Just barely holding off the flooding

[Rallygirl]

Ed has lived in this spot his entire life and never once has he experienced flooding. But after eight inches of rain within a few days, the ground is saturated. In our thirteen years in this house, our sump pit never had a drop of water in it until Saturday morning. It has been running non-stop since then and this morning the pump could no longer keep up. Ed stayed home from work this morning and installed a second pump. By three o'clock, the two pumps were falling behind and we had water seeping up through the floor. We added a third pump early this evening and it seems to holding it's own. However, Water is still slowly seeping in, so Ed and I are sleeping in cycles tonight, not only to watch the water levels, but to watch the power during tonight's storm.

I have sheets over the puzzle, and most of our lower stuff is now up on the puzzle tables. We will see what tomorrow brings, but I think I will park my car trailer by the back door, and start moving everything out of the basement. It will be a lot of work, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

Please keep us in your prayers; if any of the pumps fail or if the power goes out and we are not fast on hooking up the generator, that one hundred gallons minute flowing into our basement will quickly cause us to loose this battle.

[Brazoo]

Ugh - I just saw what you guys were going through on the news tonight, it must be brutal. Hang in there!

[jimsmegos]

Oh my. What a terrible gun to be under. All the best to you guys. Bummer.

[MIB41]

Rallygirl you have all my hopes. Keep up the hard work and protect your collection! I hope the water levels drop soon. Crazy weather!

[Gorn Captain]

Hope you can save all your belongings. Water damage is terrible.
We once had a storm that tore a hole in our roof (with rain pouring down by the bucketload), I know how you feel...

[rche]

Yikes! Hopefully you have seen the last of the rain for a bit and it should start to taper off.

[babycyclops]

All the best, I hope you can keep the water back.

[HardyGirl]

Good luck, hun. I hope your pump holds out.

[Rallygirl]

The rain has stopped for now and the pumps are keeping up. In practice drills, I have it down to four minutes for get the generators running.

Ed and I have been wet vac-ing since 5:00 a.m. and we seem to be making progress. The front half, where the water is seeping up through the concrete, is sandbagged to keep the other half as dry as possible. The back half of the basement is damp on the floor, but everything is on the shelves is dry.

My parents and sister both have ten+ pumps running, but both houses are surrounded by water. My Dad used the backhoe and make a berm around my sister's walk-out basement. Their floor is soggy, but the water isn't rising.

My aunt and uncle stayed in their river-side home as long as possible. They left yesterday morning in a boat with pets, papers, photos and guns. The record flood crest for their area was 18.2 feet and their house is elevated to survive 20 feet. The river is at 17 feet now and is forcasted to rise until Monday and a crest of 22-27 feet is expected.

I think Ed and I will make it. My parents and sister will have some damage. I am afraid my aunt and uncle will not even have a home to salvage.

[megoapesnut]

Our thoughts are with you. I know exactly what you are going through, having been through it myself. It isn't pleasant. Hang in there

[ScottA]

I hate this for all of you.

[megoscott]

What an ordeal. I hope it stops soon.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

Ugh. My thoughts are with you. My wife and I have relatives in Big Rapids near the river.

[Rallygirl]

Ugh. My thoughts are with you. My wife and I have relatives in Big Rapids near the river.

There is a lot of water up there also!
I think we are officially under control; The water is no longer bubbling up through the floor. Now I just have to get the rest of it back outside where it belongs.

P.S. It stopped raining. Now it is snowing.

[The Nawd]

I'm glad it stopped raining. But now it's snowing!? Just keep hanging in there. My thoughts are with you.