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RiverCabin
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# Posted: 9 May 2017 09:31am
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So as many of you have may heard, there has been significant flooding in southern Missouri and then on down through Arkansas.
Most areas around my home received 10+ inches of rain over a long weekend. I didn't think much about it until I went to work last Monday. A few friends I saw asked about my cabin but I said I believed it didn't get that high. At my office, I started to second guess myself and checked the automated river gauge south of my cabin. I was shocked to find that the CFS exceeded the last flood by nearly 40,000 cfs. Further checking revealed that the old timers near my cabin were stating that it exceeded the legendary 500 year flood of 1993.
So now I was concerned. Needless to say, my cabin is uninsured. The insurance premium quotes I received years ago would exceed my building costs in 10 years.
With much apprehension, I left work early and drove to my cabin. My cabin is about one mile off a highway on a gravel county road. Upon getting onto the county road, it was immediately apparent that the water had covered it. Driving in, I got more nervous as I progressed (very slowly progressed as the road was trashed). About a quarter mile from my cabin, I rounded a bend and realized the road had collapsed into the river. Slogging the last quarter mile in on foot I found, THE CABIN WAS FINE!.
My cabin is on a slab and it appears that the water had just reached the slab and was about 2-4 inches from being in the cabin. The water was high enough to float away my pile of firewood located twenty feet from the cabin. It even floated my plastic five gallon gas can from behind my cabin to the side.
Needless to say, I am relieved. The county already has a temporary fix on the road and the family and I spent Sunday there cleaning up and looking for any damage. On a bright note, the kayaking was fantastic with the elevated river.
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Cowracer
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# Posted: 9 May 2017 10:25am - Edited by: Cowracer
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Good to hear. Both my house and my cabin are high enough that if they flood, someone better send an Ark, but we have friends in and around the STL area that were not so lucky.
While I feel sorry for them, I can't help that my feelings are tinged with a bit of "Well... What do you expect when you buy a house in a flood plain?" It's pretty obvious where the flood water goes. Everyone around here knows. We have them all the time. We have had two 500 year floods in 15 months. Some people have just finished getting their lives back together from the Dec. 2015 flood and now they got to do it all over again. I'm sorry for them, but it only took me getting flooded one time back in '93 to move to a new place that doesn't flood, and they keep going back and whining on the news for help sandbagging.
Anyway, I am glad your cabin is safe. Have you looked into a higher deductible to lower your insurance rates. I got a $5000 deductible on a total loss that saved me a ton on my rates. I can swallow a $5k hit if the worst happens.
Tim
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RiverCabin
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# Posted: 9 May 2017 11:40am
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I absolutely agree as far as primary homes in a floodplain. Some of those folks around the Meramec in St. Louis just don't get it.
The flood of 2015 didn't even come close to my cabin. For reference, the one gauge on the river my cabin is on ran ~32,000cfs in the 2015 flood and 70,000 at peak in this flood. I don't have the 93 numbers, only anecdotal evidence from long time residents that this was bigger.
As far as insurance, I view my lack of insurance as a calculated risk. The last quote I received was ~1,000 yearly. Assuming I lose it once every 10-15 years, I could comfortably rebuild on those savings. My cabin was built with the belief that It would get hit eventually and as such, I don't have a ton invested in it nor is anything expensive kept in it. If you check my profile, I believe I have pictures. Such is life with anything waterfront, your continued residency is at the whim and caprice of mother nature.
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rockies
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# Posted: 9 May 2017 08:02pm
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This is why I'll never understand people who want to build a basement for a rural cabin. In addition to the high amount of labor involved with excavating, formwork, concrete and rebar and then waterproofing the basement walls you then put all your valuable utilities down there.
One flood and your entire investment is lost.
If I am going to put a cabin up on piers then all the utility equipment is going to be up on piers too (either as part of the cabin or in a separate outbuilding). If there is still any danger of flood waters entering the living space then be sensible and also put your stored possessions in waterproof plastic containers (not cardboard boxes).
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ForceFed70
Member
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# Posted: 9 May 2017 11:46pm
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Basement makes plenty of sense if you're not on a floodplain.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 10 May 2017 08:56am - Edited by: toyota_mdt_tech
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Co worker of mine bought 5 acres on a river, he lost it all one fall/spring, its all gone, he has a chunk on the other side of the river with no legal access. His taxes was reduced to zero. Basically, its gone, 40K, and the county/state would not let him do a thing to protect his shoreline, ie no rocks etc.
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RiverCabin
Member
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# Posted: 10 May 2017 01:20pm
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Quoting: toyota_mdt_tech Co wo rker of mine bought 5 acres on a river, he lost it all one fall/spring, its all gone, he has a chunk on the other side of the river with no legal access
Ouch. Thankfully a county road bisects my property with my cabin on one side and the river on the other. the county will always rebuild the road so I will always have water access.
Rivers are interesting to watch over time. People seem to forget how much they can move. Our river is a cold clear southern Missouri river (for those familiar with missouri, it is similar to the Black, Jacks Fork, or Huzzah) and as such there is little silt in it. What it does contain is gravel over a solid rock base. As such, a flood can really move the gravel and change the depth and width of the river. A few years ago we had a minor flood and found suddenly we had a gravel island directly in font of our shoreline. It was pretty nice having it for lawn chairs and towels but it disappeared after the flood of 2015.
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drb777
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# Posted: 10 May 2017 02:00pm
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All of my mother's family was from SE Missouri, Farmington, Sikeston, Lake Wappapello, Morehouse, Charleston. And one of my uncles had a construction company that would build levies for the corp of engineers along the Mississippi River.
As a young boy, I remember vividly a visit to see one of his huge walking drag line dredges. I was greatly impressed with it's capabilities and size. But also, I distinctly remember my uncle kept saying that he completely disagreed with the corp spec's for the levies that he was contracted to build. And he also said that they knew what they were doing was inadequate to prevent real-world flooding conditions that the natives realized were all to common.
So I took it all to mean that no one should ever expect any government do-good project to provide protection from a natural disaster, such as a flood. When it came to locating my cabin, top-of-the-hill for me. Farm in the valley, but live on high ground.
Regarding the clear, cool gravel streams of southern Missouri, I'll never forget the Current River near Eminence, where I went to summer camp as a 10 year old kid, great memories.
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Cowracer
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# Posted: 10 May 2017 02:08pm
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Quoting: RiverCabin Our river is a cold clear southern Missouri river (for those familiar with missouri, it is similar to the Black, Jacks Fork, or Huzzah) and as such there is little silt in it.
I remember the Black River was a silty, muddy mess resembling the Mississippi for a couple years after Ameren had its little spot-o-bother at Taum Sauk. Last time I floated it (a few years ago) it was clear until you disturbed the bottom, then it would silt up. Not like it was before, when it was crystal clear all the time and you could easily see to 20-25 foot depths.
Tim
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