Flooding

Actions

• Agree a family meeting point on higher groundEssential

  Flood water often rises fastest at night, when your household may be scattered or asleep. Pick a meeting point on higher ground that everyone can reach on foot without crossing water, plus an out-of-area phone contact. Walk the route together, children included, and refresh the plan once a year.

• Keep valuables and chemicals up off the floor

  Anything at floor level in a basement or ground floor is the first loss in a flood. Move electronics, keepsakes and important papers to upper shelves or floors as a habit, not only when a warning comes. Store paints, cleaners and other chemicals high too — mixed into flood water they contaminate your whole home.

Supplies

• Store documents waterproof and as digital copiesEssential

  One soaked cellar can destroy birth certificates, contracts and insurance policies at once. Keep them in a single grab-ready folder in a waterproof container upstairs, never in the basement. Deposit duplicates outside your home and add digital copies — official German guidance advises encrypting scanned IDs.

• Pack a grab bag with water, food and medicinesEssential

  If you must leave quickly, the bag has to be ready before the warning comes. Pack per person for about 72 hours: bottled water, no-cook food, personal medicines, document copies, a torch, a power bank and warm, waterproof clothing. Keep it near the exit, not in the basement, and check the contents twice a year.

• Keep a torch, power bank and battery radio

  Power and networks often fail together in a flood, so plan light and news that need no mains. An LED head torch keeps your hands free; a 20,000 mAh USB-C power bank gives about three phone charges — top it up every 3–6 months. Add a battery or crank radio with FM and DAB+, and store spare batteries outside the devices.

• Get sandbags or flood barriers ready

  Barriers buy time rather than stop a major flood: they can keep low water out of doorways, light wells and air bricks. Sandbags are cheap but need dry-stored sand and time to fill; reusable door barriers deploy faster, so measure your openings first. A backflow valve stops the most common cause of flooded basements.

• Get work gloves and rubber boots for the clean-up

  Flood water leaves behind contaminated mud, splintered wood and broken glass. Sturdy work gloves and rubber boots protect against cuts and infection during the clean-up — official flood guidance recommends both, and any cut sustained in flood dirt should prompt a tetanus check.

• Keep some cash in small notes

  Floods knock out power and networks, and with them ATMs and card terminals. Authorities in several EU countries suggest roughly 70–100 euros per person in small notes — about 72 hours of essentials — plus some coins, since shops may have no change. Store it dry, in a fixed spot known only to your household.

Skills

• Learn where to shut off power, gas and waterEssential

  Water and electricity are a lethal mix, so cutting power before flooding reaches sockets matters. Find your main breaker, gas valve and water stopcock now — your landlord or utility company can show you — and label them clearly. Practise reaching them in the dark, and never touch electrics while standing in water.

Know & check

• Check if your home is in a flood-risk areaEssential

  Every EU country publishes flood hazard and risk maps under the EU Floods Directive — look up your address on your regional map portal or ask your municipality. Check river, coastal and heavy-rain risk separately, since flash floods also hit homes far from any water. The expected depth tells you what to protect first.

• Install an official warning app (e.g. NINA)Essential

  Official apps add what sirens and cell broadcast cannot: maps, detailed instructions and advice for places you choose. In Germany NINA and KATWARN carry the federal warnings; many EU countries run an equivalent. Allow notifications and location, add home and workplace, and never rely on a single warning channel.

• Enable EU-Alert / cell broadcast on your phoneEssential

  Since 2022 every EU state must be able to warn phones directly; most use EU-Alert cell broadcast — no app, no signup, and it gets through even on congested networks. Check it is on: at the bottom of iOS notification settings, or under wireless emergency alerts on Android. It only reaches phones that are switched on.

• Check your flood and heavy-rain insurance cover

  Standard home policies in many EU countries cover storm damage but not flooding or heavy rain — that usually needs a separate natural-hazard add-on, in Germany called Elementarschadenversicherung. Check buildings and contents cover, including the basement, and photograph valuables now so claims go smoothly.