Introduction

Find out if you are at risk of flooding

You do not need to live near a river or watercourse to experience flooding. In Somerset there are approximately 19,000 properties which are at risk from surface water flooding. You can check the long-term flood risk for your area on the GOV.UK website.

Knowing what has happened in the past may be valuable to help you understand the issues in an area. Records of previous local flood events may be held by your Parish Council, the Lead Local Flood Authority or the Environment Agency.

There are river system (usually known as fluvial) and coastal flood risk maps and surface water flood risk maps on the Environment Agency Check for flooding in England website.

Surface water maps show areas that may be likely to have surface water flooding in a 1-in-200-year flood risk. A 1-in-200-year flood risk means you have a 0.5 percent chance of experiencing a flood every year. This does not mean that if you were flooded this year, you will not be flooded for the next 200 years. These maps may help to increase your understanding of the risks from surface water flooding. The Environment Agency’s surface water flood maps give an indication of the broad areas likely to be at risk of surface water flooding. But, Environment Agency surface water flood maps are not always the best way to identify whether an individual property will flood. For more information on the surface water flood risk maps contact the Flood Risk Management Team at flooding@somerset.gov.uk.

How to prepare for flooding

You should make an emergency plan to keep your property, yourself and your loved ones, pets and animals safe in the event of a flood. If you are flooded, emergency services may not be able to reach you. Your plan should include:

• A list of useful contact phone numbers and security details. Include your insurance and utility companies, your bank, medical and veterinary facilities.
• An action plan for things to do before a flood happens. For example, turn off gas and electricity or move important items to a safe place. How to plan ahead for flooding (GOV.UK) gives advice on what to do, how to make a plan and where to get help.
• Create your Household Emergency Checklist and Emergency Plan now.
• Depending on the scale of the flooding, it may be some time before the emergency services can get to you. We recommend you put together a flood kit before you need it. It could include important documents, warm clothing and waterproofs, torch, drinking water and food, medicine, phones, devices and chargers, toys for children and nappies.
• Prepare your property for flooding.

You can find out more about creating a home emergency plan on the Somerset Prepared website.

Consider all measures available to protect your home

This could be as simple as making sure that you have adequate insurance but can also mean doing maintenance on exterior of the property, investing in a stock of gel and sandbags or installing flood doors. These are just a few of the steps you can take. Check out the Flood Hub website, which has lots of useful advice and suggestions on what can be done and bluepages.org.uk points you towards suppliers.

Sandbags

Sandbags are effective against short duration flooding or wash from vehicles travelling through floodwater. But are not effective against longer duration flooding. Water will naturally make its way through the sandbag, so you should consider more permanent kitemarked flood protection products if your property is at risk of flooding. Using plastic sheeting placed behind sandbags will improve their efficiency.

Somerset Council does not provide sandbags. Homeowners, tenants in private rented houses and housing association properties and businesses are responsible for protecting their own property from flooding. If you live in a property or area that is known to flood and have requested sandbags from your former district council in the past, it is recommended that you make sure you have a supply of sandbags when flood risks are announced.

Traditional sandbag suppliers

Most local builders’ merchants supply sandbags and sand. Residents are advised to take action before flooding is forecast as stock levels in builder’s merchants can be quickly reduced once flood warnings have been issued. Local sandbag suppliers can be found by contacting builder’s merchants directly.

You can buy bags, filled or empty from most local builders’ merchants or from the following suppliers:

• UK Sandbags – www.uksandbags.com
• Bradfords – www.bradfords.co.uk
• 24/7 Sandbags – www.sandbagsuppliers.co.uk
• Travis Perkins – www.travisperkins.co.uk
• Sand-bags – www.sand-bags.co.uk
• Wickes – www.wickes.co.uk
• B&Q – www.diy.com
• Sackmaker J&HM Dickson Ltd – www.sackmaker.com

Modern sand-less sandbag alternatives

A modern type of sandbag is now available which does not contain sand. Sandless sandbags work by using super absorbent polymer technology to provide an alternative to traditional sandbags. They can absorb over 200 times their own weight in water. Several companies offer this type of modern sandbag and can be found on the internet.

How to use sandbags

There is lots of flood protection guidance on the Environment Agency  and  National Flood Forum websites.

When using sandbags:

• it is essential to fill and lay sandbags correctly
• do not overfill them (no more than half to three-quarters full)
• when laid, stamp them down well to force the upper bags to mould themselves to the lower bags
• build up the layers like brickwork with the bottom row butted up tight to each other, end to end, well stamped down before laying the second row on top
• if the wall is more than two sandbags high, use a double line of bags for the first two layers and a single line on top

If you cannot obtain ready-made sandbags, you can improvise.

• First, put down a plastic sheet to act as an extra seal
• Make your own using compost bags, carrier bags or pillowcases filled with sand or earth
• Use rolled-up mats or carpets
• Use bags of garden compost
• Use timber boards (possibly screwed to door frames and sealed with mastic)

Disposal of sand or gel flood bags at home 

Where possible, sandbags and gel bags should be dried out for reuse. The best way to do this is to raise them off the ground while they dry to help prevent mould forming. If this is not possible, you can remove the contents by splitting the bag and distributing or burying the contents in your garden. The outer sacks can then be put in your refuse bin – the gel used in the bags is harmless and fully biodegradable.

Disposal of sand or gel flood bags at recycling sites

You can take bags, of sand or gel, to any of Somerset’s sixteen recycling sites (link) and you should put them in the ‘landfill/non-recyclable’ skip. If the sandbags have been exposed to, or contaminated with raw sewage, take care with their disposal. Wear gloves and wash your hands thoroughly after handling. Please ‘double-bag’ by putting them in at least two bags.

Roads

Flooding on roads can cause a hazard and the road structure can be damaged. We have a duty to keep Somerset’s road network free from obstruction and safe for everyone to use – this includes keeping roads and pavements free of flooding.

Roads have features designed to take the water away from the road surface. Heavy rainfall, a road being in a low-lying area, changes in run off from nearby fields and rivers overflowing, are some situations that can lead to the road flooding or being waterlogged – even when drains are in good working order.

Road gullies are cleared every year, or more often where appropriate. If it is likely that property could be flooded and water on the road is a hazard, please report it to us.

Useful information