We’ve heard the term, “Christmas in July”…but what about “Sandbags in July”. For the most part, flooding and storms might make you conjure up the image of winter or spring. But, for many areas in the U.S. summer brings with it summer storms that cause streams to turn into rivers and spill into neighbourhoods or crops.

It’s not uncommon to see things like:

• In Vanderburgh County , Indiana , the Ohio River is close to cresting it’s levee due to above-average rainfall. Local farmers are trying to save their crops by sandbagging the levee. If the water was to crest the levee and enter their crops, it could mean hundreds of millions of dollars lost.
• In Phoenix , Arizona residents are being given 10 sandbags per household from County Administration , to prepare for upcoming flooding.
• In Morgan County, Illinois sand bag walls have been built as the Illinois River was at a record breaking level. Earlier in July, some residents were evacuated from their homes and roads were flooded.
• In Sparks , Nevada , the city is offering a free sandbag filling station for its residents to prepare for flash flooding.

Monsoons, or rainy seasons, happen when the wind shifts from blowing from land to sea, to the opposite, from sea to land bringing moist air over normally dry environments. This happens from mid-June through the end of September. Hurricane season also happens during the months June through November. This year’s season already has 11 storms brewing which is a record breaker.

Don’t be caught unprepared any time of the year. A small investment in sandbags now could save you thousands of dollars in the future. Buying sandbags is as easy as logging on to a website and placing an order. Some companies, like The Sandbag Store even offer free shipping.

I guess we now know that “Sandbags in July” makes a whole lot of sense!