Flooding Advice Environment Agency

Useful flooding advice from the Environment Agency

• Keep a list of useful numbers to hand e.g.: your local council, the emergency services, your insurance company and Floodline - 0845 988 1188.
• Have a few sandbags or floorboards prepared to block doorways and air bricks.
• Make up a Flood Kit, including a torch, blankets, waterproof clothing, wellingtons, a portable radio, first aid kit, rubber gloves and key personal documents. Keep it upstairs, if possible.
• Talk about possible flooding with your family or those you live with. Consider writing a Flood Plan, and store these notes with your Flood Kit.
• Make sure you know where to turn off your gas and electricity.
• What about your pets? Where will you move them to if a flood is on the way?
• Think about your car. Where could you move it to in the event of a Flood Warning?
• Get into the habit of storing valuable or sentimental personal belongings upstairs or in a high place downstairs.
• Think about medication. In the event of a flood, you will still need to take it.
• The Environment Agency publish advice on their website. Opens in a new window
• Additional Environment Agency advice Opens in a new window
• Current Flood Warnings in force Opens in a new window
• Floodline 0845 9881188
• Prepare for Flooding before and after Opens in a new window

Remember, you can call Floodline on 0845 988 1188 any time night or day for real-time flood warnings and advice.

Gas, electricity and water

• Turn off gas, electricity and water supplies at the mains.
• Unplug all electrical items and store upstairs or as high up as possible
• Put plugs into sinks and weigh them down with something heavy
• Reduce flood water getting into your home
• Silicone sealant - open doors and windows, smear a layer of this around the frame, then shut and lock the door/window.
• Ideally, cover doors, windows and airbricks with plywood, sandbags or metal sheeting. Download our guide, below, for detailed instructions

Furniture and appliances

• Move as much furniture and electrical items as you can upstairs. Alternatively raise them up on bricks or blocks - this may be very helpful for large appliances such as fridge/freezers
• Move furniture away from walls, as this helps when drying your property later
• If you can, roll up carpets and rugs and put them upstairs
• If there is no time to remove curtains, hang them up over the rail so they are kept above flood water
• Leave internal doors open, or ideally, remove them and store them upstairs

Personal Items

• You cannot replace sentimental items. Think about permanently moving these upstairs, so you do not forget to move them in the case of a flood
• Keep important personal documents in a sealed bag, and in a location safe from floodwater
  Outside the house
• Move anything not fixed down into a safer location, e.g. dustbins, garden chemicals car oil and similar
• Move your car to higher ground to avoid damage
• Weigh down manhole covers outside the house to prevent them floating away and leaving a hazardous hole

Am I at risk of Flooding?

• Use a Flood Map Opens in a new window to find the likelihood of flooding in your area. You can also check current flood warnings in force Opens in a new window from here and find more details on how flooding could affect your home insurance.