For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for April 06, 2023

When having lived in Lewis County, Washington for twenty years, the house never flooded because the neighborhood was on a hill… far from any of the rivers.

Okay, now Elly will open her big yap and yell at Mike again while the whole house is flooding!!

Gotta feeling Mike will end up LIVING in that basement!!

Uh. No basement for me. Only above the ground. Too much trouble. It’s always musty down there anyway. And dark.

When we lived in Vancouver Washington the yard flooded a couple of times, but the house was above the yard. The crawl space did flood and put out the pilot light on thr furnace. Huge bother.

Our sump pump was in the basement and after the huge power outage of 2000(2001?) I woke up at 4am to start bailing out the basememnt. Sump pumps, septic systems – yay rural life :-)

They just had a basement flooding storyline on “Edge City” and they found the bones of some prehistoric animal when they dug out of it. I don’t think the storyline is finished yet (on Thursdays they run a Sunday strip).

All right, I’ll just say that you can’t blame Michael for this…

When I live in NY, I did not have a generator. While I DID have a sump pump, when we would lose electricity (almost a given during a big storm), the sump pump would not work! I woke up many a day to a flooded basement. Not fun. No basements here in Florida and I do not live in a flood zone.

My guess about the water heater was wrong, but a sensor that triggers an alarm when water is present would have helped……but then we wouldn’t have the drama now taking place here.

We have a sump pump, but I live on a hill so it never gets used. Unfortunately, my water heater died it was the only time it worked.

In the first panel Elly’s bare feet are freezing cold white. One good thing to say about the warmer flood waters is that they warmed up Elly’s cold feet.

You can get an alarm on a sump pump. Or a backup pump, my friend lives at the bottom of a street and has two, on different power sources plus batteries.

He’s a teenager, did you ever tell him to check or what to do if it quit?

With all the rain, should have checked. If sump works, why need to check? I hear mine running every few minutes right now with these spring rains. I got 2 pumps in the crock and a battery water alarm.

A flooded finished basement is a nightmare for sure

A basement and a crawlspace?? that doesn’t even make sense, you either have one or the other. In my basement the sump pump is in a hole in my basement floor, about two feet deep. 18 inch wide hole in the floor. Round of course.

One thing insurance agents rarely tell you. You have to purchase a sump pump coverage rider for your home owner’s or renter’s insurance policy. It is not expensive, but damage from failed sump pumps is specifically excluded from the regular policies.

We always had a working sump pump.

Unless you have specifically asked him to, your teenager is not responsible for monitoring the sump pump or other home mechanics. Blaming your kids for this kind of mishap is a terrible habit.

Of course it is Michael’s fault. All teenagers are guilty until proven innocent.

Ptaters on have that creek or river right behind their house don’t they?

From time to time, I’ve thought it would be nice if houses here in southern California had basements. This shows me the downside. Of course, it usually doesn’t rain that much here, but this winter has been an exception.

Elly better be thankful she lives in Canada. The Pattersons have universal coverage thanks to

Ontario

State-run

Home

Insurance

Tableau

See Elly, if you had paid more attention to your business and less attention to your children’s business this wouldn’t be such a problem. One piece of advice for you. Water powered sump pump back up unit.

Looks like Michael is due for a dressing down. There was one strip where Elly was angry at Michael for doing nothing one Saturday morning, which is backed up by John, who just returned from an errand to the lumberyard.

Elly: “You have been a go-nowhere all morning, Michael!”

John: “You were still asleep when I left for the lumberyard with Elizabeth. Sure could have used your help. Your sister lifted 2 by 4s; what have you done?”

Yep… we always lived on higher ground. – never on a flood plain.

Oh,April’s gonna sail her boat….April’s gonna sail her boat…..

That happened to us at our first house, only the flooding just covered the crawl space. I didn’t know what a sump pump was. Had to crawl on my hands and knees, find the pump, and pull the rod on it to start it. Turns out the electrical cord was wrapped around it.

The first time I read this, I had no idea what a sump pump was. You don’t dig basements in Florida, the water table is too shallow.

Sump pumps not working is common. Very blame the poor lad.

I hope after this basement flood, they learn to check it after every heavy rain. Better yet, during the rain.

Why didn’t you check before you left for the day Elly?

Sure enough, Mike gets blamed for not maintaining the sump pump. That makes perfect sense. I know with my own kids, I drilled them every day on the subject. “Whenever you decide to take a nap or sleep, you must first check the sump pump.” We don’t actually have a sump pump, so my kids did grow up without that particular pressure.

My Dad had three sump pumps, two wired ones, one set up higher then the first, and then the third was battery powered with the battery on a trickle charge. Lived in the country that lost power every few years, and he had a pump that broke and didn’t realize it. You only need to get a flooded basement once to become prepared.

Sure, Ellie, blame your kid. YOU also knew how much rain you’ve been having. You’re the adult. Why didn’t you think to check before you left the house?

He did check…right now and you don’t like what he found.