GULFPORT, Fla. — When Hurricane Idalia targeted parts of the Tampa Bay area with 4 to 7 feet of storm surge, residents rushed to get sandbags. But is that the best option to keep water out of your home?
Over the past few days, we've seen dozens of posts on social media asking what people did to seal windows and doors. Many responses talked about professional flood gates you can buy online and install to DIY hacks that are more cost-effective.
ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska tracked down two homeowners in Gulfport that used two different methods with the same result: little to negligible water intrusion.
Let's start at Gary Subers' home. Subers told Paluska that in 2020, during tropical storm ETA, his home flooded; the sandbag method was a fail.
"Man, the sandbags, it just came right up through the sandbags and right through the doors," Subers said.
With Eta, about 12 inches of water covered his floors, forcing him to throw everything out to the street. The renovations cost thousands of dollars and took about six months to finish. After the storm, he hardened the perimeter, waterproofed the foundation of his home, added stucco, sealed the floors, and added an extra layer of waterproof drywall. On top of that, he decided for the next storm, he'd skip the sandbags.
Subers showed us how he built frames around the doors and used spray foam to seal the seams. The plywood was wrapped in foam to create a gasket, and then he sealed it off from the bottom and sides with more foam.
"Worked beautifully. It was amazing," Subers said. "The only thing that happened was water did get into the garage."
Instead of hauling all the soaked items to the trash like his neighbors across the street and next door, Subers said he swept out the small amount that got in, dried it out, and is running dehumidifiers.
"I'm so thankful I took the time to do that because the sandbags just don't work," Subers said. "And you know, one of my big beefs is that FEMA insures us against the flood damage, but they don't do anything to help you mitigate the problem before it even happens. And there are products out there, and there are things you can do to keep the water out, and so you know, why not do that and save yourself a lot of aggravation."
A few miles down the road, at John McEwen's home, floodgates installed in front of his garage did the trick.
McEwen installed four quick gate flood dams across his garage. His garage only got a few inches as the water level went up because it seeped in through the back door.
The total cost for McEwen's flood panels was about $3K. A single-panel system to cover a door costs about $700.
McEwen said the installation is easy, and the setup to put the gates up takes about an hour. You do have to drill holes in the concrete to bolt the stanchions into the ground. But, once you add the holes and seal the anchors in the side of the garage, it's a permanent solution.
NOAA is still determining Gulfport's final storm surge estimate, but it did fall within the 4-7 feet range.
"We seriously dodged a bullet," McEwen said. "For me, it was personal; it was my dad's house, and I can hear him from heaven saying son, you got the garage. Put mom in the house."
McEwen's home is built higher than the garage- he said the water only came up to the first step leading to the front door.
This report does come with a disclaimer. Of course, who gets water and how much depends on a lot of different factors, like elevation, location during a storm surge, and building codes. Some people might use different methods or a combination of hacks like flex tape, tarps, sandbags, other sealants, etc.
Both McEwen and Subers shared their story to give people a different perspective and other options or ideas to protect against water.
