How to Use Sandbags During a Flood

Being prepared for natural disasters such as a flood is important when living in areas prone to natural disasters. In a coastal town where hurricanes are prevalent and cause anything from wind damage to water damage due to a flood, using sandbags is important. This article will give you step-by-step instructions on how to use sandbags during a flood.

Step 1 - Filling the Bags

You will need two people for this step as it is very difficult and time consuming to do it alone. You will need to fill the bags only half full, and when you have hundreds of bags to be filled you can bet that this job will get painful and tiring very quickly. You will only be filling them halfway because they will be easier to form into a wall later when you are stacking the sandbags. You will not need to tie the bags either, again because they will be easier to stack later.

Step 2 - Stacking the Bags

Lay down your first row and lay each bag on top of the previous bags empty sand section.  This will keep the bags from shifting position from simply being stacked upon. Continue this until your first layer is 3 or 4 bags wide. Stack the next row on top in the middle of one set of two rows. Continue this process and continue to the next row. When you are done with that part, you should have a sort of triangle wall going all the way around.  

Step 3 - Reinforcing Your Wall

Place tarp over the wall. It would be ideal if you could place tarp over the entire wall but if not, you can use the clustered bags to fill in the gaps. Every few feet you are going to add a bunch of sand bags; this will serve two purposes:

• It will hold your wall together better when the water begins to rise.
• It will hold the tarp in place.

Tips:

• There are special made shovels used for filling sand bags, if you think that this is going to be a job that you are going to be forced to do alone, get one of those special shovels and save some time and energy.
• Dispose of the used sand after the flood. Water from floods is polluted and can make you sick.
• You can never reinforce your wall too much. If you have extra sand and extra bags, use them. You can also place them as extra barriers on the inside of your doors.
• Natural disasters strike quickly, so being prepared can save your home or even your life. It is a long and hard process but it will save your investment and keep you safe.