Guidance

How to respond to flooding

Updated 19 December 2023

Flood response

Flood alerts are generally issued between 2 hours to 2 days in advance of flooding. Flood warnings are issued in shorter timeframes, often between half an hour to one day in advance.

In advance of a flood, there is an opportunity to engage the voluntary and community sector (VCSE) as well as neighbourhood networks to raise awareness and prepare to offer support, to help reduce immediate health impacts.

Public communications

At all alert levels, it’s important that public communications reach the affected communities to ensure awareness of the flood location, its potential severity and impacts. Relevant communications should reach the most vulnerable households and their communication needs should be considered.

The VCSE also plays an important role in ensuring public communications reach marginalised communities, through volunteers and community champions.

All organisations that may face business continuity issues should be alerted, with particular consideration of health and care providers and the potential impacts on service provision.

Suggestions for when a flood alert is issued

When a flood alert is issued, residents should be advised to follow the Flood Warning Information Service advice and to:

• sign up for flood warnings (if not done so already)
• keep up to date with flood information provided on GOV.UK
• call floodline on 0345 988 1188 or follow @envagency on X (previously known as Twitter) for the latest flood updates
• have a bag ready with vital items like insurance documents and medications in case they need to leave their home
• check that they know how to turn off gas, electricity and water mains supplies
• plan how they will move family and pets to safety

Local communication channels, including voluntary and community sector organisations, should be engaged to promote important messages about who is at risk, and what actions to take at each alert level.

When a flood warning is issued

Flood warnings are standardised public messages, which may also be protective against mental health effects. Therefore, when a flood warning is issued, individuals need to act as flooding is expected. The official advice is to carry out all the actions outlined for a flood alert, but also to:

• move vehicles to higher ground if it’s safe to do so
• move family and pets to safety
• move important items upstairs or to a safe place in the property, starting with cherished items and valuables, then furniture and furnishings
• turn off gas, electricity and water supplies if it’s safe to do so; never touch an electrical switch if standing in water
• use property protection products such as flood barriers or air brick covers
• keep track of the latest flooding information on GOV.UK

When a severe flood warning is issued

A severe flood warning means there is danger to life: residents must act now. Specifically, they should be advised to:

• call 999 if they are in immediate danger
• follow advice from the emergency services and evacuate if told to do so
• make sure they have an emergency kit including a torch, spare batteries, mobile phone and charger, warm clothes, important numbers like contact details for their home insurance provider, water, food, first aid kit and any medicines and baby care items they may need
• alert neighbours and offer help if it’s safe to do so
• avoid driving or walking through flood water – just 30cm (1 foot) of fast-flowing water could move a car and even shallow-moving water can knock people off their feet
• keep family and pets away from floodwater – it may contain heavy debris, sharp objects, open manhole covers, sewage and chemicals
• wash their hands if they have been in contact with flood water, as it may contain toxic substances

Further resources

The National Flood Forum provides flood-related community engagement advice.

An online module – ‘Community-centred approaches to health improvement’ – is available from e-Learning for Healthcare (e-LfH).

Further information regarding how to get help during a flood is available on GOV.UK.

There are actions that individuals can take to look after their own and others’ wellbeing and mental health during a flood event.

Preparing for flooding

How to prepare for flooding.

Recovering from flooding

How to recover from flooding.