Flood safety for churches

A nearby river may be an obvious flood risk, but sometimes the risk may be less clear. You can check your situation in a number of ways:

• The Environment Agency (EA - England and Wales) and Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) offer an online postcode search to see if your local area is at risk
• You can sign up for Flood Warnings Direct from EA to receive warnings by phone, text or email. SEPA offers a similar warning system by phone
• Your local authority can tell you what flood prevention schemes are available or are planned in your area.

Specialist advice is available from the National Flood Forum.

If you are at risk, you can take steps to form a barrier against flood water getting into your church or other properties. You can:

• Use temporary flood barriers/defences both around the buildings themselves and the perimeter where water can get in
• For basic and emergency protection have sandbags or similar alternatives available
• If you have a brick building, fit air brick covers to prevent water entering the property which can be removed when flood waters have receded
• Fit non return valves to drainage systems prevent water backing up into the property
• Use pump and sump systems to mitigate damage.

Making your church building more resilient can reduce the impact of water entering your church and also aid the recovery process. Steps you can take include:

• Raising electrical sockets, fuse boxes, controls and wiring to above likely flood levels. If rewiring, bring cables down the wall to meet the raised socket so cabling isn’t affected by flood water
• Where possible, relocating more vulnerable items to higher levels and trying to raise as much as possible above likely flood levels
• For Church Halls consider more flood resistant flooring such as concrete with tiles instead of carpet
• Where possible, use plaster, which is more water resistant, on walls or on part of the wall
• If you can, use flood proof materials such as plastic skirting, stainless steel, solid wood or plastic fixtures/fittings or even removable fixtures/fittings at vulnerable levels.

If the worse happens and you are flooded make sure you:

• Contact us on 0345 603 8381. We have a range of specialists who can provide advice on drying out and cleaning up your property and undertaking any repairs or replacements
• Take photographs of areas or items affected by floodwater
• Be aware - flood water could be contaminated. Approach with caution and use anti-bacterial hand gel if you have to touch the water
• Open the doors to reduce humidity but ensure the building is secure when closed
• Don’t throw away any damaged items until our claims team says it is ok to do so. We will work with you to get your building back in use as soon as possible
• Make certain any emergency works comply with Listed Building legislation if appropriate.