A flooded basement can be a frustrating thing. It’s hard to clean it up and often the water that goes there is not clean. It brings different elements into your basement.

New Jersey suffers from flooding. When hurricanes hit the state and the surrounding areas, there is a great need for water clean ups New Jersey. Two of the strongest hurricanes to hit the area were hurricanes Connie and Dianne which occurred in August of 1955. Aside from strong winds, it brought more than 8 inches of rain, sending piles of rain through Delaware valley and along with it came destroyed houses, bridges and debris. It created chaos. Floods sent the rivers swelling and there were two camps in Pennington Island and Treasure Island that needed to be evacuated. The local economy suffered and residents had to attend to flooded basement and other effects of too much water.

Around 200 families had to be evacuated and local businesses like a paper mill suffered more than 1 million dollars in damages. In nearby areas like Milford and Frenchtown, damages totaled to more than $600,000 which are millions in today’s terms. Red Cross was very instrumental in getting New Jersey and Pennsylvania back on their feet. New Jersey is a low lying area which makes it prone to floods during heavy rains and during hurricane season. This tendency makes insurers do not want to insure properties in that area.

However, residents have to cope with the situation. One way to do this is to know what to do in case of a flooded basement. There are some ways to deal with it: Angling or Pitching of grades - This means sloping away the ground next to the foundation of your home so that flooding in your basement can be prevented. You move those grades away from your home. Put a grade or below grade drain - What this does is to move the water away from the ground. It’s quite expensive but in the long run can save you substantial amounts of money. Do not let your grass clippings pile up - This creates some sort of moat that acts a basin for water. Then the water collected seeps into the ground, and then goes through the cracks in the foundation and then finally into the basement, bringing along the other elements that causes stench in your basement when it floods.

Beware of hazardous mixing of chemicals with flood water - Chemicals such as paints and fertilizers are often stored in basements so when it floods, it gets mixed with the water which can cause contamination and water pollution. Drain the water from gutters - You can transfer this into dry wells that should be located at a minimum distance of 20 feet from your home. There will be many factors that you have to consider like soil conditions, general pitch and of course the elevation of your home. You can also put high water tables 3-4 inches beneath your basement slab. A note to remember though is you cannot drain pumps into the city sewers as this is illegal.