Have you checked with Zamzow’s or D&B to be certain that Ada County has not already hired out the people in the jumpsuits have not already been hired out to fill their sandbags?
It could be……

Here on the Bench we still have plenty of sand on our back streets. It appears that the street sweepers are busy elsewhere. So if anyone needs sand, we have it up here where we no longer need it for the snow (we got it after the Northend did). Ah, the very special Northend.

Maybe the Boy Scout who left the brochure could tell officials about the idea of “Be prepared.”
It’s a good motto and a good idea — but many things including this one indicate most officials have never heard of it.

Glad they don’t run the police department — they’d have the cops all sitting in the station, saying we’ll send them out only after there’s a wreck.

Argh!

People who live in city limits pay just as much to the County as those who don’t. It’s a good argument for bumping a lot of services to the County level (after reforming the way County government is organized.

Eric,
Yah, people living inside city limits pay just as much to the county as those living out of a city’s limits – but these people ALSO pay money to the city. I don’t understand why you’re criticizing the county’s structure and roles when you’re letting city officials sidle away with thier (more than fair) share of the property taxes…without any share of the responsibility.

Wade-Your comments about “sandbagging of private property is up to the owner. (And so is living near a drainage.)” is straight on. Why is it that everyone gets all up in arms about something like this when it is up to the property owner, not the government, to protect their property?

This goes to a much larger issue, I beleive. We want the government to step in only when it is convenient, but otherwise stay the heck away. I grow tired of homeowners that moan and groan about a “lack of gov’t response” when they build their homes in a flood plain (or in some cases, right along the freak’n banks of the river. aka home owners on the Boise River in Eagle). Protect me, my family, and my home but only on my terms and only when it does not force me to give up any conveniences. That seems to be the attitude these days….

I also live in the sacred (?) Northend, and the last time a few years ago that mass flooding from the Front was in the offing, the radio was full of hysteria about banks of dirt and water rushing down the gulches and engulfing anyone who didn’t sandbag their homes. I didn’t believe it, so I walked my streets, noting carefully the tilts and directions of downhill on all nearby streets in relation to the Front, and realised that luckily where I am it won’t flood. 15th St might get a deluge, part of which might run west along side streets that are below my street. Meanwhile, that last time my son sandbagged the basement vents and now they are stopped up by disintegrating sandbags & sand, and I’m too old to get it out.
If you live in the Northend, walk your streets and check out the tilt directions in relation to the gulches. You might not need flood insurance, or sandbags.

When I lived just off Hill Road and Catalpa a number of years ago, my lender wanted me to carry flood insurance just in case loads of water might come thundering down from the hills behind Hillside Junior High. I called a surveyor friend of mine. He came over and determined that our property was enough above grade that flooding was not a problem. No flood insurance needed, but out the cost of a case of beer. 🙂

I agree with Jo. If your house is in a hollow or at the end of a long slope from a drainage from the foothills you should have sandbags available. Your mortgage company should have advised you if you need flood insurance but you should also check with your title insurance company to see what kind of flood plain you may be in. These flood plains do change from time to time, usually due to building upstream. (Thanks you guys for building upstream and thanks to Planning and Zoning for allowing it.)

I don’t understand why the public should provide a homeowner with sandbags. Should we also provide windows to keep the rain out when the water is trying to enter a residence at chest level?

My family lives on the bench precisely because the north end is a flood plain. We understand that it floods in those sorts of areas, so we didn’t buy down there.

Also, if it has flooded three times in the past, then where are the sandbags from those times? Did the sand go bad? Can sandbags only be used once? I don’t know, simply because it doesn’t flood up here, so I have no sandbag experience.

Birds of a feather….
Where did the folks in Eagle, living (like idiots) on the flood plane next to the Boise River get their sand bags last spring? People choose to live where they do for various reasons. Buck up and get your own bags, fill them with sand – or go to Zamzows and pay for them.
I don’t choose to pay for your poor choice in where you put your house or family. buck up…i’m not your mom.

Before everyone unloads on Mike remember he was responding to a brochure from the county telling him to BE PREPARED. Instead of buying GOVERNMENT flood insurance and just sitting by idly waiting to collect, he was attempting to be proactive.

I think the G-Man was trying to show that sandbags would be issued to anyone, but only “in the event of flood,” not earlier as a prophylactic. (a preventative measure for you non-library types)

Yeah, why should the city and/or county help with sandbags?
Well, for one thing, our officials are good at sandbagging.
For another, while I agree that folks who build or buy houses on an island or right on the river bank probably oughta be washed away, lots of places now are subject to flooding that wouldn’t be if the city and county hadn’t permitted lots of changes in the foothills and elsewhere that changed the flow.

As for homeowners being entirely responsible for their own safety — well, I’m kinda glad various cities, counties etc. have fire departments, police officers, HAZMAT teams etc. that will help people protect themselves and their homes.

Heck, if the — er, whoever our expected invaders are, now that the USSR is kaput — invade us, I reckon I’d be glad we have an Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, National Guard, Air National Guard, the various Reserves, etc., to turn the flood of baddies before they get to my house — and yours.

Water floods, wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes and whatever can threaten anyone, and it’s not too surprising that even those of us who feel we should protect our own homes and families are mighty glad to have the help of these various government services when the danger gets close to home.
Oh, and we do pay for them, you know, whether we use them or not.