Precautions you can take ahead of floods
Precautions you can take ahead of floods
- Evaluate your flood risk – find out if your home has ever been flooded, and find out from your local council or state emergency service if you live in a flood-prone area
- Change your landscaping – trees and shrubs planted around your home can help mitigate erosion, slow down fast-flowing water and divert water away from your home
- Draw up a home emergency plan that includes where you and your family will go if you must evacuate your home and how you’ll contact each other if separated
- Keep a list of emergency telephone numbers within easy reach – local or state emergency services, police, ambulance, hospital, gas, and electricity – plus details of local relief centres and evacuation routes
- Put together an “emergency pack” containing tinned food, a tin-opener, water, a first-aid kit, blankets, warm clothing, spare batteries, matches and gloves
- Equip yourself with a battery-powered portable radio and torch so you can stay updated on power restoration and evacuation alerts if the power is cut
- Gather sentimental, important, and valuable items, documents, and photos you can take with you should you need to evacuate – place them in waterproof bags
Precautions you can take as flooding threatens
Precautions you can take as flooding threatens
- Monitor weather forecasts and emergency alerts
- Carry your mobile phone with you
- Secure potentially hazardous items that could move around in floodwaters, such as outdoor furniture and fuel tanks
- Open gates so flood water can flow freely through them
- Move household and electrical items to a higher place
- Place furniture on beds and personal items on furniture
- Roof spaces can be used if they can support the weight of the items placed within
- Remove wood drawers from built-ins, cabinets, and furniture – wood swells when wet
- Switch off utilities: electricity, gas, and water – disconnect electrical appliances
- Empty and leave open fridges and freezers to prevent floatation
- Install a sewage water backstop or place a strong plastic bag full of sand or earth in the toilet bowl and over drainage holes in the bathroom and laundry to prevent sewage from flowing back into your home
- Make sure doors and windows are shut tightly – you can seal doors and windows with plywood, plastic, silicon, or duct tape
- Seal the points around your home where water can get in, such as ventilation holes and basement entry points
- Place heavy-duty plastic around the base of your home on the outside, tape the plastic to the walls, and place sandbags on the plastic
- Don’t drive into floodwater and avoid driving at night
- Don’t swim in floodwater