Experts share tips on how to reduce your home’s flood risk

First at Five: Take A Rain Check As Maritimers recover from the ravages of summer storms, First at Five looks at ways to prevent damage from future storms.

Nearly a month after a torrential downpour left basements and homes flooded in Nova Scotia, homeowners are still dealing with damage.

“Trying to prevent mould growing in our basements,” said Georges Romanos at his Bedford house Thursday. “We’re cleaning out.”

Water rushed in from all directions during the storm. Romanos, a mechanical engineer, doubts any measures would’ve protected his house.

“In this location, nothing can be done,” he said. “The houses are built above a swamp.”

While some homes might not have been able to avoid flooding, the head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation points out there are measures many homeowners can take to reduce their flood risk.

Tips include, removing debris from your nearest storm drain, testing sump pumps, installing backup pumps and power supplies, and correcting grading around the foundation of your house.

“About 70 per cent of the homes in the province have somewhere on the property where the grading directs water towards the house versus away,” said Blair Feltmate.

Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation also recommends cleaning eavestroughs and extending downspouts, installing window wells and covers, keeping floor drains clear, storing valuables in watertight containers as well as installing and maintaining flood alarms.

Ridgeback Basement systems has been busy installing sump pumps and responding to other calls.

“Our phones are off the hook right now,” said Dylan Riley, the company’s general manager. “A lot of first-time floods. And a lot of reoccurring.”

Riley said the most popular item is a sump pump that comes with a battery backup. His team also installs water guards in homes that wrap around the perimeter of the house, and lead it off to a sump pump.

He also has other tips.

“I would recommend ensuring your eavestroughs are always cleaned out. Maybe at the end of your gutter spouts, make sure they run off your house. The last thing you want to do is recycle your water that drops off your roof right down to your foundation and right into your foundation,” Riley said.

Back in Bedford, Romanos explains he bought his house in recent years and said he didn’t realize it had been flooded before.

“We did hire professionals to do this investigation on our behalf, but all the documents did not mention anything about a flood zone,” Romanos said.

His advice is do as much as your own research before buying a house.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.