Flood advice sessions

With autumn just around the corner, it is time to start thinking about preparing your home for bad weather.

The Council does not provide sandbags to residents or businesses. This is because the small quantity we would be able to provide to those homes most at risk – a maximum of 10 per household – is not an effective method of flood prevention. While sandbags have previously been supplied in extreme cases, this will no longer happen as quicker and more effective ways have been identified for residents to protect their own homes from flooding.

To help residents in flood risk areas to prepare for bad weather, the Council is hosting two drop-in sessions with the Environment Agency.

• 7^th September, 6-8pm: Darwen Town Hall Darwen
• 13^th September, 6-8pm: Mill Hill Community Centre Blackburn

At the sessions, you will be able to:

• Sign up to the Environment Agency’s Flood Warnings Direct system, which provides advance information by text or telephone of potential river flooding
• Find out about the simple things you can do to help protect your home from floods
• Sign up for Met Office Weather alerts and get the latest local weather and roads information via the BwD WeatherWatch Facebook pages at https://www.facebook.com/BwDWeatherWatch/
• Get information about flood insurance packages for homes and businesses within flood zones.

Cllr Jim Smith, executive member for environment, said:

There are many things residents can do to  prepare for potential flooding, from signing up to alerts so they always know when bad weather is coming, to taking simple precautions like moving valuables upstairs to protect their belongings.

Winter seems a long way off right now, but I would urge people to start planning ahead and attend one of these sessions.”

If you can’t make one of the sessions, you can find flood advice and information by visiting www.blackburn.gov.uk and searching for ‘flooding’. A short animation at http://bit.ly/2bOQhLv also shows you some simple steps you can take to protect your home and your valuables.