According to the Environment Agency, 5.5 million homes and businesses are at risk from flooding from rising seas, broken river banks and surface water. If 5.5m homes translates to 1 in 6 homes in the UK, that is an enormous issue, and one that you have little control over. The weather channels can give you updates, but they cannot prepare your homes and businesses for Mother Nature, who can be quite cruel in these instances.

1. An Example of How Devastating Floods Can Be

If you need an example of how bad it can get in the UK, you don’t have to look much further than 2009, when November and December were the wettest months across the UK since 1914, the year that World War I broke out. 40% of the population of Cork, the Republic of Ireland’s largest city, was without running water during the floods, with Cumbria being the worst affected area in England. Deaths were recorded, bridges collapsed and homes were devastated. It was an extremely traumatic time for the people of the UK and the emergency services.

Luckily, there were some good news stories amongst all the carnage. 26 homes in Appleby in Cumbria stayed dry through the floods because adequate flood products had been installed in time, including floodgates and sandbags. When the river burst its banks, the residents had already pulled together their resources. And managed to save their properties and their residents a lot of grief and money.

2. Protecting Your Property Against Flooding

Whether you’re a business owner or a home owner, the same rules apply. Being prepared for flooding and adverse weather conditions should be as high a priority as fire protection. How you prepare for flooding depends on where you live and the type of flood you are likely to see. For example, the Cumbria floods were the result of having rivers nearby that burst. A town in the midlands, however, is likely to have to deal with excessive rainwater rather than rivers. Either way, being in the know is important, so keep checking for weather updates either by television, radio or the internet.

3. Products To Keep Your Property Safe

Your property has many entry points for flood water, and some give way quicker than others. The bricks and floors of homes and businesses in the UK are susceptible to flooding, especially if your home has a cellar. Water can rise through these areas quickly, as well as through sewer pipes and guttering when there is a backflow. The key in these instances is to know what products you can install to help prevent excessive flooding:

4. Doors and windows

There are a wide range of flood proof doors and windows that are available. And are highly recommended in more at-risk areas where flooding is more likely to occur. Homes can also invest in patio doors that are flood proof too.

Businesses can also invest in anti-flood security doors that are programmed to detect when water reaches certain levels. And drop to ensure the water doesn’t spread throughout the property.

5. Interiors of the Property

There are types of air bricks that are flood proof, and are specially designed to cover old bricks. This is especially helpful in older properties and in the most at-risk areas of the country. In the case of flooring, it is recommended that concrete flooring be laid to replace wooden floorboards that are much more susceptible to flooding and will not offer the same protection.

6. Exteriors of the Property

The drains and pipes of your property should be kept clear so that they can’t back-up into the property. And increase the risk of flooding. One way to deal with the issue is to add valves to drains and the pipes. This prevents any clogging and allows for water and wastage to follow through without any issue. It can also help if your driveway and garden is structured in a way that allows for water to follow down towards the street rather than be able to rise and cause a flooding issue.

7. Recommended Flooding Products

Whenever you see an area that is being flooded, one of the first products being used to combat it will be sandbags. Communities often work together to ensure that these are available in an emergency; as they can be difficult to get hold of and are extremely heavy. But when in place, there aren’t many products out there that are more effective when dealing with flooding. Another option is flood barriers. Contacting the Environment Agency for more advice on the matter is always a good idea if you feel you need any more advice regarding flooding and how to tackle it.

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The basic supplies

Here is a checklist of the basic supplies you need to carry with you in order to survive the evacuation process and a few days afterwards:

• Water

  – water is the source of life, and it is the basic thing you are going to need if you plan to survive. A grown person needs about two litres per day, but kids need about a litre, or a litre and a half. Standard duration of evacuation is about three days, so you may need to get a stack of water – calculate how much water each member of your family needs and put it to your safety kit.

• Food

  – After water comes food – count how much food every person needs and find the food that lasts longest. Consider non-perishable food, canned vegetables and the like, and add this to your list.

• First Aid Kit

  – You never know what can happen in emergency situation, so it is best to be prepared and have a first aid kit with you (you can even make it by yourself if you do not want to buy one) in order to help the person in need until the emergency comes.

• Sanitation

  – Personal hygiene is important, even in crisis situations, so you will need some medical alcohol which cleans all the microorganisms on your hands and prevents disease, as well as a pack of wet wipes which you can use to refresh your body until you get a proper shower. (Wet wipes are also great when you do not have toilet paper with you.)

• Medication

  – If you or a member of your family suffers from a disease, it is important to put the medications in your survival kit. Stack a seven-day supply and add some painkillers and antidepressants, just in case. (You never know how someone can react when something unexpected happens, so prepare
  yourself to even end panic attacks.)

• Flashlight and batteries

  – If the emergency happens during the night and there is a blackout, you are going to need a flashlight. And make sure to bring battery supply in case you spend them. Flashlight can also be useful for signalling.

• Cell phone and power banks

  – If your family is in the remote part of the city, or if you end up losing one member, you will need a cell phone whose battery lasts longer. Find a good power bank which can charge your battery a couple of times and do not use the phone for playing games. It can be an important thing in case of rescue.

• Matches

  – The nights can be cold, and if you find yourself in nature, you may need to warm your family or even cook dinner. This is why it is important to have a box of matches with you, and some fire fighting equipment – if something goes wrong with the fire.

• Personal documents

  – In case of fleeing the country, you will need your personal documents with you. Make sure to prepare at least one copy of your documentation, in case something happens with the originals.

And in the end, maybe the most important thing to carry with you in case of emergency is your reason – be prepared for any kind of outcome, let nothing surprise you, and you will end up protecting your family like a pro.

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Every year around the world billions are lost due to disasters caused by fire. Usually these disasters take place due to negligence.

Generally people find it difficult to control fire because they are not aware of fire safety measures.

Checkout out this infographic to deal with fire.

• Type of Fires
• Types of fire Extinguisher
• General Fire Warnings! Signs

Source: www.globepackaging.co.uk

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Something about the computer screen bursting to life makes you imagine your home bursting into flames because of your little mistake. Fire damage would become rampant, spreading wildly across your entire neighborhood.

And you would be the one to blame. Adrenaline starts pumping through your veins, pushing your heart to beat faster and faster.

Your thoughts become frantic. You just got to your seat and barely clocked in in time.

If you drive the thirty minutes back to your home only to find you actually unplugged the iron, you will feel the mighty fool as you sheepishly walk in an hour late for work. Not only that, but it will be another unexplained absence on your schedule that workforce management will judge you for.

On the other hand, if you don’t go home and check, you are going to be on the edge of the seat, wondering if you will be the headline of the next news article about fire damage. You would gasp in horror if you saw your house in flames on a local news network.

You would come back with an even more embarrassing story with nothing but an extra hours pay to give you comfort. What good is ten to thirty extra dollars compared to the hundreds of thousands of dollars you just lost in a home?

Hope you have good insurance. No, it is always best to find a way to check in this situation.

A better thing to do would be to properly prepare against these occurrences. If you are properly prepared, you need not lose that hour, nor worry about it for the rest of the day.

Here are two ways to prepare yourself against fire damage. Make an alarm on your phone to go off ten minutes before you leave the house every day.

Set your personal preparation time at the beginning of every day, allowing you the chance to be doing something other than getting ready when the alarm goes off. Should you still be using the iron when the alarm goes off, you are far less likely to consciously think about unplugging it.

You will think about it for a second, turn back to your ironing, and then realize you have to leave and rush out the door without another thought till you sit down at your desk. Instead, have all of those tasks taken care of first, then when you’re sitting down for breakfast, your alarm can go off and you can immediately check on the situation.

Another alternative is to replace your “hot” appliances with auto shut off appliances ones. These appliances will recognize inactivity after a set period of time and will turn off.

Although they are extremely annoying if you turn them on to heat up, go do something and come back to find it has already shut off. When you’re on the run though, they can be extremely helpful at preventing fire damage.

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If you need to disaster proof your house you should always consult an expert in the construction business who could give you the best advice on disaster proofing.

3 Important Building Disaster Proofing Tips

Disaster proofing tips can be of tremendous help in making your house safe. The disaster proofing tips usually reassure the home owners of weak structures and a strong base connection of the houses.

Following are a few disaster proofing tips you must know to keep your surroundings safe:

• Pay special attention to your homes structural built. Large glass windows are signs of trouble for home disaster proofing. Keep wood planks our coverings for the glass ready for the times of disaster.
• Check for strong inter connection in the house for home disaster proofing. Make sure all the major structures in the house are supported well and connected to the ground with efficient building materials.
• One of the most important disaster proofing tips is to avail qualified labour and house builders to build strong walls with more mortar filling in between the bricks. Soaking the bricks in water in advance before building the walls is very important tip for home disaster proofing. Digging deep down to make well rooted walls is also a very important consideration of disaster proofing for home.

Solutions for Disaster Proofing for Home

Disaster proofing for home is working in advance of anything misfortunate that might happen. Being prepared is always the best strategies to follow. The contingency planning of disaster proofing for home is one of the main aspects to ponder upon. Being prepared means you have all the amenities and survival gadgets ready for disaster proofing for home.

The basic preparedness in home disaster proofing consists of long shelf life food item and water. Batteries and flashlights in case of outages also fall in the category of disaster proofing for home.

Efficient Living Spaces to Protect from Disasters

Disaster proofing for living space entails fixing a house considering all the disasters and natural hazards that can take place. For example if you are living in a coastal area you need disaster proofing for living space to avoid floods. The disaster proofing for living space calls for availing all the solutions to particular type of place you live in. For instance, the houses in Japan equip and acclimatize their house settings in case of an earthquake.

The best you can do for disaster proofing for living space is to get to know of the best measures to take in case of a calamity. Home disaster proofing is done for so many unforeseen events but the best plans consider the protection from the frequently occurring calamities.

Your home and family must be the dearest to you. Disaster proofing is done to make your homes and families safer, therefore you can’t avoid it.

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