My tragic … yet sorta funny … snow storm accident

By Jason Williams
Williams is a researcher, writer and founder of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon,

Sadly, during the winter blast my pipes froze causing my garage to be flooded and to have part of my house also be flooded where I saw it rain from my ceiling — a truly unreal, terrible sight.

Like you should, I grabbed a shovel and ran to the curb to find the shut-off valve.   I had to dig through the snow to find it, and once I did I desperately shut it off.  But the water remained on at full power!  Now what?  I grabbed my neighbor for help, and he said “Hey, that’s my water valve”.  It turned out that my digging in the snow was one foot too far from my water valve and I accidentally shut-off my neighbors water (photo above).

(photo of broken pipe, plus ice inside)

 

Let my folly be your benefit.

Know where your water valve is.

Maybe put your address on it.

Have that special tool handy that helps turn it off/on.

If your house ever rains inside from a burst freezing pipe, you may wish that you knew these things.  Be safe. 🙂

Speaking of burst-pipes flooding … here is what one business suffered in NE Portland.

Here is another Portland business flooded this week: