If you rent your home, you probably haven’t even thought about flooding – if you don’t own it, it doesn’t matter, right? But the reality of flooding is that it can be devastating and you could lose everything you own.
If you were flooded, what might get trashed? Have you ever thought about it? Anything electrical could be ruined by toxic flood water – your iPad, TV, X-Box – not to mention other important items such as photographs, your furniture, clothes and shoes, make-up, books and all those little keepsakes you’ve collected over the years. And even if you live in a flat, flooding can still affect you – if flooding affects your building, what would you do without water, electricity, gas or internet access?
The average cost of flood damage to a home is £30,000. Your landlord is responsible for the building, but not what’s in it – so it’s up to you to protect your belongings from flood damage.
The good news is that there are some simple things you can do to prepare for flooding. Knowing what to do in a flood could help keep you and your family safe, and save you thousands of pounds in damages and disruption.
5.4 million properties in England are at risk of flooding, but only half of the people who live in flood risk areas actually know about it. So why not take one simple step today and visit the what to do in a flood page on GOV.UK to get prepared.
Caroline Douglass, Director of Incident Management at the Environment Agency, said, “Flooding can cause serious disruption to people’s lives. We can’t prevent it, but we can help people to be more flood resilient. Those who are aware of the risk and have done something about it are able to reduce damage to their homes and possessions considerably.”
