The heavy rain in autumn of the year 2000 led to 10,000 homes and business throughout England and Wales flooding. It was the wettest Autumn for 270 years.

In many parts, especially in the south-east, which was severely affected, families are still not able to return home as the damage was so bad. In many others, they are still trying to return to normal.

As we look back on the past year, we are being urged to think ahead in case the situation is repeated. The Environment Agency say nearly half of us who are living in a flood prone area aren’t aware of the risk, and only one in ten of us takes any action to prepare for such disruption and damage.

The agency’s floodline number was broadcast frequently in BBC Weather forecasts on television, radio, on-line and Ceefax. In fact, during last year’s floods, it took 781,000 calls. It was even the second most commonly dialled number after 999.

Many experts believe the amount of winter rainfall will continue to increase and the number of floods will increase. But, what has changed since last year?

One of the Environment Agency’s main aims is to encourage people to be aware of the risks they may be facing and also to persuade people to prepare for flooding. In part, that is working - the number of calls to the floodline are rising.

However, there are major concerns that those of us in flood-prone areas are not taking preventative action. Chairman of the Environment Agency, Sir John Harman, says " Flooding is a real risk. It is one we know about and one that people can do something practical about. Last year’s floods were described as a ‘wake-up’ call, but there are signs that the alarm bells aren’t ringing loudly enough to trigger action by many people."

There are a number of things we can do to prepare for a flood:

• Check if you are at risk of flooding on the Environment Agency’s website (for England and Wales), or SEPA for Scotland. Enter your postcode in the ‘What’s In Your Backyard’ pages,
• Make sure you have a list of the important phone numbers, including the Environment Agency's Floodline (0845 988 1188), the local council, emergency services, and your insurance company · Collect together a flood kit which should include a first aid kit, torch, and waterproof clothing,
• Find out how to turn off your gas and electricity
• Think about where you could move things like cars to if a flood is imminent, and also where you could take your pets,
• Have some sandbags or flood boards on hand to block or doors.

Related Articles:

- About Flood Warnings
- Life After The Flood
- What are the flood warning codes?
- Flood Facts
- Flooding 2001
- Current flood warnings
- Environment Agency - Flooding
- Scottish Environment Protection Agency