When they hit the UK, floods can cause devastating damage to homes and possessions, so if your home is in a medium or high flood risk area, it is important that you take measures to keep you, and your possessions, safe. Check out our top tips to minimise flood damage and protect your property if your home is at risk of flooding.
Stay Informed
There is no use panicking, but it is a good idea to stay informed. Keep an eye on weather reports and the Environment Agency’s flood warning page to see if you need to take measures to protect your property.
Protect Your Home
If you know you are at risk of flooding, make sure you have sandbags that you can use to protect your home. By placing sandbags at your doors, you can reduce the flood risk. If a flood breaches your external doors, additional sandbags at porch and other interior doors can prevent further damage.
Move Valuables
Although most items can be replaced, some things, such as items of sentimental value, books and photos can’t. If you are in a severe flood risk area, or live in a property that is prone to flooding, move irreplaceable items or items of high value to the upper floors of your property.
Protect What You Can
It is not viable to move everything you own out of harm’s way, but you can move your most precious items of furniture away from rooms most likely to flood (e.g. lower levels and rooms nearest to external doors). Soft furnishings, such as rugs, can be rolled up and stored on the upper floors or on tables and work surfaces. Curtains can be taken down or looped up over the rails, so that they are not near the floor.
Be Prepared
If the risk of flooding is severe, make sure that you have a list of useful contacts, including your insurance provider and local traders that you can call upon to do emergency repairs. In the event of evacuation, have an overnight bag containing ID, money and any essentials, such as medication, so that you can leave if you need to.
If you are affected by a flood, or if you want to take measures to protect your home against flooding in the long term, Trust a Trader can help. All the traders in our directory have been checked by us to ensure that they are appropriately qualified and insured. Many are approved by major insurance companies to undertake repairs covered by insurance policies, and all our traders are committed to helping people within their local community. We will do our best to help you to find the local trader you are looking for but in the meantime stay warm and, above all, stay safe.