Homeowner Whitney Redd of Orem Utah is probably caught with the kind of mixed emotions as the family tries to recover from a frightening flood that burst an entire wall of their home sent the family fleeing in panic. While no one was hurt or injured, the Redds are now facing the enormity of cleaning up and repairing damage from one of the worst floods in 100 years in their area.
Worse, the family had just finished remodeling the house, which is valued at $850,000.
Whitney Redd managed to catch the deluge on video, which she shared on social media. In the footage you can hear the tension ratcheting up as the flood begins and the family tries to stay on top of it.
It began with water leaking into a window on the evening of Tuesday, August 13. The Redds have a finished basement transformed into an apartment where extended family live. In the video, Redd and her husband (he is not named in media reports) tried to control the water, but as it began soaking the basement floor it became clear that they were no match for mother nature.
And then it came. As the couple’s teens scrambled to pull expensive equipment out of the basement apartment, Mr. Redd warned his family to get back from the wall with the leaking window. “It’s gonna break,” he yells, and then it did.
The window burst and a torrent of water gushed in; it must have felt like being on a beach as a particularly high wave caught people unaware. The torrent sent furniture flying as the family scrambled to escape.
The family had gone downstairs to check on their relatives when the storm moved in, and Mr. Redd did what he could to keep water, and hail, out of the house. But it was no use. The unusual storm swept through the city dumping hail and an unbelievable amount of rain very quickly. When rain falls too fast for the ground to soak it up, water will find an “easy escape,” and that was the Redds’ basement.
Mrs. Redd said the family had just come back from visiting Niagara Falls, “and it was like that in our home.”
The house ended up with two-and-a-half feet of water in the basement; well enough to cause serious damage not only to floors, but to drywall, which soaks up water like a wick.
Now neighbors and friends are helping rip up the damaged flooring while fans run to dry everything out. Mrs. Redd’s sister organized an online fund drive for the family, saying they were devastated to be “back at square one” after the extensive remodel. But Mrs. Redd is thankful no one was hurt. She said it was “really crappy” to have to deal with the mess, but that it was “only a house.”
Homeowners would do well to check flooding maps put out by the US Geological Survey for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. These determine how likely it is that a home will flood based on its elevation and proximity to rivers and streams.
Remember, most homeowners’ insurance does not cover flood damage, so flood insurance must be bought separately.
