During the last few years England has suffered some of the worst flooding in living memory, and this can cause huge inconvenience to your business and even result in temporary closure. Morton Michel has put together some practical hints and tips to help you guard against flood, which in turn will reduce the risk to your out of school club equipment and premises:
- Ensure that your surface water drainage system flows effectively and check that nothing is blocking gullies or drainage channels.
- Know how to turn off your gas, electricity and water supplies, so that you can do this quickly if your property is at risk of flooding.
- Find out where you can obtain sandbags, before your club is given notice of a flood warning.
- If there is flooding in your area, help stop water from entering your property by putting plugs in sinks and weighing them down with sandbags.
- Use sandbags to prevent water from entering under doors and through air bricks.
- Turn off water supplies or disconnect any equipment that uses water.
- Most importantly, make sure you have appropriate insurance cover in place to protect you against flooding. If you are in doubt, contact your insurer.
Is your club at risk of flooding?
Finding out whether your out of school club is in a flood risk area will provide you with valuable knowledge, including how to prepare for a flood and also what you can do to reduce the impact of flooding.
The Environment Agency can tell you whether you are in a flood risk area, just log on to www.environment-agency.gov.uk or call their 24 hour flood line on 0845 988 1188. They also have some helpful advice on protecting your property in case of a flood.