# How do i stop my house from flooding? Could this work in theory? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 1, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-my-house-from-flooding-could-this-work-in-theory/726754 "2015-08-01T20:52:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![justjake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@justjake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justjake)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-my-house-from-flooding-could-this-work-in-theory/726754/1 "2015-08-01T20:52:43Z")
Long story short i live in florida by a river and at this moment my house is starting to be surrounded by water. Our house is a one story pretty close to the ground and yeah, it’s starting to get bad. If it rains for another day or two it will flood our house. This will officially make it impossible for me to go to college because my new goal will be finding a place to live and getting food enough to get by. So, i’m determined to do literally whatever is necessary and here’s what i came up with. (this might not work at all or sound stupid.) 1. Get a decent size bucket. 2. Get some muscle ready. 3. Go outside, scoop up all the water around my house with said bucket. 4. Throw it into my rich neighbors yard who is on vacation and doesn’t have anything on his property except for a trailer that is elevated up high. 5. Everybody wins…right? ---
**Author:** ![justjake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@justjake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justjake)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-my-house-from-flooding-could-this-work-in-theory/726754/2 "2015-08-01T21:41:19Z")
I’m serious. My house might flood tonight. Would taking a large bucket and throwing it into my vacant neighbors yard across the street work? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-my-house-from-flooding-could-this-work-in-theory/726754/3 "2015-08-01T21:48:45Z")
Do you have friends that’d help? Lots of 'em? Maybe a… _brigade’s_ worth? ---
**Author:** ![justjake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@justjake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justjake)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-my-house-from-flooding-could-this-work-in-theory/726754/4 "2015-08-01T22:10:49Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Do you have friends that’d help? Lots of 'em? Maybe a… _brigade’s_ worth? Minor flooding. Not “hey my whole house is full halfway” Just “oh we got enough flooding to ruin the floor” It’s also mainly on one side of the house, near the river. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-my-house-from-flooding-could-this-work-in-theory/726754/5 "2015-08-01T22:17:02Z")
I suggest you first raise all your belongings which would be affected by the water well above any possible flood stage. I think the traditional methods is sandbags [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9sZ2aBQr-gQ/hqdefault.jpg "How to Fill and Use Sandbags") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sZ2aBQr-gQ) ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-my-house-from-flooding-could-this-work-in-theory/726754/6 "2015-08-01T23:14:36Z")
> [@justjake](#): > > I’m serious. My house might flood tonight. Would taking a large bucket and throwing it into my vacant neighbors yard across the street work? Where would the water go from your neighbor’s yard? If it’s going to run back in your direction, it’s a waste of time. Also consider how much of the water is running into your property from the river, versus rising up through the ground.