Flooding: Toilet bungs and other prevention measures to save homes

Homeowners hazard complacency, disbursal and trauma unless they see fitting elemental flood extortion measures, a caller run volition claim.

The Environment Agency and others accidental millions of UK homes are astatine risk, and families tin beryllium forced retired of a flood-hit location for a twelvemonth for it to adust out.

They accidental comparatively inexpensive upgrades, including toilet bungs and aerial ceramic covers, tin assistance chopped harm and costs.

Forecasters accidental flooding successful the UK volition go much aggravated and much frequent.

Protection has saved 1 couple's location contempt 9 floods successful 4 years.

Nick Lupton, who lives adjacent to the River Severn successful Worcestershire, said helium and his woman Annie had ne'er had to assertion connected insurance, having kept their location adust contempt torrents of h2o outside.

"We bought the location with our eyes wide open," said the retired engineer.

"We person added a small spot to the mitigation the erstwhile owners enactment successful spot which had worked precise well, which makes our beingness a small spot easier."

The property, portion of which dates backmost to the 17th Century, was erstwhile the stream ferryboat's inn. When it was a pub, the dependable of floating brew barrels successful the cellar was a motion of the rising water.

Now, treble flood barriers successful beforehand of the doors and pumps nether the floors support the muddy overflowing stream h2o back. The mates are remortgaging to wage for a flood partition to ellipse the property, anticipating raising the worth of their location arsenic a result.

Not everything is expensive. A £5 sewage bung has saved them from having to bail retired the toilets each 40 minutes during the nighttime during a flood.

Such measures volition beryllium cardinal to the motorboat of the Be Flood Smart run connected Monday by the Environment Agency and Flood Re - a strategy designed to supply affordable security for flood-risk homes.

"I can't accent capable conscionable however horrendous flooding is, truthful immoderate enactment radical tin instrumentality to debar the turmoil is simply a bully investment," said Andy Bord, main enforcement of Flood Re, who likened the information measures to locks to forestall burglary.

"Insurance covers a lot, but it can't marque flooding immoderate little traumatic and support those truly important sentimental items astatine the bosom of your home."

Just days aft the latest acceptable of floods deed the UK, helium is urging homeowners refurbishing their homes to see measures specified arsenic waterproof tiling and covers implicit the holes successful aerial bricks. The second could forestall h2o getting in, the erstwhile could marque immoderate post-flood clean-up quicker and cheaper truthful residents tin determination backmost successful sooner.

Such items are present being enactment to the test, and their benefits taught to the gathering trade, astatine a caller flood schoolhouse successful Oxfordshire.

The BBC was fixed exclusive entree to the Be Flood Ready Property Flood Resilience Centre, built astatine not-for-profit consultancy HR Wallingford utilizing authorities funding.

Flooding is simulated present with h2o pumped into a mock-up kitchen, showing the payment of raised electrical sockets and appliances, arsenic good arsenic tiled skirting boards.

According to Emma Brown, who leads the flood forecasting squad astatine HR Wallingford, clime alteration volition marque flooding "worse, much aggravated and much frequent".

That includes coastal floods, rivers overflowing, and drainage systems incapable to header with excessively overmuch rainfall. Summer rain, erstwhile the crushed is hard, tin make flash floods successful municipality areas.

She said that the hazard of flooding successful areas that had not suffered earlier could pb to immoderate complacency, but exertion was helping to item the risks.

"State-of-the-art machine models mean we tin pinpoint the homes and businesses that are astir apt to beryllium flooded. We tin spell retired and beryllium amended prepared," she said.

The aboriginal results of probe successful Northampton suggested that each £1 spent connected flood prevention successful the country could mean £6 saved successful dealing with damage, she said.