Our home is prone to occasional flooding during the rainy season. There was only one time in 26 years where our home was devastated by the flood reaching up to half of the 2nd floor. This destroyed so much of our things such as our car, electronics, furniture, documents, and etc. Other than that, there are a few instances of flooding that reaches only a few inches into the home but it was also rare.
I am considering buying quite an expensive monitor, CPU, and printer but I am thinking that rainy season just arrived and I am afraid they will just get destroyed. The only way I can be reassured I can buy these if I can find some kind of storage solution that if I place my appliances/electronics in them, there is an almost 100% certainty that water will not be able to enter and damage the objects in case it gets submerged (assume the entire thing is submerged for hours to days).
I have looked for flood bags, but all I can see everywhere are either sandbags or sandbag-like fibres that absorb water and create a barrier to prevent water from entering, but these are surely only for mild flooding. If it is on the scale where it will reach the items of value, it will be a massive flood thus a watertight storage solution is the answer.
I have been looking but I cannot seem to find any good solution. I am thinking of something like a garbage bag, but I know garbage bags are not the best choice as they are not watertight despite having several layers of them
Best Answer
While this borders on being a "shopping recommendation" question, I think a "dry box" or "dry bag" is what you're looking for.
These are often used by backpackers, rafters, kayakers, etc. to keep their items dry when out in the wilderness. Obviously, you'll need something larger than those folks will use because they usually don't take large items with them. However, once you're on the right track, you should be able to find a supplier that makes bigger ones.
You may also look at a waterproof travel or shipping case. People who take photographic or other expensive gear need sturdy, waterproof cases to protect the gear, so that's another avenue of research for you.
Finally, while I realize that a "century flood" can happen at any time, if you've only had your 2nd floor flood once in 26 years, it seems that moving the most critical items up to the 2nd floor is going to be your best bet when the waters start to rise. If you have an attic, reserve "emergency storage space" up there and you'll be above the areas you've had flooded while you've been in the house.
While it's a major hassle, your home insurance (especially if you have specified flood insurance) should replace any items destroyed in the flood, so unless the items have sentimental value and can't be replaced, I wouldn't go too overboard.
Finally, I'll reiterate my statement from the comment to be sure to have an offsite backup of any critical (or valuable/irreplaceable) computer data (like family photos/videos). This isn't the place to discuss that (hit up Super User.SE for info on that), but hard drives die, even if they haven't been swimming.