After the Flood

Introduction

Risks

Cleaning and Drying Out Your Property

• If you need assistance in cleaning up your home after the flood, please contact the flood "Help Line" on (01743) 253222.
• Contact the Fire and Rescue Service if your property requires pumping out. Whilst the water is rising, your property will not be pumped out.
• Contact the Utility Companies to check your supplies are safe. With regard to Electricity, assume that cables are live and switch off at the mains. Contact an approved Contractor (via the Yellow Pages) for further advice.
• On re-entering your property, if you smell Gas, please contact the number shown below
• If the gas supply has been left switched on at the meter, do not use any gas appliance. Turn off the gas supply at the meter and contact the Gas Supply number shown below.
• If you notified the Police when you left your property, please telephone them to let them know that you have returned home.

Contact the Borough Council's Cleansing Section for assistance with all rubbish disposal -
Telephone 01743 281000.

• Soft floor coverings and soft furnishings may be contaminated with sewage sediment. If these items cannot be cleaned, you should contact your insurance company before disposing of them at an appropriate site.
• Remember, if possible, to take photographs of the damaged items prior to disposal, as this may help your insurance claim.

Drinking Water

Dead Animals

How to Protect Yourself

• Avoid direct contact with sediment, sludge and debris.
• Wear waterproof hardwearing protective gloves and sturdy footwear.
• Before starting work, cover all cuts and existing wounds, however small, with a sterile waterproof dressing. Any new injuries or cuts should be washed in clean running water immediately and the wound covered with a sterile waterproof dressing.
• Cover long hair to avoid contact with contaminated sediment.
• Do not eat, drink or smoke whilst cleaning out and avoid touching your face unless you have washed your hands and face thoroughly with soap and clean water. Dry with a clean towel.
• Only drink from clean containers.
• If you become wet or cold, get clean, dry and warm as soon as possible. Have a hot drink before you start work again. Should you be unable to do this at home, please visit either Heaths Houses in Abbey Foregate or Cross Hill Court in Cross Hill.
• Wash all gloves, tools and clothing thoroughly after use.
• Consult your Doctor in the event of flu-like illness or fever, particularly where associated with severe headache and skin problems.

General Advice on Drying Out and Re-Decorating Your Property

• Initially all floor coverings should be removed and walls washed with clean water only.
• To help the house to dry out, windows and doors should be left open as much as possible and a fire kept alight or heat provided in each room.
• Lift one or two floorboards, particularly against outside walls, to increase the draught under the floor.
• Any furniture standing near walls should be removed and the wallpaper stripped off the flooded parts of walls.
• Any silt that has found its way under the house should be cleared away and under-floor gratings should be cleared. Silt or earth accumulated against brickwork above the damp-proof course should be cleared away and built-in cupboards left open - especially the one under the staircase.
• Walls may become covered with a white powder as they dry out. This is the salt already present in the bricks and should be brushed off dry.
• Under-floor timbers and floorboards of suspended floors must be dried out before replacing floor coverings. It is safer to use loose rugs for six months, as the longer the floor remains damp, the greater the chance of rot breaking out, which will cause decay and the loss of strength of the wood.
• If the house is built of brick or stone, the walls will take some months to dry out and there will be no hurry to re-decorate.
• If re-decoration is necessary, the walls should be treated with an anti-mould solution and be decorated with distemper or emulsion paint.
• If the plaster was already perished, it may have been weakened further by the flooding and need to be replaced. Re-plastering should be carried out as soon as possible, but then leave the bare walls for a while to dry out.
• Hinges and locks may need oiling to prevent them from seizing up.