Be flood aware

Preparing for a flood

Flooding can happen very quickly at any time and in any location. The more prepared you are before a flood, the easier and faster it is to recover after a flood.

Flood CPR

We recommend you follow Flood CPR -

An image showing the CPR of Flood CPR - Check, Plan and Prepare and Register

Check

  • what type of flooding you are at risk from
  • how flood water could get into your home or business
  • ensure you have flood insurance

Plan and prepare

  • create a flood plan - know your exit route or place of safety in case you are trapped in your home from floodwater
  • make a flood kit with your essential items in -
    • bottled water
    • medication
    • important documents
  • install property flood resilience measures

Register

Register for flood warnings to alert you of river or tidal flooding.

Understand flood alerts and flood warnings

Flood alert - Prepare. This sign has an orange border with a black house surrounded by one row of water

Flood alert - Prepare

Flood warning - Act. This sign has a red border with a black house surrounded by two rows of water

Flood warning - Act

Severe Flood warning - Survive. This sign has a red border with a red house surrounded by three rows of water

Severe flood warning - Survive

Living with water has useful information to help prepare your flood plan and flood kit.

A photo of a plastic box, flashlight, a battery-powered radio and batteries, hi visibility jacket, emergency blanket, water-purifying tablets, soap and a first aid kit.

A photo of a plastic box, flashlight, a battery-powered radio and batteries, hi visibility jacket, emergency blanket, water-purifying tablets, soap and a first aid kit.

You can also sign up to MET Office weather warnings. You can see when and where heavy rain is expected to help prepare you for surface water flooding.

You can check river levels, groundwater levels and rainfall records here to help you be better prepared.

General advice for businesses

We recommend you follow the same general advice as above, with the addition of -

  • move your stock to a raise or higher level
  • create a business contingency plan to help your business recover faster

Insurance

When getting home insurance, you should ensure that it covers flood damage.

Flood Re is a joint initiative between the government and insurers. Its aim is to make flood cover part of household insurance policies more affordable.

Accessing help after a flood event can take a long time, especially if lots of people were flooded too. This can mean that there are limited builders or workers to help sort your property out. We strongly recommend you install property flood resilience measures now. This is to prevent you from having a long and difficult recovery after a flood event.