During the deluge
How much does the infrastructure around your house go into your thinking about buying a house? Do you look at the topography to consider how vulnerable your property may be to flood? Are you concerned about buying into a future flood zone? Will flood insurance be available?
I was showing property during the freaky flash flooding in Somerville and Cambridge last Saturday. It was both exhilarating and terrifying to be in the middle of it. The rain had just started when my client and I went into a property on the Watertown/Cambridge line. The home was nice, but the basement was leaking after about 15 minutes of rain.
We had a gap in the schedule, so we went over to Sofra for a bite to eat and a conversation. While there, the sheets of rain pelted the big glass window and we watched cars splashing through 3 or 4 inches of water. We decided to leave early for the next stop, since it would be slow going.
Slow going was the least of it! We had to re-route the trip a number of times because of roads that were flooded. Our first turn-around was at Cushing and Park in Cambridge--thank you to the woman who flagged us away! There was high water on Huron that was easy enough to get around. The flooding was caused by water coming up at manhole covers on Huron Avenue, Beacon Street, and Somerville Avenue. All the roads between Beacon and Somerville Avenue were blocked by flood waters. It’s a little valley there that turned into a little river. After a detour up to Summer Street, we got back to Beacon via Washington Street from Union Square. It was on my way down Washington that I saw the commotion made by a car on Dane Street that was all-but submerged in that valley.
We got to our destination. One end of that street had a deep puddle, the other end was passable. We spent time looking at the property while the rainwater receded. The basement there was dry. It didn’t even have a sump pump.
The stories are out there. What’s yours?
Many people judge a house by the dryness of the basement. Is that the best indicator? How do you rate the infrastructure around your house? Are you happy at the bottom of that hill?
