While some schools have always faced this risk, the need for flood protection has expanded in recent years. With extreme weather events on the rise, the old maps and patterns that helped define flood-risk areas are in many cases out the window.
Allyson Cote is Vice President of sales for Quick Dam, a company providing flood solutions that allow people and institutions, including colleges and universities, to prepare for flood events. Products range from Quick Dam Flood Bags (or “sandless sandbags”) that absorb, contain, and divert flood water away from structures to Flood Gates that seal entryways from flood water.
Cote took time to talk with us about how Quick Dam prepares institutions for potential flooding and why the company has seen more demand for its products in the past year than ever.
PUPN: How have recent weather events changed the way institutions look at flood preparedness?
Allyson: I think we’ve all realized over the past couple of years, especially with atmospheric river flooding on the West Coast and the catastrophic storms that went through the Gulf states and southeast last year, that you can’t predict when or where things are going to happen. You don’t necessarily need to be in a flood plain. You don’t even need to be in a city or town with an antiquated sewer and drainage system. You just need to be in a place that gets rainfall.
PUPN: Has that increased interest in your products?
Allyson: We just had the largest year growth-and revenue-wise that the company has ever had. There has been a real increase in the level of awareness with people saying, ‘We need to be prepared.’ No one wants to be left in the position where one storm coming through might completely change their life and change their existence as they know it. This is especially true with businesses and schools. They are as vulnerable as any residence.
PUPN: What are your biggest products for flooding emergencies?
Allyson: Our outdoor products are geared and engineered towards emergency response. These include Flood Bags, Flood Barriers, and Flood Gates, as well as the Water Force portable roll-out dam. Those are meant for serious outdoor protection where your property is at risk. These are our flagship products. We’ve won a ton of awards for them, and they made us the leader in the market.
When people think of flood protection, the most common thing they identify with is the concept of sandbags. Our goal as a company is to make sure there are alternatives available that are a lot easier to work with, significantly easier to store, and easier to deploy. One pallet of our sandless Flood Bags is the equivalent of 71 pallets of sandbags.
And the best part is, our water-activated barriers have a 10-plus-year shelf life. Let’s say one of your customers is a university in Florida and they want to bring these products into their buildings in case there’s an emergency. Even if they don’t have an emergency for 10 years, the day they do, they’re going to be able to open those boxes and those products are going to deploy exactly the way they would the same day they made the purchase.
PUPN: What are some factors you consider when making recommendations to a college or university looking to add or change flood prevention products and protocols?
Allyson: We offer personalized consultations and actually look at the facility. We’ll use Google Earth and video conferencing with clients to get a lay of the land. We ask a lot of questions: Are they located next to any body of water? Are they located at the bottom of the hill, or is there a hill or incline surrounding the property? How old are their windows and doors? Have you experienced flooding here before, and if so, where? They’re fairly standard questions, but the answers can give us a lot of insight.
With indoor products, making recommendations is a little bit easier because there are common, predictable facility problems we can expect will require solutions.
PUPN: Tell me about your indoor product line.
Allyson: Our indoor products include options that are part of our water-activated line: things like our Water Dams, super-absorbent Mats, Drip Mats, and cellulose Mighty Mats which are great for water, oil, chemicals, fuel, paint, and more. Mighty Mats can be wrung out and reused, as well. Those are quite popular throughout schools and can really be used for anything, from science, chemistry, art, to culinary. They work beautifully to help people make sure their facilities are going to be safe and easy to clean up afterwards.
We’ve been working hard over the past several months to make institutional and university clients aware of one, how our indoor products function for facility maintenance and two, cost less than what they’re currently using. Compared to paper towels or disposable rags, Quick Dam ultimately creates less waste. There’s less going to the landfill, and costs are going to be less at the end of the month when they’re tallying up their disposal spend.
PUPN: What else would you want universities and colleges to know about Quick Dam products?
Allyson: One thing people really like is the fact that what’s inside our products is non-toxic. We know colleges and universities are going to be extremely conscientious of any exposure for their students, so they’re going to be careful when they source supplies. With Quick Dam, the compound inside all our water-activated barriers is non-toxic and inert. It’s completely safe for them to deploy and have around their students, faculty, and visitors, whatever the case may be.
Because they are not hazardous waste, you can dispose of them like anything else. Post use, people will cut the bags open, put the gel in their garden and it will leach the moisture back into your soil and water your lawn at the same time. It’s pretty cool.
