Keeping the next flood out of the house

No homeowner project makes a Hollywood house flood-proof against a major hurricane — anyone who promises that is overpromising. But most of the water that enters houses here arrives in ordinary heavy-rain events, through a handful of predictable paths. This page is about closing those paths, in rough order of effort for payoff. If you are not sure which neighborhoods flood first, the areas the Hollywood crews cover, from low canal streets to the mainland neighborhoods, are the same streets where this prevention work pays off fastest.

Grade the lot so water walks away

The cheapest flood protection is a slope. Soil and mulch settle over the years, and many older Hollywood lots quietly end up funneling runoff toward the slab instead of away from it. The fix is to rebuild a gentle fall — several inches over the first few feet — from the foundation out toward the swale or street, using fill that is compacted so it stays put. Pay attention to the spots where patios, pool decks and AC pads interrupt the slope; a pool deck pitched a degree toward the house can deliver an impressive volume of water to a sliding door in one storm. After regrading, test with a hose or wait for the next downpour and watch what the water actually does.

Give roof water a longer trip

A roof is a rain collector: a single inch of rain on a modest Hollywood roof is well over a thousand gallons looking for somewhere to go. Gutters that overflow at the eaves dump that water exactly where you least want it — against the foundation. Keep gutters and downspouts clear (palm debris clogs them fast here), size them honestly for Florida downpours rather than national averages, and extend downspouts so they discharge several feet from the house, ideally toward the street swale. Where extensions are impractical, a buried drain line to the swale does the same job invisibly. This is unglamorous maintenance, and it prevents more wall-base flooding than any gadget on this page.

Yard drainage: the middle layer

Between the lot's grading and the street's swale sits a layer many houses are missing: a way for collected water to travel. Where a low side yard ponds against the house every storm, a shallow swale cut along the property line, or a buried French drain — a gravel trench with perforated pipe — can carry that water to the street instead of letting it lean on the foundation for a day. Catch basins under downspout discharge points tie the roof system into the same path. This is shovel-and-wheelbarrow work rather than engineering, but it has one rule that cannot be fudged: the water has to end up somewhere legal and lower, which in practice means your own swale or the street — not the neighbor's yard, which merely relocates the problem and can create a dispute on top of a flood.

Stop the sewer from visiting: backflow protection

Some Hollywood "floods" come up through the floor. When heavy rain infiltrates and surcharges the sanitary sewer, water can push back through the lowest fixtures — floor drains, ground-floor toilets and tubs — carrying the worst category of contamination with it. A backwater (backflow) valve on the home's sewer lateral closes automatically against that reverse flow. It is a plumber's job, it needs occasional inspection to keep the flapper clear, and for houses that have already had one backup, it is usually the single most satisfying fix on this list. Knowing whether your event was street water or a backup matters for cleanup as well — the sources page explains how the three outside routes differ, and a backup is the fourth route, from inside.

Pumps: for the water you cannot grade away

Where groundwater rises through the slab or a low room collects seepage, a sump pit and pump give that water an exit. In Hollywood's high water table, a properly installed sump with a check valve and — critically — battery backup matters most exactly when the power is out, which is when storms do their work. Test the pump before the season by pouring in a bucket of water, and treat the backup battery as a consumable with a replacement date, not a permanent fixture. A pump without power is a bucket with a lid.

Seal the envelope at ankle height

Walk the outside of the house at ground level and look with a flood's eyes: the garage door bottom seal, door thresholds, weep holes that have been caulked shut by a previous owner (they should drain the wall, not admit the street — keep them functional), pipe and conduit penetrations, and cracks where the slab meets the block wall. Removable flood barriers and shields for doors and the garage are a reasonable purchase for low-lying streets, as are old-fashioned sandbags staged in advance. Sealing is the last line, not the first: it buys time and keeps shallow water shallow, but hydrostatic pressure against a sealed wall has limits, which is why the drainage work above it on this page matters more.

Raise what cannot get wet

Finally, move the vulnerable machinery up. Water heaters, washers and electrical panels in garages and utility rooms can often be elevated on stands or platforms above the street's known ponding depth. Outdoor AC units can go on higher pads when they are replaced. Inside, the low shelves of closets and the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet should hold nothing that water would ruin. Combined with the documentation habits in the readiness checklist, a raised-and-photographed house is one that turns a flood from a catastrophe into a cleanup.

None of these projects needs to happen in a single season, and they compound: a graded lot makes gutters more effective, drainage makes sealing a backup instead of a front line, and elevation protects what the first four fail to stop. Pick the path your street's water actually uses — you learned it the last time it rained — and close that one first.

Sources: FEMA home flood protection guidance and Protecting Your Home and Property from Flood Damage; Ready.gov; Broward County flood resources. General information — drainage and sewer work may require permits and licensed trades in the City of Hollywood.