Personal flood preparedness and resilience

Gwynedd Council have a limited capacity to work with local residents and other partners to investigate any ways in which we can reduce the probability of the worst or most frequent flooding. However in many cases, prevention is impossible.

We urge you to consider personal resilience as your first defence against the possibility of flooding. Personal resilience involves protecting your home so that if a flood happens, damage is limited and you can get back to living in your home again in the shortest possible time after flooding. 

 

Keeping flood water out of your property

The first step to consider is ways of keeping flood water out of your property, or at least reducing the speed at which water enters your home to give you more time to move people and belongings to safety.

Water can enter a property via doorways, windows, air-bricks or as groundwater through floors. You can prevent the entry of water by installation of specialist products such as flood gates that are placed at your property boundary or directly in front of vulnerable access points, or purpose made ‘smart’ air bricks that restrict the ingress of flood waters. Sandbags walls can also be constructed in front of potential access points to re-direct flood waters, and we strongly advise all at risk residents to keep their own stock.

Details of useful flood prevention products can be found by contacting the National Flood Forum or by using the Flood Forum’s Blue Pages Directory.

 

Limiting the potential damage to your property and possessions 

The second key part of flood resilience is limiting the potential damage to your property and possessions should flood water enter the property.

This includes having water resistant flooring such as concrete or tiled floors and water resistant and easily disinfected kitchen surfaces.

You may also wish to move plug sockets to a higher location on the wall to minimise the risk of damage and stick to light weight and very mobile furniture. These are just a few examples of measures you can take.

Taking time to build up your own personal resilience to flooding can:

  • reduce the damage and disruption caused by a flood
  • reduce the time you remain out of your home after a flood
  • limit the cost of repairs following a flood
  • reduce the cost of insurance, or make sure your property continues to be insured
  • provide protection from flood waters often without spending much more than the cost of standard home repairs
  • increase your peace of mind during heavy rainfall

For more advice regarding flood resilience, contact the National Flood Forum or see NRW’s guidance document ‘What to do before, during and after a flood’

 

Emergency planning

Taking appropriate action will allow you to react to and recover better following a flood event. 

Be aware of flood warnings or heavy rainfall events in your area – you can get flood alerts from the NRW and Met Office websites, and updates from news or weather bulletins. If you live in a high risk area you may also sign up to NRW’s Floodline service

 

Prepare a personal flood plan – consider:

  • Who you need to contact during an event and by which means?
  • What items of personal value you can move in advance of an event?
  • What or who would you need to move to safety during an event?
  • Where is likely to be a safe and accessible area during a flood?
  • Check that your home insurance covers damage caused by flood events
  • Know how to turn off your gas, electricity and water mains supply
  • Prepare a flood kit of essential items in advance 

The Council’s role when preparing for an emergency is to asses the risks and make plans, inform and advise the public and businesses, and work with the emergency services and other agencies. We will also ensure that the Council continues to provide essential services in an emergency.

Please note that you are responsible for protecting your property from flooding. It is not the responsibility of Gwynedd Council.

When there is flooding, during severe weather or high tides, the Council will try to supply sandbags to people who ask for them if there is a high risk of imminent flooding of the property. The Council's ability to supply sandbags depends on the workers' availability because of the extent and severity of the floods. 

 

Contact us:

Call Gwynedd Council 24 hours a day on 01766 771000 or go to the contact us in an emergency page 

For more advice regarding emergency preparedness contact the National Flood Forum or see NRW’s guidance document ‘What to do before, during and after a flood’