Note that the curving wall is completely submerged, as is the entire garage door.  This is the lake at it's highest point during the flood of '97.   The lake got more than 4 feet higher in 90 and 91....

EVERY house on Cornell Cove except for the house on the corner was submerged!  

YES, there IS a mailbox in the above right picture, dead center - 
the red flag is up, hoping the mailman comes by

Yes the tree above left is the tree above right.

Another comparison:

So, what did it take to move in after the flood?

The water receded, and as soon as the water was off of the foundation we used a squeegee and hoses to wash the concrete walls and floor off.  We actually started while there were several inches of water on the foundation, in order to use the fluid sloshing action to help flush the silt. 

I used a cordless screwdriver to remove the plates over all of the electrical sockets/switches.  We also used a gas-powered power washer to blast a yellow efflorescence off of the concrete block.   This stuff was a leachant from the concrete, and readily washed away.  It could also be brushed off with a broom, then washed with the hose.   purely cosmetic.

Anyway, once the 1/4 inch or so of silt was washed off the foundation, we had to wait 2 days before the electrical coop (Pedernales Coop) city would turn the electricity back on. 

The builder had put some dry wall in the elevator shaft, with my approval, and this stuff was soaked of course.   I pulled out 2 sheets of 4' by 8' drywall, and had it replaced with water-proof concrete board.  That cost a hundred bucks or so, including labor, and will not need replacing in the next flood.

There was several other sheets of drywall forming the ceiling above the flooded area, that had very slight water damage.  Another few inches of flood water and we would have replaced this also with concrete board.   We did repaint it, but I expect it to be replaced with the next flood.

All in all, the house proved to be totally unaffected in a significant way by this flood.   It performed as the architect intended.  It is a flood-proof construction.

Oh yeah, there were a couple of garage windows that got cracked.  I strongly suspect that this damage occurred when a local news crew cruised by the house creating a strong wake.  How do I know?  The lake was closed to normal boat activity during the flood, but those news assholes showed film they took of the house, and footage of them cruising right by the windows, creating a significant wake, on the 10 o'clock news.  Anyway, the windows were double pane, and only one pane was cracked, so I haven't bothered to replace them.