Be well informed as conditions deteriorate, ensuring you receive flood warnings if available to you and monitor weather conditions at times of severe weather, particularly heavy and persistent rainfall.
Prepare a flood plan for your home. Act now and plan what you would do in a flood situation, decide what practical actions to take, such as securing important documents.
Get to know your area, particularly where streams, brooks, ditches, drains and culverts (for example a structure which carries a watercourse under a road) are known to contribute to flooding in adverse conditions. Let us know of any blockages or obstructions.
Do everything you can to protect your property. There are many products available which improve the resilience of your property against flooding. These range from simple sandbags, water-resistant barriers and doors and special valves on your drains to stop water getting into your property through the sewerage system.
The National Flood Forum is a voluntary organisation, (funded in part by the government) that advises individuals and communities on flood resilience and insurance. View its directory of kite-marked flood resilience products - Blue Pages.
Sandbags, if laid correctly, offer some protection against flood water entering a property or can divert water away from more vulnerable parts of your home. They are, however, heavy and time-consuming to put in place.
Sandbags can be used most effectively if you already have them filled and stored at your property in readiness for worsening conditions. Filled sandbags are available from some builders' merchants.
Experience shows that we can never guarantee to be able to deliver sandbags in time to protect a property when flooding is actually occurring. So we'll provide a starter pack of 10 empty sandbags, and literature, free of charge, at any time of the year to householders at risk of flooding, who want to take steps to protect their own property.
Some of our libraries hold packs of empty sandbags which can be collected by residents who want to protect their property (check beforehand to make sure they have stock).
We also welcome the opportunity to work with parish councils or local flood groups who are willing to store a supply of sandbags, close to vulnerable areas, in readiness for flooding conditions.
Requests for sandbags should in the first instance be made to Call Derbyshire telephone: 01629 533190.