The good news is you had sandbags to help protect your property. The bad news is you now have used sandbags, and are unsure what to do with them.

After a flood, sandbags can contain hazardous materials, and therefore should not be stored for use at a later date. Flood waters often contain sewage, oil, bacteria or other hazardous materials. With this in mind, disposing of them is the only option.

After a large flood event, local agencies may have special procedures in place for disposing of sandbags. For example, after a large flooding event occurred in Fort Wayne , Indiana last month, the City waived their disposal fee for sandbags, and offered special drop off sites. In addition, they offered their residents a pick up option using their 311 dialing feature.

If you have sandbags to dispose of, contact your local sanitation company and check your local newspapers for information on how to dispose of them.

If there are no special procedures, however, you should instead take them to your local landfill to dispose of them. Make sure to wear gloves when handling used sandbags and to sanitize anything that they come into contact with.

The last thing to do after disposing of your used sandbags is to stock up on more. Don’t be caught in the next flood without anything to protect your property. There was a video recently that went viral that showed someone trying to keep flood waters out of their restaurant using a table placed on it’s side. Needless to say, the water got in.

The convenience of internet shopping has made the purchase of sandbags so easy and companies like The Sandbag Store even offer free shipping. Don’t be caught unprepared!