Guidance

How to prepare for flooding

Updated 19 December 2023

Flood preparedness

Individuals and communities that are aware of their level of risk are better able to respond to a flood as they are more likely to have prepared a personal flood plan and receive flood warnings 12 hours in advance. This may also support people to be mentally prepared for any expected damage when returning to their home or business following a flood.

Further information on vulnerable groups is available in the overview.

This page focuses on recommendations for individuals, households and communities to support preparedness for flooding. Local authorities and agencies should seek to identify households and areas with higher vulnerability to the impacts of flooding to enable more targeted and tailored interventions, including communications, both in advance of and in response to flooding.

Increasing personal and household preparedness

Members of the public can register to receive Environment Agency free flood warnings via GOV.UK. The ability to act on a flood warning nevertheless depends on personal and household-specific capacity to respond as well as the support available in advance of and at the time of the event. Furthermore, the level of action taken may also be dependent on the perception of flood risk and an individual’s ability to cope.

Where implemented, developments such as cell broadcast technology, which enable Category 1 responders to send flood alerts to all mobile phone users within a flood alerting area, may ensure more people receive flood warnings. Text or other mass alert systems should be accompanied by advice on how to prepare for and respond to a flood and sources of practical support.

Strengthening communication of flood risk

To support flood preparedness, local authorities should ensure they have an updated communication plan to communicate flood risk to the public – socially vulnerable communities may need targeted messaging and support to increase uptake and capacity to act on receipt of a flood warning.

Category 1 responders should ensure that any mass alerting systems used are accompanied by advice on how to prepare and respond, and sources of practical support.

In particular, agencies sending mass alerts should consider the needs of people with one or more of the risk factors.

The public should be encouraged to take the following actions if living in a flood risk area:

• register for flood warning with the Flood Warning Information Service
• people in vulnerable groups, including adults of pensionable age and people living with long-term conditions or disability, should be advised to register for the Priority Service Register to receive priority support to reinstate energy supply if disrupted
• create a personal flood plan which should include steps to keep valuable and sentimental items safe from floodwater; how they can limit the amount of water that may come into the home; details of insurance and arrangements for evacuation and for pets if they have any
• engage with local flood wardens or resilience groups to develop or maintain understanding of personal and household risk

Increasing household insurance coverage

Local authorities and housing associations who are responsible for the repair of the structure of buildings they own should ensure that, whether self-insuring or insuring through the market, adequate funds will be available to cover flood repair costs.

Landlords should also encourage tenants to take out contents insurance or, at a minimum, have a personal flood plan that includes a plan to protect personal possessions.

Community engagement should include addressing the barriers that people face when taking up buildings and/or contents insurance.

Residents should review options for flood insurance, including flood protection schemes. Policies from some insurers will allow claims to include an amount for resilient repair (Build Back Better) over and above the cost for like-for-like reinstatement of actual flood damage.

The government has worked with the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA), and Flood Re to set up a new flood insurance directory which insurers and brokers can signpost customers to when they cannot offer flood cover. Customers should be made aware that this service may help them.

The built and natural environment

The local geography, including the location of and proximity to watercourses, waterbodies and the sea, and the physical arrangement of homes, other buildings, streets, parks and agricultural land, can be factors contributing to people’s risk of experiencing flooding. For example, homes built on flood plains are at greater risk, and basement flats may be more at risk than other flats within the same building.

Actions to reduce the risk of flooding, and its consequential effects on mental health, include building new developments in areas at lower risk of flooding. To reduce the risks to existing households in areas of flood risk, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) should be considered.

Examples of SuDS include increasing green spaces, removing paving for natural drainage, or introducing small-scale SuDS interventions such as green roofs or rain gardens. These actions can contribute to co-benefits of improved mental wellbeing associated with green space, air and water quality, and increased biodiversity, as well as drainage.

In the response phase, the built environment plays a role in providing physical spaces for refuge and to offer practical and psychosocial support to affected individuals.

Structural adaptations to properties

Supporting property flood resilience

Property flood resilience (PFR) gives homes and businesses the tools to manage the impact that flooding has on their property and their lives. PFR is achieved by using a combination of measures that reduce the level of damage from floodwater.

PFR embodies 2 concepts:

• resistance (keeping water out)
• recoverability (adapting the property to reduce damage from water entry)

Although not the main subject of this guide, prevention of flood water entering a property and minimising the damage to homes is the primary method of prevention of much of the burden of mental ill health.

Flood resistance

Household resistance is designed to reduce most flood water from getting into a home or business. Resistance measures that can be installed to keep the water out include flood doors, barriers, gates and walls.

It should be recognised that some resistance measures may require active interventions by the householder during an event such as the installation of a barrier. These measures are generally only effective where flood depths are less than one metre, keeping out floodwater above this depth may impact on the structural integrity of the property.

Consideration should be given to people, including those with limited physical mobility, who may not be able to deploy measures such as flood gates in an emergency situation.

Flood recoverability

Flood recoverability measures are generally passive in nature. There are measures that can be retrofitted to a home, for example installing hard wood or tiled floors at ground level or raising electrical circuits that are close to the ground.

While it is acknowledged that flood water may enter a property, flood recoverability measures help the speed of the recovery and subsequently reduce the financial burden of flooding, as well as potential adverse health effects. However, recoverability measures may be more effective in certain types of properties; where it is not possible to fit or operate resistance measures easily, their effectiveness is less clear.

Suggestions for flood protection

Planning authorities and agencies responsible for flood defences should work together to integrate spatial planning and flood risk management measures with long-term development plans.

Resilient repair (Build Back Better) is now an element of some home insurance policies. Householders should be advised to contact their insurer or Flood Re for more information on this.

Supporting community resilience building

Community resilience and social cohesion are recognised protective factors against some of the mental health consequences of flooding. Community action can be fostered as part of preparedness for action as well as in the aftermath of flooding.

Understanding risks for communities

Based on what is known about risk factors for mental health impacts of flooding, community level risk factors include the proportion of the population who are older adults, the level of deprivation, population health indicators, and the proportion of the population who speak English as a second language.

Communities with a greater number of risk factors may have greater vulnerability to flooding in terms of their capacity to prepare for and engage with flood preparedness interventions and to respond to and recover from flooding incidents.

Other communities whose residents are at greater risk of distress and other psychological impacts are those that have experienced repeated flood events. Repeated exposure to flooding may have a greater impact over time if adequate flood protection measures are not undertaken to prevent further floods.

It is important to take a long-term and holistic view of capacity building for community flood resilience. Though one-off engagement events play a role in raising awareness of floods, they may not have a long-term impact. Engagement activities should therefore consider what impact they will have on the wider community, preparedness, and the ability to manage flood risk.

A sense of control and ownership is important in preparedness and recovery and people will feel more positive about processes they are involved with. Such involvement should consider the various communication and engagement needs of different groups, accepting that people who are more visible are not always those with the greatest need.

Resilience to mental health impacts can be developed by increasing the levels of resilience in a community. This can be by supporting community level networks, such as Community Flood Action Groups, and providing information and resources suited to the needs and skills of social support groups and volunteer structures, thereby helping to minimise the wider impacts of flooding on individuals and communities.

Building community resilience can also reduce the impact of the risk factors described above. A vulnerable individual or community can be resilient to the impacts of flooding if, for example, adequate protection measures are implemented, and there is an effective early warning system in place, and where response and recovery services are able to minimise the risk of physical trauma and mental distress. It is likely that some areas may have greater vulnerability and will need more intensive support to build resilience than other areas.

Having a sense of identification with other members of the community and a commitment to shared values can contribute to better mental health outcomes by reducing isolation, self-reliance and perceived inequities. Social support can also contribute to the reduction of distress levels and other psychological impacts of floods. While community action needs to be community-led, supporting these groups is a vital part of the public health response to emergencies, including floods.

Social connections, participation, trust and mutual aid can benefit public mental health and wellbeing irrespective of flood exposure.

Suggestions for community resilience building

In the preparation, response and recovery phases, responders should identify communities at greater risk from exposure to flooding and to the mental health impacts. Local resilience forums and lead local flood authorities should, where appropriate to their duties, engage with a range of community associations. For example, faith groups or leaders of community initiatives can distribute important messages and scale up or adapt support that is already available.

Responders should also involve suitably trained and qualified voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE) in flood planning, and scenario-based exercises, in order to ensure effective coordination in the response stage.

In flood vulnerable areas, particularly those with socially vulnerable people, community action and social cohesion can be strengthened by:

• formal community engagement regarding flood awareness and resilience
• institutional support for community flood action groups
• embedding flood resilience into existing programmes that are not primarily flood-related

Embedding flood resilience into existing programmes may be the most suitable approach in communities whose members have limited capacity to engage with flood preparedness. An evaluation of past community flood resilience initiatives found that interventions that are led by community priorities may result in more effective flood resilience in the long term.

There are a number of tools available to support this, including UK Community Resilience Development Framework, a reference tool for local resilience forums (LRFs).

This framework sets out roles and responsibilities, together with the following 6 steps for strategic action:

1. Identify the community networks, their characteristics, the risks, and prioritise support.
2. Align responder and community networks’ understanding of risk and capabilities.
3. Enable resilient behaviours.
4. Enable community-led social action.
5. Partner with voluntary capabilities.
6. Review community preparedness and impact of activities.

A list of available resources to support community engagement and resilience building is included in How to respond to flooding.

Further advice on flood protection 

Preparing for a flood

There is a guide available detailing the simple steps that can be taken before a flood to protect wellbeing. For example, preparing a grab bag that includes medications and insurance documents and creating a personal flood plan.

A plan should include steps to keep sentimental items safe from floodwater, how to limit the amount of water that may impact a home, details of insurance and arrangements for pets if required.

Advice for creating a personal flood plan and how to prepare a home in case there is a flood is available on GOV.UK.

Public warning

The advice below is aimed at the public and should be delivered at the appropriate time point in advance of or when recovering from a flood.

Sign up for warnings

Think about flooding before it happens. Sign up for free flood warnings and if flooding has been forecast where you live, monitor local news via radio, television and online for updates. Your local authority or the Environment Agency can tell you about the risks of flooding where you live.

Alerts and general flooding advice are provided by the Environment Agency. Floodline alerts for your area can be sent via phone, email or text message – you can sign up for flood warnings on GOV.UK or by calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188.

Ground and surface water flood risk

In England, lead local flood authorities (LLFAs) are responsible for managing flood risk from ground and surface water at a local level, and can direct you to who is responsible in your local area. You can also check your flood risk based on your postcode.

Household flood protection

There are a number of organisations that can help householders to find out more about flood defence technology such as the National Flood Forum, through their Blue Pages guide and the Flood Protection Association.

Insurance

Not having household insurance, or dealing with insurance processes after a flood, can be stressful.

‘Flood Re’ is a joint initiative between the government and insurers which aims to make the flood cover part of household insurance policies more affordable. Additionally, it is encouraged for residents to check whether they have adequate insurance cover for floods. Those who perhaps cannot afford full cover are urged to check the level of insurance cover they possess.

Further information about how to prepare and keep your home safe in a flood is available on GOV.UK.

Responding to flooding

How to respond to flooding.

Recovering from flooding

How to recover from flooding.