What Do I Do When My House Floods?

The UK Government reports that up to 5.5 million homes and businesses in England face a high risk of flooding. Knowing how to respond when a house floods aids in preventing water intrusion, implementing effective water damage mitigation measures and most importantly, ensures your personal safety.

Many mistakenly believe they are safe from flooding if they don’t reside in flood-prone areas or adjacent to flood plains. However, the reality is that floods can impact anyone, whether it’s due to:

• A natural disaster such as a hurricane
• Overflowing rivers or streams
• Coastal flooding during high tide or storm
• Rapid snowmelt
• Heavy rainfall contributing to overwhelmed drainage systems, commonly occurring in urban areas
• Structural damage to a nearby water source, such as a dam or levee

Whatever the cause, the guide below on preparing for when your house floods will assist you in readying for the worst – from prevention techniques to mitigation measures.

Is my house in a flood zone?

First things first, you need to determine if there’s an immediate risk. To do this, you need to establish if your property is within a flood zone.

You can utilise the UK Government’s Check for Flooding service to determine if there are any forthcoming flood warnings or alerts spanning the next five days. Additionally, it provides supplementary information to evaluate areas at risk of long-term flooding.

Your local council can provide further information on whether there is surface water or flash flooding within your area.

The Environment Agency can also give you access to the flooding history of your property. To obtain this information, you’ll need to provide your full address and postcode or send a map of the area to enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk.

A fee may be applicable depending on how long it takes to produce the report and you will be contacted by the agency if there is a fee to pay. The report should then be sent over email within 20 working days.

How can I prevent floods in my home?

Monitoring flood alerts should always be a top priority, particularly if you reside in a high-risk area. If you do receive a flood alert, it’s time to spring in to action.

Various mitigation measures are available with different levels of defence, ranging from sandbags and flood sensors to sump pumps. Evaluate your property to identify potential entry points for water and implement the suitable measure to safeguard against them.

Monitoring for leaks is the best way you can prevent flood water from damaging your home. Flood plain or not, it’s the small leaks that can create big problems if left unchecked.

Water sensors can be placed around the house to detect excess moisture. Put them in vulnerable areas where flood water is likely to enter, such as:

• Basements
• Garages
• Low lying windows, doors and vents alongside any other openings which may have been poorly sealed
• Pipes and cabling which run from outside to inside the property
• Poorly laid or gaps in the foundation of the property

Once they detect moisture where there shouldn’t be, they will sound an alarm. They can also monitor for a change in acoustics, as all leaks will create soundwaves which detectors can pick up.

Some detectors are so advanced they can shut off the water supply if they hear these imperceptible sounds.

Likewise, sump pumps can be placed in a constructed pit in the centre of your basement, carved below the main surface of the floor. When the water gets too high, the sump pump automatically pumps excess water out of the basement using a discharge line – like a neighbourhood drain.

For more information, you can read our complete guide on Preparing for a Flood, offering additional tips to ensure your safety when facing house floods.

What should I do during a house flood?

If there’s standing water in your home, it’s important you turn off all running water, gas and electricity if it is safe to do so. If the flood is natural, try to avoid contact with the water – it could be contaminated and leave you or your loved ones seriously ill if you fall in it.

The same is true if the water is running through your home. If it knocks you over you could injure yourself, preventing you from escaping the home or calling for help.

Tread carefully and open any windows or external doors as you make your way through the house.

Once outside, call your insurance company. They will be best placed to recommend an emergency plumber and cleaning specialist who will be able to attend your home.

They will remove the water from the property and ensure it’s safe for you to re-enter.

What do I do after a house flood?

After contacting your insurer, you’ll be able to begin repairing your home. Start by ventilating it, opening all the windows both upstairs and downstairs so that fresh air can enter.

Keep a record of all of the damaged goods in the property too – not only will this help with your insurance claim, but it’ll also help determine the total cost of the flood.

Next, you need to prevent mould growth. If power has been restored to the property, you can rent or purchase a dehumidifier and start drying out your rooms.

You can speed this process up with the help of a professional flood restoration company. Take Rainbow, for example – we can dry out and disinfect all affected areas, and help you restore furniture that has suffered water damage.

We operate a local call-out service specifically tailored to house floods, where we’ll address the source of the flood and work tirelessly to restore your home to its original condition. We’ll also offer structural assessments of your property, ensuring that it’s still safe to live in and giving you complete peace of mind.

How Rainbow can help

We work with leading insurance companies on their policyholders’ property claims, restoring properties following a flood, escape of water or fire across the UK. If you’re in immediate need of support, please contact us or call our 24 hour National Helpline on 01623 422488 today.