So the rains have poured a decent amount over sometime. While you remained dry in the comfort of your home, you might not have noticed that one part of your house isn’t as dry as you - the basement. Older and unmaintained homes may have a problem with water getting into the basement leaving it flooded. So now you want to reclaim your basement from floodwater? Here’s how.

Make sure that the floodwater has been clear outside. It is often futile to try to empty your basement of floodwater when there’s still flooding outside. The water might just seep back in.

Before entering a basement, make sure that you have turned off all the utilities running through it. Shut off the main electricity switch. Flood and electric sockets can spell electrocution for you. Turn off the main gas valve too for good measure.

The fastest and easiest way is to use a pump to get the water out. A gas-powered pump is the better bet since hooking up an electric pump to your own system raises the risk of electrocution. Remember that water and electricity shouldn’t mix with people.

It is often recommended that you do things slowly. Depending on the level of the water, you might have to pump out just a foot to a third of the floodwater a day. The reason for this is basically, pumping to aggressively may cause some structural damage on your basement. The heavier wet soil outside may break down your basement walls and cave in. Be sure to space your pumping every 24 hours, marking your progress each day. You might notice a rise from your recent mark, this means that there’s still a lot of water in the surrounding soil. If ever this stops, you can be more aggressive with your pumping and pump out up to three feet of water.

A MacGyver solution is to use plain old physics to do it. No use of pumps, instead, you use physics to do it. However. this would only work if you live atop a hill or there’s an incline nearby. Using a wide hose (garden hoses are too slim and therefore, slow), you can siphon out the floodwater. Fill it with water. Have some to cover one end (with his/her thumb) while you cover the other. Through a basement window, place one end on the standing water, and have one end be carried somewhere downhill somewhere below your basement level. Release your thumbs and watch the siphon do its work.

Make sure to clean up the mess and mop up everything dry. Mold and mildew are most likely to settle in if things are left damp.

To prevent future flooding, you might have to do a complete inspection of your basement. Even something as trivial as as a gap in your basement window frame can cause water (a lot of it) to get in. Sometimes, a faulty sewerage system can cause your flooding. This means asking the local government to do some inspection for you.