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My research into flood proofing whitegoods & furniture of the family home & office has been ongoing for several months. (It is now October 07)
From experience I am aware that getting a few essentials up & running again is paramount after a flood.
The fact that you may get a new fridge after it has become flooded means nothing for the weeks you are without one, same goes for a washing machine.
And of course if you happen to want one , then so does everyone else. And like in the Katherine Flood of 1998 you had to wait due to the amount of people doing the same thing and Katherine having its shops all inundated.

So what I have been looking at is some sort of "flood bag" that you can get out of the cupboard in time of "probable flood" and lift/roll your fridge / washing machine / chest freezer into and basically bag it in a dry enclosure ready to take it out when the coast is clear.

What I have settled on (until a better idea comes along) is "pallet bags" which are produced in various lengths. These are plastic bags that are usually pulled down over a pallet of goods.

Are they water proof? Possibly not as they are not made specifically for waterproofing. There may be flaws in the heat sealing process in the gussets, but more often than not the bag should be OK. Double bagging would give better protection, and if it only comes down to $10 well it is a very good investment.

If ever you have tried to lift a fridge with food in it, you will do youself an injury, Most fridges have rollers nowadays and that will make it easy of sorts to get your fridge bagged. But plastic being what it is, I'm sure there will be more damage done getting your fridge into position before you can pull its transparent undies up. Maybe a few extra sheets of black plastic can be laid down to give protection.

The other issue is the fact that fridges float when the water gets high enough. They will also tip over, so it is not a foolproof idea. But in times of minor flooding at your house (minor in this instance means only 2 feet high instead of 8 feet high, even though 2 inches high through the home is a major headache)

The idea of the bag is not to fully bag it, but to give it 6 feet or about 1800mm of protection (and another foot might be better to get the tape from plastic to plastic as tape will have issues sticking to metal that is condensing (in the tropics.))

Nothing is better than extra height & dragging the fridge up stairs. But for many people in Katherine there is not this option so this is your next best preventative measure you can try. Nothing is foolproof, it may leak at 2 cm high, but worth a try nonetheless.

My next step is to get some friends together to cover the costs of a roll or two (freight will probably be the killer) and do some testing of the bags.
Maybe 100um (thickness) is still too thin & the 150 um option will be better. Maybe it will be a total flop, I'll let everyone know.

Then the next step is to buy in bulk and sell at a cost price to residents of Katherine or utilise for of the charity organisations that have funding left over (that a little bird told me) and they need to do something constructive with it that benefits everyone.

Some plastic Pallet makers/suppliers in Australia.
(Overseas they may be a better option with a product called Gaylord liners, which are even on ebay in the USA)

Customer Service Number (08) 8444 9444 579 South Road, Regency Park, South Australia 5010 Telephone: (08) 8268 5344 | Fax: (08) 8347 1288 | Email: sales@polyproducts.com.au   1800 min length X 1245x1245 (chep pallet bag) 50 bags per roll at $ 4.76 plus GST (100um)   25 bags per roll 150um (7.14 + GST)

Contact us on (08) 8240 3422 Email: armstrong@armpack.com.au 1245x1195 x 1850 long 100um standard 25 per roll $105.80 + gst roll ($116)   Geminex in Darwin are also a supplier of this product

Shepherd Industries 113 Frederick St Welland SA 5007   08 83408077   Standard 1245 X 1195 X 1800 long (but can make any length) 100um   Minimum Roll of 25 3.20 per bag + GST ($88.00) These guys seemed keen to make extra length bags and were the best on price and would no doubt be cheaper in further bulk deals

UPDATE

So far it has been a headache !

Trying to organise a freight company to bring a roll from Adelaide to Darwin.

The Manufacturer will drop off to an Adelaide destination , like bus depot of freight Co. etc, but several Freight Co. will not entertain you if you are not a business or have an account. Manufacturer does not want to hang around and sort out paper work (like with bus freight) and it must be organised prior to delivery.

Am in process (next week) of paying the minimum $55 freight for a 22kg roll with NTFS & crossing fingers.

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