Water-Filled Dam Saves Home During Texas Flood

Brazoria County man says people thought he was crazy
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 11, 2016 6:57 AM CDT
Water-Filled Dam Saves Home During Texas Flood
Another Rosharon, Texas home wasn't so lucky.   (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

A Texas man used water to save his Brazoria County home from flooding this week with the help of a product he found online and paid $8,300 for. Randy Wagner tells KHOU that he drove to Louisiana to buy an AquaDam, which two buddies helped him install. The 400 feet of water-filled, 30-inch-high tubes formed a barrier that kept his home dry even when water reached 27 inches. "I was the crazy guy. Everybody was kinda going by, laughing at me. But today they are really impressed," says Wagner, who calls the product "a small investment on a house that could have two feet of water in it and cost me $150,000 in repairs."

Thousands other homes in the county were damaged this week as floodwaters rose and mandatory evacuation orders were issued. Some 100,000 out of 300,000 residents of the coastal county have been affected and authorities worried about water quality are urging people to get tetanus shots, the Houston Chronicle reports. "We are asking people to stay out of the floodwaters. It is unsanitary; it's full of bacteria. A lot of people have septic systems that are being inundated with water and pushing contaminated water through the flood plain," a county emergency management spokeswoman says. (More flooding stories.)

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