As a digression, I used to live in Shropshire and know of at least a few houses built close to rivers and streams that used to occasionally flood the ground floor. The buildings were set up to take this into account, with tiled floors and sturdy wooden furniture.

In one case I know well the old couple living there used to just chase the flood water out of the house with a running hose to clean it out. They sold the house to a young couple who redecorated the whole house and put carpets and stuffed furnishings on the ground floor. A few years later the whole lot was ruined, they sold and moved out. Apparently their neighbours tried to warn them.