Weather and its effects, Prepping and precautions

Remember the Boscastle flash flood? It happens when rain falls suddenly on a catchment area and is then channelled downwards. You don`t have to live by a river to suffer from surface flooding, a blocked drain can do it

Nature is very powerful, fast moving water only 6" deep can knock a person down and carry him away. We don`t see wind, we see the effects of wind, how trees are upturned and roofs blown off

I am glad to be in a new build and for bad weather to be now, the builders would be on call if there was a problem. On my part, I have that food store, plenty of crafts and chocolate and warm clothes in case of power cuts. I also have a good store of fuel for my stove, just in case

Heavy rain crept into my garage after I moved here and it is full of crafting things and bikes. I stopped that water ingress by putting in a 40mm garage door threshold rubber seal. I did it myself and it works, it remains completely dry on the other side of the barrier. It cost me £137 from ebay. I put it on the inside of the electric door and used mastic to completely seal all around and underneath.

So organised craftyone well done.

I’m kind of organised, recently our solicitor declared that if we wanted them to keep our wills it would cost us £150 each per year, so we opted to have them at home, I now looking for a fire and waterproof box or safe that won’t cost a fortune.
All old family pics Have been copied onto discs for DDs and all old Family Photos are on the Ancestry site and can be accessed with my email address and password, some are also on my home village web site, so they are safe for generations to come, as long as the internet is still running!
All I have to do is get the box for important documents, copy old family pics onto discs and move important books etc. Upstairs.
We are quite a way away from the river, but as you say water can breach any doors if it has a mind, so better prepared than not.
I also have emergency ‘rations’ just in case, as our nearest store is 4 miles away and we do get snowed in occasionally, this also includes gas canisters and small gas burners, plenty of batteries and torches always in the house.
My DDs laugh at me for this ........

I have been snowed in a few times in different areas, it pays to be prepared. Yak trax used to be in my kit but not now, if it is that bad then I just stay indoors. They do work but on snow, not solid ice

The wind is very bad right now and I didn`t do any outdoor preps apart from removing tomatoes. Nothing is battened down and some things should be, anything that flies around can be a weapon. I think I will go out when it is light and at least lower plant pots to the ground and huddle them in a corner. I am glad I bolted my mini glass greenhouse to some heavy slabs

oopsadaisy, it doesn`t cost me anything to keep the will with the solicitor. It cost me £100 to have it drawn up and I have a copy here.

Craftyone it’s the first time in 40 years that our solicitors have started charging for storing Wills etc.
They have moved out of their lovely old building, which they sold to a developer he promptly knocked it down and built a housing estate, so now if you want them to keep anything for you they are charging.

I’m fortunate that it’s unlikely I will be flooded or snowed in where I live NW London. The only prep will be putting some empty pots away in the shed this morning.
There are several places under bridges/underpasses that always flood nearby but I’m not about to drive anywhere.
I hope everyone stays safe.

Like Craftyone where I used to live I used to get snowed in some years. But I was brought up with always make sure you have a good stock cupboard and plenty in the freezer. Where I am now getting snowed in isn't a worry. But heavy rains and strong winds have replaced the snow factor. In January or February can't remember which I went out in very high winds not realising the danger. Halfway down my road a gust took me mid stride and pushed me over. If my stick had been still on the ground I might have been able to save myself. Trouble is once down can't get up myself. Luckily 2 workmen where at one of the bungalows and heard me shouting for help. It frightened me. My fear has been falling especially since losing over 7 st. Haven't got the fat cushion I had. Luckily no broken bones but badly bruised and couldn't go out for weeks. Learnt my lesson. I don't go out in high winds. Lived all my life landlocked. Forget I am not far from the coast now.

Doesn't pay to under estimate mother nature. She always wins.

The weatherman a couple of days ago announced that this is the most lively start to the hurricane season on record, and that we will be feeling the effects later in autumn.

Oh joy. Floods I guess and wind.

Today is unpleasant enough for August. Last week we were in the tropics now we are in autumn!!

yes, not at all good for august. I hate wind. I have a dread of floods, feel so sorry for people who get flooded. I used to live just above the somerset levels, met someone who was flooded and they moved out last year after having everything repaired. They could not live with the uncertainty. They lost a massive amount of money on the house but needed to draw a line across

I just had my octopus energy statement and only have £47 in reserve, I did say to take out £55 a month but I want a better reserve for winter and have just upped it to £60 a month. Overall it seems to be £35 pm for electric and £7 for gas but this is summer amount. I do a lot of baking so really £35 is going to be my minimum. I will change to my overbath gas shower when water intake gets very cold, I get a hotter more powerful shower via gas in winter, the boiler has a hot reserve in its tank. Electric just heats as it runs

oopsadaisy, they are penny pinching aren`t they? They are going to put people off doing wills with them

I just had a flashback to winter a couple of years ago in my old house, I stepped out of the front door to go fetch my walking boots from the garage opposite, new snow on the ground. I srepped onto the snow and went flat on my derriere, luckily it was new snow, no harm done but a lesson leaned. I now keep everything handy inside the house for snow, I have apres ski trainer type boots, never used but for an emergency, they are supposed to be safe in snow, they are in my wardrobe. Fuel gets stored inside and also any foodstuffs I might want from my stores in the garage, I need to walk on some non-slip concrete slabs but snow can turn to ice and can be dangerous. Cannot risk it when older

Very high winds here in Weston super Mare at present. Local bbc news went to local camping site - tents being blown down and away -people giving up and starting to return to their homes. Storm Francis .
Feel very safe in the flat, although I have moved some things around on my patio balcony - taking down hanging baskets, etc. Think there is a real danger of many trees coming down.

I have just been upstairs to do the usual closing down on windows. I have some lovely ancient red wonky sloping roofs behind and to my right. Narrow terraced houses and obviously requiring a lot of maintenance, could well be listed. I saw 2 red tiles on a perspex roofed outbuilding close up to one house so got my binoculars and can see several precarious slipped tiles, which could only fall on the perspex roof. Oh dear, these are obviously people who have not got that much money. All it would take is someone up a ladder to fix it

My instinct is to have another look first thing tomorrow and should I, do you think, go there to tell them that tiles have slipped? I am not sure. I don`t know them, no idea if it is a widow, old couple or what. Perhaps they will notice if they go into their outbuilding, which looks attached to the house. The whole terrace is higgeldy piggeldy, I will only know which one it is by counting chimneys

What a salutary lesson to keep up with maintenance, especially roofs and chimneys

I saw 2 red tiles on a perspex roofed outbuilding close up to one house so got my binoculars and can see several precarious slipped tiles, which could only fall on the perspex roof. Oh dear, these are obviously people who have not got that much money

Bit of an assumption that lack of money is the reason!
They might not have noticed/be away on holiday/be tenants and their landlord is slow at effecting repairs.
I think that checking their roofs with your binoculars and wading in with your advice might not necessarily be all that well-received.

same old same old acerbic mawb. If you cannot say anything positive then don`t say it.

When I lived in Scotland the 5 wide steps up to my front door used to become very icy. I kept a large bag of salt in the porch to sprinkle, like rose petals at a wedding, before setting forth
Now living in the Cotswolds, I keep a good supply of logs for the wood burner & candles, for the never ending power cuts. I’ve had more here in 2 years than in 37 years over the Border ?

We live in an avenue, so consequently have trees down our road. Big, old trees. One only a few metres across from our house. I’m just waiting for it to come crashing down one windy night.

craftyone

same old same old acerbic mawb. If you cannot say anything positive then don`t say it.

Same old, same old cliché - does everybody have to agree with everybody?
Or would you prefer to preface every OP with “confirmatory comments only please?”

. Oh dear, these are obviously people who have not got that much money

How do you know and is their financial state any of your business?
Or have the binoculars revealed more?

Goodness me! Do you two always carry on like this to each other?

craftyone I would be grateful if you came and looked at the tiles on my house. I am partially sighted so I cannot always see a small slippage. Fortunately, I have sufficient money for repairs so no worries there..

Craftyone, I wouldn't be too happy if I spotted a neighbour, spying on me with binoculars, for whatever the reason.
If you are so concerned about the loose tiles, why don't you do what a good neighbour would do, alert them in the nicest possible way that there is a problem.

While you are there, you could also ask them, as a concerned neighbour if they are having money problems!?

I love weather - which is a good job as we are currently getting lots of it through our hall ceiling!

Regular readers of the Good Morning thread will know that this is an ongoing issue that the roofer is baffled by.

We can afford the repair if we could only work out what the problem is - a huge assumption that your neighbours couldn't, craftyone.

We love our 150 year old home (a converted village Board school) and are happy to cope with the inconveniences to have a house near the centre of the village, that has lots of character and that so many people have stories about.

I wouldn't swap it for a new build.

Most people just wouldn't notice slipped or missing tiles on their roofs Crafty ....our own roof is difficult to check/see due to how the house is placed, so unlikely to be connected to a money problem.You can let them know if you want to, but for God’s sake don’t mention binoculars!
Do you live in rural France or Norway perhaps? You don’t have to say, it just sounds that way.
We don’t do anything special for Autumn/Winter weather other than have a good supply of candles for power cuts, and order logs in good time.Wills and all important documents are stored in a metal filing cabinet in the study.
We have had mild Winters recently ( that’s because I bought new wellies just in case)?