Everything was set up perfectly, but there was one minor miscalculation. As it turns out, the water pressure from the ocean was enough to completely fill the pipe and flood the general surrounding area within mere seconds of opening the connection — not nearly enough time to pull a level to close the floodgate.

What have we learned? Well, for one, keep the floodgate lever one floor up. Ours is now completely submerged, making the prospect of closing the pipe seem hopeless.

Well, I should probably go deal with this emergency.