AM I AT RISK OF FLOODING? READ TO FIND OUT
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Over 5.5 million properties in England and Wales are at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea or surface water. That’s one in six, which means there’s a high chance one of these properties is your home or business. So how do floods form? Flooded areas of land usually start off as very dry land. Floods are caused
by heavy rains that pour to much water into rivers and other waterways. Making these natural channels unable to carry all the water. Rising water flows over or breaks the banks to the waterways causing the surrounding land to be flooded. Different causes of floods can come from masses of snow melting of tidal waves.
l o l Mi i n
E S AR E M G HO ISH ODIN T O I L R F OF OF B 25 % AT RISK L STIL
A MER E 2 FE ET OF VEHIC WATER CAN LE AN FLOA D EVE N A BU T A S
IED A CAR CAN EASILY BE CARR OF ET FE AWAY BY JUST TWO FLOODWATER
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DAM 66% O F FLOO D
DEATH
IN VEH ICLE
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S OCC U
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MOST LARGE
HOME OWNE RS INS NOT C U OVER FLOOD RANCES DO ES DAMA GE
ME IS , YOUR HO A E R A K IS E IN A HIGH-R WICE AS LIKELY TO B NT MORE THA FIRE D THAN BY O O L F Y B DAMAGED
JUST AN I CAN C NCH OF WA TER AUSE A COS MAGE TLY TO YO UR PR OPERT Y
FLASH FLOODS OFTEN BRING WALLS OF WATER 10 TO 20 FEET HIGH
house
P Try to keep flood water out
Doors: buy purposebuilt flood boards that can be installed when flooding is imminent. You can also raise door thesholds. Walls and floors: raise damp-proof brick courses. Sealing floors can prevent water rising through the ground. Drains and pipes: fit
nonreturn valves to drains and water inlet and outlet pipes.
Shelving: put irreplaceable or valuable items on high-mounted shelves. Home entertainment: fix your audio-visual equipment, for example your TV and hi-fi, to the wall about 1.5meters above floor level.
Prepare your property for flooding
DONT BE LEFT HOMELESS IT PAYS TO PREPARE FOR FLOODING
If your home or business is flood- The key is to act now so you’re preed it can be costly, not just in pared if there’s a flood in your area. terms of money and time but also inconvenience and heartache. While it’s impossible to completely flood-proof a property, there are lots of things you can do to reduce the damage flooding can cause.
Making your property resilient to floodwater will limit the distress and damage caused by flooding, which means less costly repairs and less time out of your home or business premises. The cost of purchasing and installing products to keep floodwater out of your property will depend on the size of your property and the type of flood you want to protect against. For example, according to the ABI, to protect your property against shallow flash floods could cost between £2,000 - £6,000. To keep water out during periods of prolonged flooding will take bigger changes and could cost between £20,000 -£40,000. There is a variety of products that you can purchase. A comprehensive list of these can be found in ‘The Blue Pages’ directory on the National Flood Forum’s website www.floodforum.org.uk.
O W MUCH WILL IT COST ?
WHAT DO
WE
!?
DO
B B T P Y
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The Thames Barrier is one of the largest movable flood barriers in the world. The Environment Agency runs and maintains the Thames Barrier as well as the capital’s other flood defences. The barrier spans 520
metres across the River Thames near Woolwich, and it protects 125 square kilometres of central London from flooding caused by tidal surges. It became operational in 1982 and has 10 steel gates
that can be raised into position across the River Thames. When raised, the main gates stand as high as a five-storey building and as wide as the opening of Tower Bridge. Each main gate weighs 3,300 tonnes.
BUILD BARRIERS TO PROTECT YOU
DONT BE AFRAID TO RING 24 HOURS A WEEK
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
WE ARE HERE TO HELP
Sign up for warnings Knowing when to put temporary flood protection measures in place is cruicial. Our free Floodline Warnings Direct service can tell you when to do this by sending you a warning by phone, text and email.
INCIDENT HOTLINE FLOODLINE
0800 80 70 60 0845 988 1188
Editorial piece by Martynas Kasiulevicius all rights reserved.
Sign up for Floodline Warnings Direct online at www.environmentagency.gov. uk or call Floodline on 0845 988 1188.