April 25th - Climate Rally on National Mall - Washington DC

http://www.earthday.org/climaterally

For the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day in the United States as well as to put pressure on congress to pass a comprehensive climate bill, the Earth Day Network is planning a Rally in the Mall of Washington DC.

"It is time to stop protecting polluters and enact comprehensive climate legislation that will create American jobs, cap carbon emissions and secure our nation’s future."

A concert will be held and speeches will be made on the National Mall to demonstrate the continuing need for the American government to pay attention to the state of the county's environment.

According to the Earthday.org site the main focus is to apply pressure in hopes of having a bill passed to focus on emissions, green jobs, and the accountability of polluters here in the United States. Free buses will also be provided from a select list of major cities for those who want to join in the march.

FEMA in Rhode Island - Getting help for homes and basements

Life goes on in Isolated Neighborhood

FEMA recently arrived in Rhode Island to survey the worst flood damage to the state in over 100 years. A mobile support unit has been set up in Warwick, RI to help homeowners cope and apply for disaster relief funding.

http://www.floodrecovery.ri.gov/

A site was constructed by the local government to give you access to all the information about flood recovery in the state. This includes where the mobile stations are in Westerly, Cranston, and Westerly, but also how to help, how to get help, apply for assistance, and contact numbers. A link on the page Apply for FEMA Assistance (http://www.fema.gov/assistance/index.shtm) can help you get started on how to do the paper work, where to send it, what to include, and even help answer questions about if you qualify for assistance.

Good news for people with flooded basements

According to the official FEMA declaration, 4 out of the 5 counties in Rhode Island are covered under the declaration. All of these counties are eligible for disaster assistance (Newport, Washington, Kent, and Providence - See map in link for detailed area)

http://www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=12569

In a local news report FEMA also has a unit that is inspecting basements one by one. This is for completing a visual inspection and report on your property, but it’s also for getting your home and basement in the cue for funds to help install protective measures to keep it from happening again. Rhode Islanders are urged to Register for Disaster Assistance

*UPDATE* 4/8/10:
Bristol County is now included in the RI map on FEMA's site. Now all five counties can apply. 

Massachusetts is slightly different http://www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=12571 
The western 4 counties and the East most counties currently aren't on the map.  

Related Reading and Links

Local Gov Site for the town of Warwick RI : http://www.warwickri.gov/
Image used from www.turnto10.com 

Read about the Top 6 Basement Mistakes that contractors and homeowners make.

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RI and MA in Flood Emergencies - Thank you for your Patience

 

Thank you for your Patience.

Due to a high volume of calls because of the current emergency situations in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Pioneer Basement have not been able to call back everyone who has called for ether a service question or to schedule an estimate.We do plan on contacting you and helping you with your situation!

We appreciate your time and patience in this time of crisis. We will be able to eventually get to everyone.

If you can’t get through, please email : info@pioneerbasement.com

Again, we are trying to take care of every single situation that comes in. We thank you for your patience.  

Related Reading and Links

Read about the Top 6 Basement Mistakes that contractors and homeowners make.

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Basement Terms: Battery Backup Sump pump – what it is, what it does, and why so many people are confused.

Over this past week I must have fielded somewhere close to 1000 phone calls dealing with people’s flooding issues in places like Milton, MA; Warwick, RI; and Newton, MA. One of the questions that I’ve gotten from many, oddly enough, is what’s the point of having a battery back up sump pump installed in the first place.

2^nd pump to help with volume.

First and for most, it’s a separate pump. Yes! It’s not just a battery that’s there to be hooked up; it’s a completely different pump from a standard sump pump. This means a couple good things for you as a homeowner!

First: It’s designed to back up the pump you have! Even some of the best pumps in flooding situations get overwhelmed with the amount of water they have to pump out of a basement. If the water comes in faster than a pump can pump it, then what’s to stop the water from getting in your basement? That’s where the battery backup can come in handy! It can act as a normal pump to backup the pump that’s installed; helping to handle volumes of water that 1 sump pump would normally fail to move.

Secondly, it can run on both battery power and normal electricity! This is the best of both worlds. You get a second pump to keep you dry when you’re power’s off, but you also get a pump that can operate when the Nor’easters cause the lights to go out in your neighborhood.

Depending on the type of battery backup sump pump you buy you can actually add power to it. The 2400s that Pioneer uses can actually carry up to 3 batteries to give you a combined total of approximately 21 hours of continuous pumping protection.

A Few words of caution:

I) If you’re in an area that’s prone to longer power outages of more than 2-3 days, a generator for your home might still be needed. Yes, a back up pump can help, but it can’t be guaranteed to work in a time frame that exceeds the power of the batteries it’s attached to.

II) A sump pump can’t solve all basement flooding issues. Moisture comes in the basement in a few different ways and a sump pump can only truly protect you against rising water under the slab of your basement floor. They aren’t designed to protect against foundation wall crack leaks, water coming over the foundation of the home, or water coming over the footing/wall joint and into the basement.

III) Size matters: A 1/3 HP pump can only do so much, having a pump that meets the same size as your standard AC pump is a good choice. For places along the shore or in areas that normally get high volumes of water during the rainy season, it’s possible that you’ll want to start with a stronger AC pump all together. Normal sizes for these are 1/3, ½, or Full HP. (1 HP).

Related Reading and Links

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Rhode Island Flood Victims: you might be eligible for faster jobless benefits.

Found this story on Yahoo, posted by Projo.com

http://www.projo.com/news/content/DLT_flood_victims_unemployment_03-19-10_BEHR4_v7.2f3752a.html



Related Reading and Links

Read about the Top 6 Basement Mistakes that contractors and homeowners make.

Ask Jacob A question Directly on Pioneer Basement's Help Forums!