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Emergencies

Flooding

The risk of flooding from rivers and the sea is with us all the time. Whilst you cannot always stop flooding, with the right preparations in advance, and by responding swiftly to warnings when they are issued, there is a great deal you can do to reduce the impact of a flood.

If you live in a flood risk area you should do what you can now to minimise the risk to both yourself and your property. It is vital that you do not simply wait until flooding occurs, as you may not have time to do anything.

You can prepare yourself as much as possible for flooding by following these instructions:

• Ensure that you have adequate buildings and contents insurance cover. Advise your insurance company if you live in a flood risk area.
• If you live in an area of flood risk be alert and make sure you know how flood warnings will be issued
• Consider writing a flood plan. Click here for more details.
• Create a simple flood defence as described below:

1. Check how many ground floor doors, patio doors, cat flaps and airbricks there are in your home. Get enough strong plastic sheeting to cover all of these gaps and leave a minimum overlap of 80cm around the edges. For doors, cut plywood or similar material to cover the doorway and hold the sheeting in place.
 
2. Get some bags which can be filled with sand or soil. These will hold the sheeting in contact with the ground. Any small cloth or plastic bag will do but remember not to overfill them as you will have to carry them and firm them into place

Following a flood warning:
Telephone Floodcall - 0845 9881188 to hear the latest information about flooding in your area. All calls are charged at local rates Listen to local radio for updates and standby for advice from emergency services.

• BBC Three Counties Radio 95.5 & 103.8 FM/630 &1161 AM
• BBC Radio Northampton 103.6 & 104.2 FM
• Northants 96/Classic Gold 96.6 FM/1557 AM
• B97 Bedford96.9 FM

Actions to take:

• Alert your immediate neighbours.
• Move people, pets and valuables to a safe place
• Check your car and move it to high ground if possible
• If flooding is imminent switch off your gas and electricity supplies

To find out if there are any flood warnings in your area, call the Environment Agency's "Floodcall" on 0845 9881188. · 

Contact Bedford Borough Council to report road flooding or blocked drains. The Council's helpdesk number is 0800 121 8888.

To report sewage problems contact Anglian Water Services, on 0845 7145145. ·  If you need to be evacuated call the police (999 for emergencies only) · 

If your property is flooded contact the fire service (999 for emergencies only) For more information about flooding click here to go to the Environment Agency's "Floodline" pages. 

Bedford Borough Council Flooding Information. ( 2216 KB ) - DOWNLOAD

Flooding in Bedfordshire. ( 204 KB ) - DOWNLOAD

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