With climate change making extreme weather events like flooding increasingly likely as time goes on, it’s essential that businesses do all they can to shore up the risks and become more resilient to this kind of natural disaster.

Recent figures from insurance company Aviva show that almost one in three commercial properties around the UK are now at risk of flooding, with 57 per cent believing that the changing climate will have an impact on their operations within the next ten years or so, with flooding and extreme heat emerging as the biggest concerns.

The key for businesses of all kinds is to plan and prepare, knowing just how at risk you are and what you can do to mitigate the impact of such an event to ensure that you can continue trading and get back on your feet as soon as possible.

Simple steps like carrying out a flood risk assessment, developing a flood plan, insuring your premises against flooding and ensuring that staff members have flood training provided can all help keep you afloat.

But what should you do in the instant that your business is flooding and in the immediate aftermath?

During a flooding event, your top priority needs to be the safety of your customers, members of staff and anyone else on site. Everyone needs to be evacuated safely and it’s important not to go back into the building until you know for sure that it’s secure.

Once the waters have subsided, you will want to clean up the site – but make sure that the electricity supply is turned off at the mains before you do so. 

Wearing personal protective equipment is a must, as flood waters are rarely clean and may contain chemicals, sewage and other such waste. Hiring a reactive maintenance company to come out and help you swiftly can make a huge difference in the safety, speed and quality of the clean-up job.

Once everything is back up and running, you may also want to consider making some changes to your premises to make it more flood secure, everything from elevating electrical sockets to using racking for equipment and stock, keeping IT equipment upstairs or on a raised surface and keeping excess stock stored on site to a minimum to reduce costly damage.

You may also want to sign up for flood warnings in the future, so you can better prepare ahead of time and ensure your business site is afforded the appropriate level of protection before the floods hit.