Flooding and you
Health
Flooding can cause harm to your physical and mental health. Flood water can become contaminated by -
- chemicals
- animal waste
- or from sewer water
Your physical health may be at risk from contaminated water if it finds its way into your body. Flood water also brings the risk of drowning and other bodily injuries from becoming trapped by objects unseen under the water.
Your mental health could be impacted by the trauma of the flood event itself and then by the recovery, as this can take a long time. It is important to talk to someone as soon as you can and reach out for help. We have produced this guidance on recovering from a flood.
Your home
House price
Sellers of properties must declare any flood events that have impacted the property before a sale can be made. If a property has been flooded previously, it can impact the price a potential buyer will pay. However, if a property has flood resilience measures installed, this will significantly reduce the risk of water entering the property and hence having an impact on the property.
Home insurance
When you buy your home insurance (both buildings and contents), it is important to check that your cover includes damage from flooding if you live in a high-risk area. In Hull, most houses are at high risk of flooding, and this makes it hard to find insurance, or it may result in higher insurance premiums.
FloodRe is a joint initiative between the Government and insurers to make the flood cover part of household insurance policies more affordable. Not all properties are eligible for FloodRe, you can check eligibility here. More information is available on the flood insurance directory.
How to find out if you’re at risk of flooding
You can check the long-term flood risk assessment for locations in England.
The service can provide -
- the probability that a location will flood
- the possible causes of flooding
- where to find advice on managing flood risk
Enter a property number or name and its postcode to see long term flood risk information for that area.
Or view a map showing areas at risk of flooding.
This service covers England only.
How to receive flood warnings
It is not possible to receive a warning for every flood event. The Environment Agency do issue flood warnings for flooding from main rivers, the sea and groundwater. You can check if your address is near an area that they give warnings for and sign up for flood warnings.
If there aren’t any flood alerts currently available for your address, it does not mean you are not at flood risk.
Why you need to be aware of flooding
In Hull, it is likely that your property is at risk from at least one source of flooding. It is also likely that you have already been impacted, either directly or indirectly, from a past flood event, or will experience a flood in your lifetime.
As with any emergency, the more you know about it beforehand, the better you are able to react and recover. The more you can learn about your flood risk now, the less time and money you may need to spend reacting and recovering from a flood.
What to do if there’s a flood
It’s not always possible to be warned about a flood happening. Flooding can happen very quickly in any place so it is important you know what to do in a flood emergency.
Firstly, keep yourself and your family safe, then follow our advice for helpful emergency advice and information.
Owning a watercourse
If you have a watercourse on or near your property, then you may be legally responsible for managing and maintaining it – this includes managing flood risk. You can find out if you own a watercourse and what this means for you here.
Get involved in local flood risk management
There are lots of ways for you to take an active role in managing local flood risk. Keep a look out for public consultations that we hold whenever we are proposing changes, we are always keen to hear feedback from our residents.
Come along to your local community events, we’ll let you know if we’re going to be there too – updates are available on Living with Water and social media pages.