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How to Prepare Your Family For a Flood? If you live in a flood plain, it makes sense to prepare your family for the potential of a flood. Floods can be extremely damaging and deadly if you’re not careful.
Just ask the people who live in parts of Texas and Louisiana right now. Making sure that your family is as best prepared as they can be maybe one of the most important things you can do for them. Take a look at these 15 tips to prepare for a flood:
Steps to Prepare for a Flood
These steps are a combination of things you can do way in advance and as soon as you get the flash flood warning.
Before the Flood: Prepare Your Family For a Flood
Flood Insurance
Most people who live in a flood plain know that you need to have flood insurance, but if you don’t? Get it today. Flood insurance is not available through your insurance company and instead is offered by the government at a very affordable price.
This is certainly the number one item on your list if you live in an area that has been known to flood. If the worst case scenario hits, you will be protected.
Prevent water from entering your home
If you are expecting heavy rains or storms to hit your locality, particularly if you live in a flood-prone area, you should cover your doors, or even windows, with metal sheets, sandbags, or plywood. You can also use silicone sealant to ensure that water will not enter your home.
Some of these things you should have on hand, especially if you live in a flood-prone area.
Shut off your utilities
You should remember to turn off all your utilities, such as gas, electricity and even water, at the mains. You should also remember to unplug all your electrical appliances and store them at high places, on the second floor, if possible.
Be mindful of your appliances and furniture
You need to ensure that your furniture and appliances are kept in high areas or upstairs. If you do not have a second floor, you can just raise such items on blocks or bricks. Be sure to remove carpets, curtains, and even internal doors. Store them all in high places to ensure that they are protected from water.
Fire safe box
I realize that a fire-safe box is for fires, but most of the good quality ones are also somewhat watertight. Keep certified copies of your important documents and flash drives with your family photos inside of them just in case you lose your other copies. It may not protect them.
Important papers, pictures, and other personal items really should be placed on higher ground, particularly on the second floor of your house. If not, you should put important papers on sealed bags to ensure that they are protected from the impending deluge.
72 Hour Bag
If you live on a flood plain, you may very well have to evacuate quickly. Having a well stocked 72 hour bag is a MUST! Your bag needs to include 3 days change of clothing, quick food, water, medicines, personal documents (certified copies), cash, debit or credit cards, and anything else you might think you need. Too many people have been left with nothing because of a rising flash flood to skip this step.
Check the perimeter
Make sure that all objects outside your house, such as rakes, are kept in a safe place. Floodwater can easily float these items, which can pose danger to others.
Raft or canoe
I know it may seem excessive, however, in a flash flood, you may not be able to get your car out of the driveway (or even get to your car for that matter). Having something you can paddle out in could save your life in case the water rises too quickly.
Lifejackets
Along with the raft or canoe, you need to be sure that you have a lifejacket for every single member of your family. If something would happen and they couldn’t get out of the water, they would at least be covered that way. It really could be the difference between life and death for them.
Use the Top shelf
The words top shelf doesn’t apply just to liquor. Keep your important documents and a few days of food and water on a top shelf for storage in case of rapidly rising water.
Also look for anything that is poisonous. We tend to keep those items under our kitchen sink, but we certainly don’t want those toxins getting into the water, should it enter your home. If you have pets? It would be a death sentence.
During the Flood: Prepare Your Family For a Flood
Use a weather radio
Information is crucial during situations like these so a hand-crank weather radio is a must-have. Thus, you need to always listen to the radio for announcements and updates. Be sure to cooperate fully with local authorities and emergency services. If they require you to evacuate, follow them and do not dillydally.
Burn Daylight
Since electricity will almost certainly be unavailable, you must ensure that you do all the things you need to do during the day. It is much more difficult and unsafe to do things in the dark.
Stay Inside
Just because you made sure all sharp implements were pretty much nailed down, it doesn’t mean that all your neighbors did the same thing. Be sure to stay inside your house. There may be objects floating in the water, so do not attempt to swim through it.
Floodwater can kill, especially when it is raging, so do not attempt to go out. It is important to note that rapid-flowing water that is six inches high could make you fall, while two feet of water could make your car float. You can either be swept away or be knocked over by objects that are in the water.
Avoid the Water
Floodwater may be dirty and contaminated with sewage, so you should avoid contact if possible. It would be a shame that you survived the flooding but fell ill because of contaminated water.
Keep off the roads
River bridges, sea defenses, and riverbanks are very dangerous places to be in during floods, so be sure to steer away from them if possible. There have been many cases wherein floodwater has destroyed or collapsed bridges and defenses.
These 15 tips aren’t complicated to do at all, but they could not only help you save your precious documents but your life as well. If you live in an area that has flooded in the past, you can bet that it will again at some point. It may not be tomorrow, but it will happen eventually. Making sure you’re prepared for that possibility isn’t a bad thing. It’s just plain smart.
Strong tropical storms and hurricanes often cause flooding, even in areas that are not prone to such an event. With the extreme weather conditions that we are facing today, everybody should be prepared for anything, particularly flooding.