Here are some tips for reducing the impact from Simon Crowther, Founder of Flood
Protection Solutions.
- Check your flood risk. There are many different types of flooding, so it is important to
know your level of risk. You can get a flood report from ‘Know Your Flood Risk’ - Be alert – sign up for the free Environment Agency Floodline Warning Service
- Draw up a plan of how you’ll respond to a flood to keep you and your staff safe. Carefully
think through how you will deal with any hazardous equipment and how to reduce the risk
from polluting materials - Create a ‘grab bag’ containing essential items such as antibacterial hand gel, spare keys,
water etc. Make sure this bag is easily accessible – identify in your flood plan where it should
be kept. - Flooding could destroy your computers so ensure you regularly back up your documents
and data to a safe and secure storage, such as the cloud, Dropbox, etc. - There are new innovative ways to help protect your own business. Why resort to
ineffective sandbags when there are more effective products? An example is the Water-Gate
barrier fromFlood Protection Solutions. Don’t forget that water can come up through the
ground and drains. Non-return valves and pumps can help here. - Be resilient by minimising the damage floodwater causes if it does enter your building. No
flood defence scheme can ever be 100% effective. Consider replacing carpets with tiles and
raising electric sockets. - Familiarise yourself with how to shut off gas, electricity and water supplies at your office.
- Store important documents higher up. Make sure they are easily accessible if possible.
- If you are flooded, take lots of photos of the damage afterwards and make sure you wear
rubber gloves – the water can be very contaminated.