READ TO FIND OUT

AM I AT RISKOF FLOODING?

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Over 5.5 million properties in Eng-land and Wales are at risk of flood-ing 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 wa-ter into rivers and other waterways. Making these nat-ural channels un-able to carry all the water. Rising water flows over or breaks the banks to the waterways caus-ing the surrounding land to be flooded. Different causes of floods can come from masses of snow melt-ing of tidal waves.

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25 % OF BR

ITISH HOME

S ARE

STILL AT R

ISK OF FLO

ODING

66% OF FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN VEHICLES

A MERE 2 FEET OF WATER CAN FLOAT A LARGE VE-

HICLE AND EVEN A BUS

JUST AN INCH OF WATERCAN CAUSE A COSTLY DAMAGE TO YOUR PROPERTY

A CAR CAN EASILY BE CARRIED

AWAY BY JUST TWO FEET OF

FLOODWATER

IN A HIGH-RISK AREA, YOU

R HOME IS

MORE THAN TWICE AS LIKEL

Y TO BE

DAMAGED BY FLOOD THAN BY

FIRE

A MERE 2 FEET OF WATER CAN FLOAT A LARGE VE-

HICLE AND EVEN A BUS

JUST AN INCH OF WATERCAN CAUSE A COSTLY DAMAGE TO YOUR PROPERTY

MOST HOMEOWNERS INSURANCES DOES NOT COVER FLOOD DAMAGE

FLASH FLOODS OFTEN BRING WALLS OF WATER 10 TO 20 FEET HIGH

IN A HIGH-RISK AREA, YOU

R HOME IS

MORE THAN TWICE AS LIKEL

Y TO BE

DAMAGED BY FLOOD THAN BY

FIRE

FLO

OD

S A

RE

VERY SERIOUS, THEY OCCUR EVERY

When many people try to imagine the dan-gers posed by flood-waters, they tend to think of drown-ing. People can cer-tainly drown during floods - - there’s no doubt about that. But drowning is not necessarily the most common cause of death in a flood. Even if you’re a phenomenal swimmer, rushing floodwaters pose a danger to you. The sheer force of rushing water can be quite strong; it can knock you off

Although all flood-ing is danger-ous, flash flood-ing represents the gravest threat. A flash flood oc-curs when a sudden, extreme amount of water is dumped on an area that can't handle it. Flash floods are particu-larly dangerous be-cause, by defini-tion, they happen more quickly than people are pre-pared to handle. Taking right actions after the flood has occured is

YEAR IN THE UK

Especially strong floodwaters can even push cars and build-ings around easi-ly - - a mere 2 feet (61 centimeters) of rushing floodwa-ter can have enough force to wash a car away. In addition to the threats posed to human life, floodwa-ters are massively destructive to prop-erty. Water pulls everything in its path into it, col-lecting a lot of dirt and debris along the way. So even once the waters have receded,

VERY SERIOUS, THEY OCCUR EVERY

When many people try to imagine the dan-gers posed by flood-waters, they tend to think of drown-ing. People can cer-tainly drown during floods - - there’s no doubt about that. But drowning is not necessarily the most common cause of death in a flood. Even if you’re a phenomenal swimmer, rushing floodwaters pose a danger to you. The sheer force of rushing water can be quite strong; it can knock you off

DON’T LEAVE OTHERS BEHIND.

OTHERSMAYNEEDYOURHELP

Make sure to insure your property as floods can cause lots of damage to your house.Read all the details beforeinsuring your house and see if your insurer covers you from floods and it’’s damage.

Protect your property fromflooding

Try to keep flood water out

Doors: buy pur-pose-built 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 non-return valves to drains and water inlet and outlet pipes.

Shelving: put irreplaceable or valuable items on high-mount-ed shelves.

Home entertain-ment: fix your a u d i o - v i s u a l equipment, for example your TV and hi-fi, to

WOH If your home or busi-ness is flooded it can be costly, not just in terms of money and time but also inconvenience and heartache.While it’s impossible to com-pletely flood-proof a property, there are lots of things you can do to reduce the damage flooding can cause.

The key is to act now so you’re prepared if there’s a flood in your area.

DONT BE LEFT HOMELESSIT PAYS TO PREPARE FOR FLOODING

If your home or busi-ness is flooded it can be costly, not just in terms of money and time but also inconvenience and heartache.While it’s impossible to com-pletely

flood-proof a property, there are lots of things you can do to reduce the damage flooding can cause. The key is to act now so you’re prepared if there’s a flood in your area. Random text to fill up.

If your home or busi-ness is flooded it can be costly, not just in terms of money and time but also inconvenience and heartache.While it’s impossible to com-pletely flood-

proof a property, there are lots of things you can do to reduce the damage flooding can cause.The key is to act now so you’re prepared if there’s a flood in your area.

WOH MUCH WILL IT COST ?Making your property resilient to floodwater will limit the dis-tress and damage caused by flood-ing, which means less cost-ly repairs and less time out of your home or business premises.

The cost of purchasing and install-ing 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 pe-riods of prolonged flooding will take bigger chang-es and could cost be-tween £20,000 -£40,000.

BUILD BARRIERS WE

? PROTECT YOU

WHAT DO

! DO

BUILD BARRIERS WE

?

The Thames Barrier is one of the largest mova-ble flood barriers in the world. The Environment Agency runs and main-tains the Thames Barrier as well as the capital’s other flood defences.

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.

PROTECT YOU

WHAT DO TO

DONT BE AFRAID TO RING ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

Editorial piece by Martynas Kasiulevicius all rights reserved.

WE ARE HERE TO HELP

24 H

OU

RS

A D

AY

INCIDENT HOTLINE 0800 80 70 60 FLOODLINE 0845 988 1188

Sign up for warnings

Knowing when to put temporary flood protec-tion measures in place is cruicial. Our free Floodline Warnings Di-rect service can tell you when to do this by sending you a warning by phone, text and email.

Sign up for Floodline Warn-ings Direct online at www.environment-agency.gov.uk or call Flood-line on 0845 988 1188.