Debate: Doomsday prep or just sensible planning when you live near a floodplain?

I spent three months building up an emergency kit after the 2023 floods near Portland, Oregon, and I'm still not sure if I'm being proactive or just feeding my anxiety about the river rising. My neighbor says I'm wasting time on stuff that'll never happen, but the city's own maps show a 10-year flood could put my street underwater. Where's the line between preparing for climate impacts and letting the worry take over your life?

3 comments

3 Comments

reed.elliot13d ago

Your neighbor must have a crystal ball that shows the NEXT ten years I guess. Let them know my toolbox floats and I've got a generator ready to go, I'll be the guy with hot coffee and dry socks while they're rowing a couch downstream. 10-year flood maps don't lie, they just wait for people to forget they exist.

the_anthony13d ago

Well now I gotta ask, how many times have you actually had to use that generator and floaty toolbox setup in a real flood? I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm genuinely curious if you've been through a couple of these already or if you're just real confident in your prep. Flood maps are one thing, but actual water behavior is another animal entirely - it doesn't always follow the lines on a piece of paper.

hugoj1210d ago

Oh man, I feel this so hard. I did the exact same thing after the 2021 floods near where I live in Missouri, spent like two months getting a generator and a sump pump setup. I've actually had to use the pump twice in the last year, not from a river flood but from a nasty flash flood that dropped six inches in an hour. My neighbor says the same thing, calls me "the paranoid prepper" but he was the one knocking on my door at 2am asking if he could charge his phone. I figure the line is somewhere around when your prep becomes more stressful than just living with the risk, but for me having that generator ready gives me peace of mind so I sleep better at night.