Hello and long time no post!

I'm busy with a project this month, but at the start of May I plan to completely redo our basement storage cage before potential flood season starts. We live in an apartment building on a flood plain, roughly 200 meters from the Bow river. We are on the 3rd floor and look towards the river. Our basement storage cage is roughly 4' wide, 12' long & 8' high with fencing wire between the cages.

As you may recall, the 2013 flooding in Alberta was one of Canada's more costly disasters. A storm system essentially sat on top of our area and dumped heavy rains for days, combined with warm weather with snow still on the ground. While I expect our apartment's transformer is now waterproofed from the bottom so our pumps won't get knocked out again, if by chance we get a system much worse than this (or further up river), I figure there's only so much pumps can do.

Presently everything except the off-season wheels are up on a layer of milk crates. On top of these spacers my wife & I's items are in about a dozen+ milk crates, sorted by category. There is also a standing metal shelving unit. Most expensive items include a chainsaw & guitar and could be removed quickly if there's warning.

My plan (until you improve it ) is to source out a batch of roughly 1'wide, 1.5'high, 2.5' long clear plastic bins with lids. The size is so my wife can manage their filled weight. I'd then empty the cage (purging as I go), detail & photograph all items to be added to a spreadsheet, and load items by category into each bin. Each bin's contents would be packed into one clear garbage bag, tied shut, and then again into another. I don't expect to find bins that are both affordable with anything resembling waterproof lids, thus the clear bags. Content lists would be attached to each bin on the inside.

As the project progresses, I'd burn CD's containing the spreadsheet & pictures, and include a copy in my evacuation bag. I don't think our insurance covers overland flooding, but it would greatly reduce stress to know exactly what is there.

If such water came in to cause basement flooding, the parking lot would be at risk too. The only exit means going where more water will be. Last year I went through at least 1.5’ of water, but a typical car wouldn’t be safe to have tried. If we get worse flooding, vehicles would have to be removed before this state. This means the morning we wake up to a lake, anything we want to carry we must walk with.

What do you think of this, and how might you improve it?

(and after this I suppose I really should finish my upgraded solar oven...just need to match the lid to the base!)

Thanks!