![]() If time permits, run a seal of silicone around all the edges. For a more permanent solution screw plastic secondary glazing runners either side of your external door frame cut a piece of marine ply to size and drop it in.For extra protection tape a polythene sheet over your external doors and weight this down with plastic shopping bags filled earth from your garden.Fit waterproof tape, which sticks to damp surfaces and tape-up the cracks around and under your external doors to just under a metre (available from most hardware or DIY stores).The following list of inexpensive practical steps that can be taken will give more time to move your belongings and may reduce the impact a flood will have: So, what can be done cheaply to reduce the horrible damage a flood can do to a home? They failed in only 59 seconds - less than a minute! I then built a barrier of ten sandbags, which failed in 2 minutes 5 seconds! ![]() I evaluated four sandbags in an accredited British Standard Institute testing tank (four being the amount households typically receive from a local authority). My young children lost theirs and it really added to the upset my family experienced.īan the Sandbag! Sadly, the usual ‘go to’ for flood protection, the humble and inefficient sandbags just don’t work. Also, get your children involved, as the last thing they want is to lose their precious toys. Planning in advance is essential: consider what you would do when that warning arrives, where you’ll move your belongings to, what needs to be switched off. Perhaps friendly volunteers can also support others to do that too. You can then receive a call on the landline, mobile phone, text, and email when the Environment Agency issue a flood warning or alert - it's easy to do online at or call Floodline on 03. Signing up for a FREE Environment Agency flood warning is so important. Preparing for a flood is essential: it can make a huge difference to damage reduction. So, when a Flood Warning does come, help can immediately be targeted to those most in need. Over the years, I have encouraged the development of ‘flood buddies,’ which involves people who are not located in a flood risk area, pairing up to support vulnerable people who are. We, as communities, know where most vulnerable people are it’s now time to build on that and make it a lasting legacy - a positive out of a negative. Many informal groups were set up on Facebook and indeed, when a flood occurs, similar groups are formed. ![]() When we went into the first Covid-19 lockdown, communities immediately rallied round to support those most vulnerable. Until grants for individual Property Flood Resilience become widely available (and with the rising threat that flooding poses, I sincerely hope it does), what can be done to reduce the awful impact a flood can have? ![]() If people are unable to afford flood insurance, they will most definitely be unable to buy Property Flood Resilience Products, and therefore face a life living in fear of 'flood poverty'. Will the socially vulnerable, such as those living on limited income whose financial outgoings have recently increased, be abandoned to cope alone? I am a passionate advocate for Property Flood Resilience – which essentially means taking steps to reduce the impact a flood can have at a property level using a variety of measures and methods – but, what if those who find themselves at risk just cannot afford to take those steps? Those who live in ‘flood poverty.’ I make no apologies for focusing on what I consider to be the centre of that jigsaw our homes and our businesses, which are on the receiving end of the floodwater. With the extreme rainfall we have been experiencing in recent years, pieces of that jigsaw have been overtopped, overwhelmed, compromised, and saturated. I look on Flood Risk Management as a jigsaw of many pieces, all working together to reduce flood risk. According to the Environment Agency winter rainfall is set to increase by a staggering 59% by 2050. Here I discuss the impact that the cost of living crisis may have for those at risk of flooding, and provide some inexpensive, practical steps that may help those living in fear of 'flood poverty':Ĭlimate change promises to bring more frequent and extreme weather and of course more floods. ![]()
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