Preparing for a flood requires specific gear to ensure your safety. While a general disaster kit is a good start for overall preparedness, having a flood survival kit tailored to your needs is essential if you live in a flood-prone area. A flood survival kit is not a standalone kit; rather, it consists of supplies that should be prioritized or included in your home survival kit.
While not everyone may need a flood survival kit, it is crucial for those residing in flood zones, coastal areas, or near large bodies of water. In this guide, we will explain what a flood survival kit is, how its key components enhance preparedness, and provide a flood survival kit checklist that you can download, print, or save in various formats.
Contents (Jump to a Section)
What is a Flood Survival Kit?
A flood survival kit serves one purpose: to enhance your chances of survival during a flood, whether that involves prevention, mitigation, or evacuation.
While the term typically refers to a basic disaster supplies kit, it is more effective to focus on gear specifically designed for dealing with flooding.
This gear usually includes wet-weather clothing, flood-prevention equipment, detection gear, and evacuation supplies. It also incorporates solutions for food and water, as well as emergency documents. All of these items are meant to supplement your primary kits, such as your home survival kit, bug out bag, everyday carry, and evacuation vehicle.
Flood Survival Kit vs Home Survival Kit
Flood survival kits have a more specific objective compared to general survival kits. They are tailored to address a specific range of flood-related threats and prioritize preparedness items to overcome these challenges.
While both flood survival kits and home survival kits focus on crucial aspects such as food, water, and communication supplies, flood survival kits modify these items to withstand or escape temporary flooding.
If you are looking for a comprehensive guide covering all supplies related to in-place survival at home, we recommend checking out our complete home survival kit guide.
Flood-Specific Supplies
Dealing with a significant amount of rising water requires specific equipment and the ability to make quick decisions. Even the most prepared individuals can struggle against a regional flood. Having the following gear on hand can give you an advantage if you need to mitigate the effects of flooding:
Personal Clothing
Protecting yourself is crucial. You need to stay dry to prevent medical issues from arising when you need to be alert and mobile.
Flood Prevention
Prevention is key, and taking action before a flood occurs is essential. Here is the gear we recommend for flood prevention:
Flood Detection
Detecting water and staying informed about weather conditions allows you to assess the level of danger. Here are our suggestions for flood detection gear:
Evacuation
Even if you choose not to evacuate when ordered to do so, it is vital to be prepared. Never neglect evacuation planning, and make sure you are not trapped by rising water.
Food and Water
Your food and water storage can quickly become contaminated or ruined during a flood. To ensure preparedness, we recommend adding the following items:
Other Kits and Documents
This gear and list are meant to complement your primary in-place home kit. You will need food and water storage capabilities, various tools, and mobility during flooding emergencies. Here are the kits you should already have:
Covered Threats
A flood survival kit is designed to address various scenarios, threats, and domino effects. These threats should also be considered when building any other survival kits. Specifically, we are looking at:
What Happens if You Don't Prepare?
Hopefully, nothing! The chances of encountering a flood are relatively low, and the chances of it being deadly are even lower.
In the US, floods directly cause around 100 deaths per year, with most of them being drivers. However, floods result in an average of $2.5 billion in property damage annually, reaching $60 billion in 2017. Furthermore, most people do not have flood insurance.
It is essential to note that these numbers do not account for the additional deaths caused by related issues such as power outages, house fires, supply chain disruptions, and immobility. Finding healthcare during a flood can be challenging, if not impossible. Similarly, obtaining uncontaminated food can become a major challenge if your pantry gets flooded.
Evacuation Planning
Evacuation should always be considered as a possibility, especially during floods. Many people opt for evacuation as the risk level makes it impractical to stay and attempt to protect an indefensible property.
Ultimately, the choice is yours, but all emergency agencies agree that early evacuation is the best course of action whenever it might be necessary.
Premade Flood Survival Kits
Most premade flood survival kits are simply general disaster survival kits. They do not include the specialized supplies we listed above or have in our checklist below.
While some premade kits, like earthquake kits, differentiate between natural disasters, most do not.
We have extensively reviewed premade survival kits, and while we prefer building our own, they can be a viable option for those short on time.
Flood Survival Kit Checklist
Although a perfect flood survival kit does not exist, the right kit for you will depend on your situation and risk tolerance. However, we have developed a comprehensive checklist that serves as an excellent starting point. This checklist complements a full preparedness plan and standard survival kits.
Our checklist is available in both PDF and Excel/Google Sheets formats. You can download the PDF version for a simple printing solution or use the Excel/Google Sheets version to track and customize your flood survival kit contents. Additionally, we have included links to the best-reviewed items for each category to facilitate your shopping process.
Flood Survival Kit Printable PDF Checklist
If you prefer a straightforward method of printing and using the checklist, download our printable PDF version. This one-page checklist is designed to be printed on 8.5″ x 11″ paper, making it incredibly convenient to create your kit. Once you open the flood survival kit PDF checklist in your browser, you can either print it directly or save it through your browser.
Flood Survival Kit Checklist Excel / Google Sheets
If you prefer a more comprehensive approach to track your flood survival kit contents, access our Excel / Google Sheets version. This sheet is shareable, and you can either copy it to your Google Sheets account or download it to Excel for easy editing. We have also included links to the best-reviewed items for each category, simplifying your shopping experience.
The Next Step
Whether you choose to build a flood survival kit or not, our next guide in this series focuses on Everyday Carry (EDC). The items you have with you during an unexpected disaster can determine whether you can reach your flood survival kit. To learn more about Everyday Carry, check out our guide here.
Keep exploring, stay prepared, and stay safe!
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By: Rusty Collins
Title: Flood Survival Kit Guide, Gear List, and Checklist
Sourced From: www.trueprepper.com/flood-survival-kit/
Published Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2023 13:36:17 +0000