Prepping is about far more than preparing for that once in a hundred-year cataclysm – it’s about natural disasters and emergencies that, in a country like the UK, may happen with almost predictable regularity.
Flooding is one such natural disaster. In fact, the Met Office has cited studies suggesting that climate change has made the risk of flooding in England and Wales at least 20% and even as much as 90% more likely than in the past.
Preparing for floods
If you want to prepare for floods, here are some of the steps likely to be involved:
- calculating the risk is one of the essential steps in preparing for any – natural or manmade – emergency or crisis and knowing your risk of flooding is made all the easier by the government’s flood warning information service;
- you can also sign up for their flood warning service, which gives you advance notice – by phone, email, or text message – of one of the rising levels of flood warning;
- start to develop your flood plans – separate plans for you and your family, your business if you have one, and coordinate these with any current community plan (and if none yet exists, think about getting together to make one);
- the flood warning service handily publishes templates you can use for drafting these plans;
- it is also the time to prepare your emergency kit – the British Red Cross suggests you put together three kits with one for the home, one when you’re on the move, and one to keep in the car;
Flood alert – prepare
- this is the first of the levels of warning issued by the flood warning service;
- you are advised to listen out for further warnings while you prepare a bag containing any medicines on which you or your family depend, together with any documents you might need (your home insurance documents, for example);
- check that you know exactly where to find the emergency kits you prepared earlier for the home, on the move, and the car;
Flood warning – act
- if you receive the second level of the government’s flood warnings, it is time to start taking action;
- that means turning off essential services such as the gas, electricity, and water – and why your initial planning and preparation needed to have covered off alternative sources of heat, light, and above all drinking water;
- it is important to turn off the electric because there is a severe danger of electrocution as the floodwaters rise;
- your prepping stores need to have included at least several crates of bottled drinking water – each person will need a minimum of 2 litres a day and more if the weather is hot or you need to exert yourself;
- put a filled sandbag in any toilet bowls to prevent a backflow of sewage;
- if flood levels continue to rise, move furniture and appliances upstairs for safekeeping and, if there is any risk to life and limb, move family members and pets to places of safety;
Severe flood warning – survive
- the highest flood warning comes with the dire advice of doing whatever it takes to survive;
- it means keeping you and your family safe from immediate physical harm, calling 999 if faced with immediate danger, and following any advice given by the emergency services.
It looks almost certain that more areas of England and Wales will suffer more frequent and more severe flooding in the years ahead. In that case, you might be well advised to prepare for floods in and around your home.
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