Live in a hurricane-prone area? Here’s how to prepare your home for flooding

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After floodwaters destroyed Steve Papola’s home last year in Hudson, Fla., during Hurricane Helene, he promised himself the house would be better prepared for the next major storm.

Papola and his wife were left with warped wood floors, swollen drywall and a fried electrical system.

Helene pushed up to 7 feet of storm surge onto Florida’s Gulf Coast in September, becoming the deadliest hurricane in the country since Katrina in 2005. And just two weeks later, Hurricane Milton brought record-breaking rainfall of more than 18 inches in some areas, leading to further flooding inland.

This year’s hurricane season is already generating a lot of anxiety, as many residents from North Carolina down to Florida haven’t recovered from last year’s horrific storms.

“My wife is definitely getting anxiety every day that comes,” Papola says. “She watches the weather every day of the week. She’s listening to the weatherman intently.”

You might be wondering what you can do to prepare your home for potential floodwaters. We can learn a lot from recent hurricane flood victims, like Papola, who are rebuilding with flooding and climate change in mind.

Here’s how to harden your home or business from flooding.

Stay aware of future risks

Some people, like Papola, who had 4 feet of storm surge push onto his house, had to face the facts of human-caused climate change head-on: Flooding from hurricanes is becoming more intense, and it’s not just a coastal issue.

Increased precipitation is leading to freshwater flooding, whether it’s old stormwater infrastructure backing up, to rivers and lakes cresting, to accumulated rainfall.

Researchers at NASA say the number of people living in flood-prone areas globally has increased by up to 24% since 2000 — that’s 10 times greater than previous models predicted and is a direct result of climate-fueled storms.

Now, federal forecasters predict this year’s Atlantic hurricane season will be above normal. Between June and November, there could be 13 to 19 named storms — three to five of which could be major.

Building materials matter 

Some of the headache during storm cleanup includes soaked flooring, drywall and baseboards that you have to cut out and drag out of the house. If you want to stay in a place that can flood again, you can opt out of carpeting and wood floors.

Many residents are instead installing tile floors because the floodwaters don’t penetrate the grout in which they’re laid. So, you only have to worry about cleaning the floors after flooding. But a warning for some along the coast: It could be a messier cleanup if mud is involved.

Let’s talk about drywall. It absorbs floodwaters like a sponge and can fester dangerous mold if not removed. You can use cement board instead, which can dry off. As for those wooden baseboards, swap them out for PVC ones to prevent rotting upon contact with water.

Elevate

Raising your home is an expensive endeavor, starting at around $200,000. But for some rebuilding in particular flood zones, it’s mandatory. FEMA requires that homes in flood zones be elevated at least 1 foot above the base flood elevation. Across Florida, concrete pilings to lift homes are going up 15 to 20 feet in neighborhoods that have experienced storm surge.

Programs may exist to help fund such an undertaking. Elevate Florida, for example, helped homeowners access federal grants from February to April of this year to pay for 75% of elevation costs.

And it’s not just your home to consider elevating. Moving electrical outlets up higher on the wall prevents rising floodwaters from shorting out the entire electrical system or causing a fire.

Flood insurance 

OK, so if you know your house has a flooding problem, you should consider flood insurance.

Flood insurance isn’t just for homeowners. If you rent in a low-lying area, whether you’re on the coast or inland, renters insurance is likely not going to cover your flooding losses. It’s up to you, not your landlord, to get that added protection for your belongings inside a potentially risky structure you’re leasing.

Flood insurance can be costly. But at this point, flooding is going to be expensive whether you prepare for it or not.

Papola says the reconstruction of his home after Helene is estimated at $145,000. He doesn’t have to pay that himself because he has flood insurance. But that doesn’t include the potential cost of elevating his home.

“The water is not a game for the middle class or the lower-middle class unless you’re going to be able to insure properly and make sure that you have the ability to mitigate whatever type of loss comes with the storms,” Papola says.

Consider the costs 

It’s important to recognize that all of these adaptations are, of course, pricier than rebuilding with the same materials you used before.

For instance, the cost of changing drywall to cement board (Durock is one brand) can be more than double. The same is true for replacing carpet with tile, not including the installation fees.

As for raising electrical outlets, Papola estimates the cost of all his electrical rewiring after the flood to be between $4,000 and $5,000.

This story was edited by Sadie Babits. The visual editor is Beck Harlan. We’d love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823, or email us at LifeKit@npr.org.

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