Water

If you think about it, water is pretty amazing.

We were very lucky - our basement only got a TINY amount of water. If the basement had been unfinished, we'd not have even noticed it. But the previous owners installed wall-to-wall Berber carpet with a thick, absorbent carpet pad.

Pampers should really look into the mechanics of a carpet pad. Our tiny little amount of water was instantly disbursed through the entire pad. We had to tear up the entire carpet to remove it.

A tiny amount of water - and our entire day was devoted to removing it. But we got it, and we are now dry.

Other neighbors weren't as lucky. Sewage backed up. Basements flooded with a few feet of water. Yards that look more like ponds. About an hour north of here, entire houses were swept away in the mudslides due to the unintended draining of a lake. Schools are still closed up there.

Water. When we looked for houses, my #1 requirement was water. I didn't want to be more than a block off one of the many lakes we have here in Madison. (Yes, this severely restricted our home search. Affordable homes a block off the lake are not easy to find. But we finally found one.)

I'm still glad to be near the water. But maybe next time, we don't have to invite it over for a basement party.