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Safety Tips for Flood Preparation

One of the most common types of natural disaster that affects cities and countries across the world is the flood. From urban cities to underdeveloped villages, life for any human being in flood affected area comes to an abrupt and unwanted halt. Once the disaster strikes, there is nothing that you can do except fleeing from the area to save yourself. But if you have a warning issued beforehand or if you live in a region that has had a history of floods at a particular time of the year, then you have a lot in your hands, in one single word, that is “preparation”. Preparing makes everything a tad less hard than it already is. For instance, if unprepared, you will not have enough food and water to rely on because you didn’t know the flood was coming. With preparation, you can always stock up beforehand. This is just an example. An all-around preparation can help you prevent the dangers of flood affect you or remain aware of the risks in the very least. Here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Personal Protection
This is the primary aspect when preparing for any disaster. To cover this, you need to consider a few things which include:

– Your connectivity: Think about the escape routes and ways if the flood catches you off guard. Always have life jackets with you to help you stay above water and keep them in a reachable place so you can have yourself and your family wear them instantly.

– Food: There are food and water shortage during floods. Though the government and NGOs work hard to provide the affected people with nutritional food, they are still enveloped with responsibilities and duties all over. Stick to the saying, “God helps those who help themselves” and stock up on your food and water supplies. You can go for quick and easy meals that come in packets and can be eaten right out of it. Also known as meals ready to eat, such as our XMRE meals, these food alternatives have a self-activated heating feature that includes a heating element. It comes with the food pack. All you have to do is open the outer package of the quick and easy meal, pour some water (clean or dirty doesn’t matter) and put the element in it. The food is heated up within a minute, and you can consume it directly. The quick and easy meals have a lot of alternatives from which you can choose. The food is healthy and tasty and also a great backup when you are in an adverse condition such as a flood.

– Emergency supplies which include the important documents, first aid and clothing.

Put all the items together in a bag that you can grab if you need to evacuate.

2. Property Protection
The next important step that you need to take while preparing for the flood is to reduce the risk of damage that flooding can cause to your property. This aspect will include putting all electrical appliances at an elevation, waterproofing the basement of the house and having the sump pump of your house fixed or installed and inspected for proper functioning, whichever is the case.

Have a battery backup installed so that you can get electricity if the power failure occurs, which is common during the flood. Having a water alarm is also a considerable option so that you are not caught off guard by the flooding waters.

Get your drain pipes and gutter inspected for any blockage. They have to be clear to flush out as much water as they can. If a flood has already started affecting your place, then move all your furniture and valuable to a safe place.

3. Risk Management
Risk management is critical because it helps you in dealing with the aftereffects of the flood. This includes purchasing a flood insurance for your property. Flooding is no one’s fault but bearing the expenses of recovering from the damage that flood has left behind can be exhaustive. Flood insurance provides the much needed financial protection from flood-related loss. Don’t rely on standard protections as they don’t cover flood damages.

4. Stay Informed
Being aware of what is happening helps in deciding the next course of action. Have a battery-powered radio and watch out for flood warnings and evacuation notices that are given out. Before flood comes, have information about the weather conditions in your place through the news channels and newspapers. Many times, communities come together to create alerting systems and groups. Become a part of such platforms so you can reach out for help and also help those in need.

Preparation is the key to protection.

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