Good save!

Yeah, gotta protect the hardware!

Cardboard boxes suck for long term storage of practically anything, IMHO.

Plastic containers of various sizes are cheap and plentiful where I live .

Mostly, I use shoebox sized ones to store cards in antistatic bags . They go for a 1$ each at the local Home Depot.

That's a close call, but great you saved the old electronics! I use a combination of plastic containers and plastic bags. If it is too big to fit in a container, a plastic bag will have to do. Since the internals aren't exposed I rarely bother to use anti-static bags on anything. Additionally I protect electronics exposed to sunlight with old towels to limit UV-damage.

Good save ! many many years ago lived in a Duplex with a garage, most of my valuable stuff was stored like you, cardboard boxes on the floor.
The neighbor units pipe broke and flooding his and my garage somehow when I was working out of town. Lost a lot of good stuff back then.

I found that the IKEA "Samla" 11 and 22 liter plastic bins are a pretty good size for a lot of computer stuff.
The 11l ones can take standard PC cards standing up, and you can fit a lot of cards in one.
The 11l also fits regular 3.5" HDDS put on the side, you can easily fit 16 drives in one (gets heavy tho =).
The 22l fits most motherboards, 6-8 without any issues.
The 22l is also great for other bulky stuff like coolers.
Ans also they have very sturdy lids that wrap over the box, so any spillage on it will not go inside.
They are also very transparent so you can see whats in them wo any issues.

Oh yes, I live in an apartment and about a decade ago the guy upstairs went off god-knows-where for six months and left the shower head drip-dripping onto the bathroom floor. The water destroyed all of the old books and magazines I had in the cupboard. Fortunately nothing electrical was in there.

(Me and several neighbors got a locksmith to force open his door so we could turn off the water. I never saw him again. I think he did return, but when he saw the mess he immediately returned to wherever it was he had been and never came back. Embarrassment I guess.)

I actually hate long term storing, because I need access to particular part any time.

I always avoid storing stuff on the floor. I disagree on cardboard boxes being bad for long terms storage. Those multi layer boxes industrial equipment comes in are very sturdy, but they only work in dry environment.

I'm using banana boxes made of cardboard. They're storing my stuff for 15 years now.
Plastic boxes as an alternative aren't too bad, I guess. I'm using some, too.
But I'm worried about water/mold from condensation if the air inside is hermetically sealed. So some newspaper must be included.
Also, plastic becomes brittle and it releases gas over time.
The microplastic isn't nice, either. Evety time you touch plastic, small particles come off and stick to your hands, may enter your body.
Some types also simulate Estrogen-A, a female hormone. That's why drinking from plastic bottles isn't ideal, either, I guess.
At least not for men, likely. 😉
Hm. Maybe wooden boxes are an alternative?

kitten.may.cry wrote on 2022-05-25, 06:08:

I actually hate long term storing, because I need access to particular part any time.

I like to have access too, but that tends to leave items in relatively unprotected storage, though at least I'd hopefully know if there was damp or something

It's kiwiboxes for me 😜
Working great and these are sturdy boxes that can be stacked a meter high easily (and I mean literally these boxes can stack as high as a person but just don't bump into them then xD 😂 ).

And indeed, cardboard boxes will only work in a relatively dry (and preferably stable/constant) environment.

Btw, here's some more links to other thread about storing PC parts collections:
How do you store your computer parts?
How do you organise / sort / store all your retro gear?
Lets all share tips of how we organize our collection of retro computer stuff :)
Storing your pc parts.

I'm glad you were able to get all of your stuff out of the room quickly. As a homeowner there's nothing more scary than water being where it shouldn't be. How bad was the damage to the walls and floor of your house?