Plumbing Safety During Storms

Summer has well and truly arrived in QLD and we have had a few storms already this season. Preparing for a storm can sometimes be left to the last minute before it hits. I’m sometimes surprised by the lack of knowledge when it comes to plumbing safety during storms, so I thought I’d put some suggestions and hints together on what you can do to be prepared.

Pre-Storm Season

Before the storm season hits, you (or your partner) should get into the routine of spring cleaning your gutters and down pipes. Even gutters with mesh guard need to be cleaned. When leaves are left in the gutters or on top of the mesh guard, they decay and break down into black dirt and this dirt can build up in the gutters and can block up storm water drain pipes. A couple of months ago, dad and I did some maintenance on a house where the water tanks were empty. Upon inspecting the down pipes running into the tank, they were full of black dirt and leaf debris. There was no way that those tanks would have filled during a storm or a good drenching of rain.

To clear down pipes, place your hose down the pipe and turn the water on full bore. We recently had to clean out the gutters on the right side of our house. Both down pipes were blocked and I noticed this when we had a downpour and more water was overflowing out of our gutters than in.

It’s best to do a quick inspection around the house of any storm water grates that may be covered from over grown grass, garden debris or kids outdoor toys. The grates need to be clear so that the water can run down them freely. To check for blockages, use the hose trick again. If you find that the hose doesn’t dislodge the blockage, you will need to call a plumber with a jet rodding machine to blast the debris out of the drain.

Once you’ve done the prep work around your property, check your insurance and make sure you are covered for storm damage and flood damage. The 2011 floods in Brisbane highlighted how important it is to check what your insurance will and won’t cover. You may be covered for storm damage, but you might not be covered for floods – even though the storm contributed to the flood. Read your policy and ensure you are covered.

During the Storm

During a storm, don’t have a shower or soak in a bath or turn on a tap. Especially if it’s an electrical storm with a lot of lightning. If lightning strikes your house or near your house the electrical current can travel along your water pipe, through the water and earth itself through you to the ground if you are washing your hands or having a shower.

If I know a storm is coming, I bath my girls before the storm hits. I don’t shower during a storm or turn on a tap. Last year, there was an incident where a resident was washing up during a storm and got hit by lightning and was thrown across the room. The resident was lucky, but there aren’t too many survival stories of people being hit by lightning.

My next tip is if you notice water bubbling through your plasterboard ceiling, you may have a roof leak. If you see this happen during a storm, get a knife and cut out the wet plasterboard and place a bucket under the drip. By doing this, you only have to get the hole plastered up once the leak is fixed, not the whole ceiling.

Tarps, ropes, duct tape, buckets, towels, torches and mops are all great things to have handy should the inevitable disaster occur during a storm. It’s best to prepare early because storms are a summer reality in Australia.

Has your property ever been damaged by a storm?

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