pressing from the NorthSea.

So far on the situation over here.

Grüße Martin

[John G]

Currently living in Prague while working on a project, with my sailboat 9,000 miles away in LA. We had about 5 feet of the Vltava visit the building, which didn't do much for the decor. My apartment is on the the 5th floor, so no worries, but the clean up is still underway. Prague is built on sand in some sections, so the water eroded the foundations on some older buildings enough for them to fall. Power, phone, gas and water are shut off still, not sure when we'll get to rejoin the 21st century.

For local boaters, from kayakers to sailors, the outcome is worse. The sewage treatment facilities from southern Bohemia to Dresden are all damaged, so untreated waste from a couple million humans goes straight into the rivers and lakes. A look at what's floated to shore has most people hauling boats for the season (assuming the boats are still there to haul!)

- John