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GARY L. SMITH executive vice president

I wAS CONSIDEzuNG a home improveI ment some time ago; considering it. but not doing anything about it. Home improvements around my house take a lot of tttoughtjust ask my wife.

My problem is a poorly drained back yard. When it rains heavily the water builds up, forms a small lake and begins to leak into a screened porch addition. I needed to install some perforated pipe to drain excess water away. The very wet winter we all experienced caught me with my procrastinations down again and I was bemoaning the Smith family swamp for the umpt€enth time when the worst ofthe floods hit Northern California. Suddenly, seeing footage ofhouses underwater and people living in gymnasiums, having lost virtually everything, my problems didn't seem so large any more.

This column isn't about counting your blessings, though. I hope to bring it even a bit closer to home than that. Within the next few days I learned hov seriously a lumber yard can be affected in a flood. Two LMA members, both past presidents, have first-hand knowledge.

When Bob Patterson of Central Valley Builders Supply established his new yard in Napa, local offrcials required the installation of a special fence on flotation devices to contain his inventory during a flood. They apparently worked adequately, but couldn't keep the 18 inches of water and mud out of the store. When the dam broke near Marysville, Ca., location ofJim Leonard's SBS, Inc., the result in the building was the same. Thke a moment to picture this in your own facility. If it makes your stomach rumble a bit, I have a suggestion for you'

Tirke a look at your location and ask yourself if it could ever conceivably be flooded. If the answer is yes, don't cop out by shopping for flood insurance. The only locations that can get flood insurance are those that absolutely don't need it. Instead, consider a home center improvement. Thke a look at what you can do to protect your store if too much water ever gets into your yard. Ifyou need a suggestron, give Roy Parsons of San Luis Mill in San Luis Obispo a call and ask him about his system of "flood gates" which he installs over the bottom portions of his doors when high water is expected. These, too, were required by local government when their new store was built, but Roy says they've been tested and they work. Sometimes, the bureaucrats even get lucky.

Whatever you do, look into what may be some fairly simple precautions to prevent what can be very serious, expensive losses in a flood. It may just save you from cleaning up the mess of a lifetime.

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