Flooding Q&A with The City Sponge: From Risk to Solutions

Thanks to those that joined us for our first virtual session of our R.E.D.E.E Series: this series of workshops, Q&A’s, and clinics have been designed to help small biz stay in biz through preparedness and resilience.

We will cover everything from flood and fire to insurance and business continuity. 

On Monday evening, we gathered for a Flood Q&A with Nick Nyhan of The City Sponge and Floodline. You can check out the full session here and peruse through some key takeaways below.

THE BIG PICTURE - “A BUCKET IS NOT A STRATEGY” - THINK ABOUT FLOOD BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER.

  • Urban flooding, especially in Red Hook is misunderstood (both by those affected and especially by electeds/officials). 

  • This misunderstanding costs businesses. 

  • It is critical to have a strategy in place BEFORE flood strikes…. And as Nick put it…’a bucket is not a strategy!’

  • Urban flooding is widely misunderstood -- and that misunderstanding costs businesses. As Nick put it: a bucket is not a strategy. The conversation we need to have goes from plumbers to policy.

  • Look at the flood section of our workbook for more info.

Before a flood:

  • Know your space. Walk it. Learn what happens in what order when it rains hard.

  • Check your sump pump annually. The most common failures are gunk buildup, a stuck float, or a stuck valve. Ask your landlord to maintain it yearly. Also check the pump's lift height to make sure it can actually move water out effectively.

  • Install stick sensors in pits and low areas to get early warning.

  • Keep barriers on hand for doors and rolling gates. Check out Garrison Flood Control for doors and rolling gates, and water-fillable door guards as another option.

  • Document your space now -- photos and video of doors, drains, and basements before anything happens. Keep your inventory up to date and photographed.

  • If you apply for any grants or loans -- especially flood-related -- copy and paste your Q&A responses as you go. Not all programs will send them back to you, and you'll want to reuse similar answers.

  • If a physical disaster is declared: if you have an open line of credit that is not maxed out, you may be required to take it at a higher interest rate before accessing other assistance. Know this ahead of time.

During a flood:

  • Do not shower or flush toilets during heavy rain. It stresses already-overwhelmed sewer lines and can make backup worse.

  • Think about where you are directing water -- avoid sending it somewhere that will hurt your neighbors. Take a community mindset.

  • Document everything in real time. Photos and video with timestamps.

After a flood:

  • When talking to your insurance company: do not describe what you think caused the flooding or where it came from. You don't know. There was water. That's all you know. The type of water determines coverage, and guessing wrong can hurt your claim.

  • Report damage from sewer backup to the NYC Comptroller. Report damage from sewer backup to NYC Comptroller

  • File for government funds through the recovery portal once it opens.

  • Submit a 311 complaint -- it helps prioritize the flooded area and creates a paper trail.

THE DATA GAP: FLOODING MADE INVISIBLE 

  • Flooding is invisible to policymakers because the maps are not accurate. Official flood risk maps are incomplete and don't reflect what has actually happened in your specific space. Real risk is based on what has happened in your location over the last 6 to 15 years -- not what a map says. Talk to prior tenants, ask neighboring businesses, and pay attention to what you observe during storms: where does the water come from, where does it go, in what order do things happen? 

  • Outside water is just one type of flooding. Sewer backup, roof drainage, internal plumbing failures are all flooding types that occur in our area, and they're covered differently by insurance, if at all.


NEW MODES OF RESILIENCE

We discussed emerging modes of resilience we have seen in other communities including

  • Mitigation libraries (community owned mitigation tools available for use)

  • Group shared insurance policies based on weather events may be an emerging option for small businesses -- including possibly for Red Hook specifically. We're looking into this and will follow up.

  • Advocacy efforts to push for flood disclosure requirements for commercial tenants -- we're adding this to our policy and advocacy agenda

  • Pooled/parametric insurance as an option for Red Hook businesses -- not just for flooding




RESOURCES

  • We will be adding resources to the preparedness page on our site, so I encourage you to keep tabs there: Preparedness — RHBA Red Hook Business Alliance

  • We have created an Emergency Preparedness Guide and Workbook that has resources, pro tips, and worksheets for you to peruse and fill out. There is a pdf version as well as a digital version.

  • We're also working on assessing what emergency tools our neighborhood already has if you have a moment to fill out this brief survey

  •  We will also be sending updates through our newsletters which you can subscribe to at the bottom of this page (including follow ups and pro tips that come out of our events!) - I am also happy to directly add your email to that subscription if that's easier