Spring is fast approaching and with it the very real danger in my area of flooding, esp flash flooding. DS gets REALLY nervous when it rains, storms, or floods are predicted. I have talked to him about it, realistically. We can't stop the rain, we can't stop the waters from rising, but what we CAN do is be more prepared. I'd like him to help us do just that.

Now, along the lines of being realistic, here's our situation. A small river (by virtue of it's length only, it is only about 20 to 30 feet wide at most) runs directly behind the house, a drainage ditch/stream runs along the length of the property roughly perpendicular to the river. Now, that said, the house sits up high. When we built it, for the purposes of getting cheaper flood insurance, we built so that the crawl space has proper flood vents, and our living space is elevated to be 1 foot above the 100 year Base Flood Elevation. The property has been in DW's family since the 70's, and even in some of the worst floods since then there has never been a significant amount of flooding, just a little water in the crawl space of the old house. The way the newer house is elevated now, water would have to rise enough to completely cover the road before it could even reach our living space. I know it MIGHT be possible, but very improbable given we are in one of the high spots along the flood plain. Long story short, we'll most likely not see water up high enough to get in the house. I also know rising water isn't our only concern, but I'd like to concentrate just on the flooding possibility.

I have of course visited a few websites such as the red cross and the National Flood Insurance Program site. There are plenty of others with plenty of lists.

Now, here's where I need your help and input. Besides the basics that are on these lists, what else can we do to be more prepared for flooding? Short of a truckload of sand and sandbags, I don't want to get too carried away. What supplies should we have on hand? What plans should we have in place? Should we have a bug-out plan in case the unthinkable happens, and the gound/foundation starts to give way and the house becomes unsafe? This is problematic in and of itself, as there is high ground across the road which leads uphill, but this takes us immediately parallel to the small stream/drainage ditch i mentioned. We could go up or down the road but that takes us parallel to the river, as well as the probable event of running into lower spots where we would be unable to pass due to high waters coming over the road. The only reason I would even think about doing this would be to get to a more suitable place to get to higher ground. A bug out plan, in my mind, would be unsafe and an absolute last resort, but I'm wondering if we should still have a plan in place? Any other suggestions or resources? All input is welcomed and appreciated.