How do I prepare for floods?

The Flood Resilience Portal Library and our Solutions Finder are full of resources that can help individuals prepare and take action that will reduce the impact of a flood. We also have a wide range of resources for professionals who work with flood risk management and are looking to build the preparedness and response capability of community members.

If you are planning to develop campaigns to raise awareness and share knowledge about how to prepare for and respond in the event of a flood we suggest you look at this range of free, editable digital resources from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

5 actions you can take to prepare for a flood:

Know your risk. Make sure you’re aware of your area’s flood risk, you can often find government owned flood risk maps online. Make sure you know where to get information about changes in risk, what flood watch and flood warning systems are available in your community and that you are able to access and understand the information. You can find out more about Flood Early Warning Systems here.

Prepare an emergency kit. A pre-prepared bag containing the essentials you and your family are likely to need makes evacuation in the event of a flood much quicker and less stressful. Things that are useful to have in your bag include personal documentation and identification, mobile phone and charger, clean water, durable food, a torch and batteries. You should check your bag on a regular basis to make sure food and water is fresh and batteries are charged.

Plan your evacuation options and routes. Make sure you know where will be safe for you to take shelter during a flood, and that you know how to get there safely. Bear in mind that your usual routes might be under water and ensure you have alternatives as entering flood water can be life threatening, this technical brief looks at cost-effective approaches to improve evacuation routes.

Protect your property. Keep your valuable assets above likely flood levels or move them if your home is at risk of flooding. This can include actions like moving technology to a second floor if you have one, storing important and/or sentimental items at a higher level, or using raised platforms to keep livestock safe. You can find more technologies that help reduce the impact of flooding here.

Practice. It’s important that you regularly refresh your knowledge and skills on preparing for and taking action during a flood. In Nepal, Practical Action, Government departments, and local communities carry out annual drills at the advent of the Nepali monsoon season to ensure all stakeholders are prepared and have the skills and knowledge they need to save lives and livelihoods when monsoon floods hit. You can watch a video from the 2019 drill here.

How do I prepare for floods?