FLOODING EXPERTS  The scene outside our headquarters after Irene

Before Hurricane Irene hit the Northeast on August 28 of last year, experts warned that it would be a major storm, but the course it took was one few could have predicted. Mandatory evacuations and other precautionary measures were enacted in coastal areas along the Eastern Seaboard but it was upland areas of New York State and Vermont, and low-lying parts of New Jersey, that got hit hardest, resulting in more than $7.8 billion in damages and vividly demonstrating the unpredictability of extreme weather.

At the start of hurricane season this year (June 1^st), national hurricane experts at Colorado State University predicted 13 major storms, 5 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes in the Atlantic basin, with a 48% chance of a major hurricane hitting the U.S. coast before the season ends in late November. At Pump Express we are keenly aware of the damage storm related flooding can do (see above). Here is our shortlist of best practices to protect your home and business from flooding:

Log on to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website, plug in the relevant information and pull up the community map that shows your property. Find out if you are in a flood-prone area. Determine your property’s elevation and if it is below flood level consider buying flood insurance.

Install a backflow check valve on your property’s sewer main to prevent the unwanted backflow of sewer water from the city main especially if your town has a combined sanitary and storm sewer system.

Make sure that you have a fully-functional basement sump pump and battery or water powered back-up sump pump on hand in case your primary pump fails. Power outages occur during heavy storms when you need the sump pump the most. Think of a backup sump pump as low-cost basement flood insurance.

For homes with a consistent (40-100psi) municipal water supply, Liberty and Zoeller offer reliable, cost-effective, WATER POWERED PUMPS. Because they don’t run on batteries, they are maintenance-free. However, they are not appropriate for use with an electrically powered well water system or as a substitute for a primary basement sump pump system.

BATTERY POWERED BACK-UP PUMPS can be switched on when the power goes out or the primary pump fails. Some battery back-up pumps run on deep-cycle maintenance-free marine batteries while others run on traditional acid batteries. These require the occasional addition of water.

Zoeller and Pro Series offer preassembled combination systems that couple a primary sump pump and battery backup sump pump in a single system. The primary pump operates off AC power.  If the power is interrupted, or more water is coming into the sump than the AC pump can handle, the backup sump pump will kick-in automatically.  In these systems the primary pump maintains and recharges the back-up battery automatically.

Learn more about the Pro Series line in this video.

Browse the back-up pumps we stock and ship nationally at  www.pumpexpress.com or call us for details: 1-800-298-4100

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