How to check if your home is at risk of flooding
The government has launched Flood Action Week and asked people to prepare their homes for the risk of flooding.
The government has warned people to prepare for the risk of their homes being flooded.
The Environment Agency launched Flood Action Week on Monday, which runs until Saturday, a year after the devastating effects of Storm Babet were felt across the country, as well as the flooding in recent weeks.
The Environment Agency said about 5.5 million properties in England are at risk of flooding, and urged people to use their online tool to check if their area is affected.
It comes after a report last week found that planning permission has been granted for more than 7,000 homes in the areas of England which are at the highest risk of flooding.
Caroline Douglass, executive director of flood and coastal risk management for the Environment Agency, said: “Climate change means extreme weather events are happening more frequently, and we have already seen an unusually wet September this year.
“We can’t always predict where the rain will fall or where flooding will occur, but we do know which areas are at risk.
“That is why it is essential we all do our part by checking our flood risk and signing up for flood warnings this Flood Action Week.”
How to check if your home is at risk of flooding
People in England can use a free online service to check the long-term flood risk in their area.
They can go to www.gov.uk/check-long-term-flood-risk to do this, and must then enter their postcode.
The service allows them to find out the long-term flood risk for an area, the possible causes of flooding, how to manage the flood risk, and whether the long-term flood risk is from rivers and the sea, surface water, reservoirs or groundwater.
The tool will offer a yearly chance of flooding from surface water or flash flooding, ranging through four categories from very low through to low, medium and high.
The same rundown is also available for the risk of flooding from rivers and the sea. For the risk of flooding from groundwater and reservoirs, the service will say if this is likely or unlikely.
There are separate flood risk checking services for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
However, the services cannot say how likely it is that an individual property will flood or give details about flood risk from sources such as blocked drains and burst pipes.
How to protect your home from flooding
The Environment Agency advised people to sign up for flood warnings, a free service where they can choose to receive up to date flooding information by phone call, text or email.
It also says people can make a number of changes to their home before a flood happens to reduce the damage.
These include laying tiles instead of carpets; moving electrical sockets higher up walls; fitting non-return valves to stop flood water entering through drains and using flood protection products such as flood doors or self-closing air bricks
It said homeowners should also make sure they know how to turn off their gas, electricity and water supply if they have to leave during a flood.
The water can be turned off at the water stop tap - or stopcock - usually found inside the home where the water supply comes in.
The gas shut-off valve is next to the gas meter and the mains electricity switch is found on the fuse board.
The Met Office advises people to prepare a flood plan, which involves keeping a list of useful contact numbers such as your local council, your insurance company and utility providers.
It also says people should have a flood kit, containing insurance documents, a torch, a first aid kit, any prescription medicines and warm waterproof clothes and blankets.