@jca2 I could have been more specific at first. My comic stuff, and other things were in large plastic, stackable bins…
I did that after my first flood.
The biggest problem is mold. It seems to permeate anything and everything.
Down here, most people in my economic bracket have mold in their rental house/apt. You can run 2–3 dehumidifiers all day, and that still doesn’t work.
In my old house that got flooded so bad, we would have to empty the dehumidifiers twice a day.
For those who don’t know how dehumidifiers work, they suck the water from the air, usually it collects in a gallon or so container in the unit.
So. It is apparent that we sucked over six gallons/day of water/moisture from the inside air. It’s just THAT humid here in Charleston SC.
If floodwaters actually get into your place, even 4–7 inches is enough for the water to destroy everything. I had a few old/well built chests of drawers that had feet that kept the water from getting into the drawers. It doesn’t matter. The water travels up, through all wood, and even certain types of foundations. My first flood was like that. A week after the storm, ALL the drywall had been compromised. The water soaked up the wood in the house’s frame too. And things I had thought were safe in Rubbermaid containers, were found to be full of mold when all construction/repairs were done. I invested in different plastic boxes. Same problem.
The two other floods were closer to hip deep (and I’m tall.)
There’s just nothing that can be done.
A lot of houses in the area I prefer to inhabit were built in the 1940’s. You can surround those houses with sandbags and slap wet mud/clay over that, but the water comes up through the (I think it’s limestone) foundation.
Honestly. It wasn’t a problem as recent as nine years ago. Now. It’s common to see flooding on high tides, even if the weather is perfect. I hate to say it, but the whole city will likely be under a couple feet of water in 20 years (or sooner.)