The lesson here is sell your home - double check how many owners there have been with your property and if it has changed owners every 5 years or less a 'red flag' should apply on whether you stay, purchase or sell!

Flood carries a lesson

Jersey Journal
Wednesday, May 09, 2007

The prevailing wisdom is that electronics make it through a flood pretty well. Just allow them to dry out completely before plugging them back in and you should be fine.

The prevailing wisdom, in my case, was pretty darn wrong.

My home took on about 4 inches of water during the flooding on April 15. That was enough to waterlog anything left on the floor of the garden level of my house (the level that my flood insurance adjuster obstinately called a "basement," even though it isn't).

After we bailed the water and dried everything off, I was surprised and saddened to discover how poorly my electronics had come through the ordeal. A computer that was sitting on the floor seemed fine at first, but progressively got worse to the point where it wouldn't start up at all. A local repairperson (Walter at www.barterpc.us) who I found on Jersey City List (www.jclist.com) came over, inspected the damage, and told me that replacing the computer would cost about the same as fixing it.

I'd been thinking about getting a new computer anyway, but I wasn't planning on replacing my router. My wireless router shorted out during the flood, even though it never touched the water and was plugged into a surge protector. That surprised me.

The water also killed several power cords, which I found are expensive to replace and usually require a special order. The TV cord alone cost $90, including overnight shipping (we couldn't bear to go an extra night without our shows, since we needed a distraction from the mess.)

Luckily, most of my electronics were up high enough that they weren't damaged. After this, I'll keep everything electronic at least a foot off the ground. If this happened once, it can happen again.

I'll make one exception, though. When this is all over, I'll be adding one new piece of electronics to the household, once that I'll keep below ground level: a sump pump. Just wish I'd had one before.

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