Extension > Extreme weather > Prepare for floods
Prepare for floods
Table of contents
Family
Five steps to prepare your family for floods
- Get the right insurance
- Inventory your household property
- Protect your important financial documents
- Make a plan to protect your family and pets
- Keep an emergency fund
Preparing Now for Resilience Before, During and After the Flood 2011: The Important Role of Family Professionals – Recorded webinar that reviews key factors of resilience and statewide resources that are available for flood preparation and recovery. Intended for family-serving professionals, this webinar took place March 2011.
Housing
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Preparing your home for floods
Prepare your home to resist seasonal flooding. Print fact sheet (398 K PDF)
Other housing resources we recommend
- Floods: General Tips for Reducing Flood and Water Damage Inside the Home — eXtension: Cooperative Extension System — Things you can do to reduce water and flood damage in your home.
- Steps to Reduce Flood and Water Damage — North Dakota State University — Checklist helps you reduce severe damage to your home and property.
- Water-Related Emergencies and Outbreaks - Septic Systems — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Prepare your septic system before an emergency such as a flood.
- Drinking Water Emergency Preparedness — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Identify issues to prepare for floods that may threaten the health of your family.
Farm
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Preparing livestock in a flood zone
Plan for a safe location, feed, water, loss of power, injury, transportation and more.
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Horse owners: prepare for floods
Plan if your facility is in a low area, close to a stream or river, or in or near a flood plain.
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Weather-related livestock sales
Explains how some livestock sales may be tax deferred during weather related disasters.
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An ounce of protection: Dairy farmers
Prepare for major widespread spring flooding: take an inventory of problem low spots from previous years, protect feed and bedding, check road spring load restrictions from MNDOT, and more.
Other farm resources we recommend
- Prevented Planting Insurance Provisions: Flood — USDA — A failure to plant the insured crop with the proper equipment by the final planting date designated in the insurance policy...
- Taking Steps Now Can Help Rural Residents and Feedlot Operators Avoid Pollution Problems in a Flood — Minnesota Pollution Control Agency — Minimize pollution from fuel, household and farm chemicals, and manure.
Flood fact sheets
- Talk to children about floods (407 K PDF)
- Red File: Your grab & go case for emergencies (382 K PDF)
- Preparing your home for floods (398 K PDF)
- Preparing livestock in a flood zone (354 K PDF)
- Preparing wells and septic systems for a flood (396 K PDF)
Shared Extension flood resources
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Handout - 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"
View handout
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Poster - 8 1/2" x 11"
View poster
Other prepare resources we recommend
Extension
Watersheds and Floods — University of Minnesota Extension and University of North Dakota — An interview on watersheds, why the Red River floods and how impacts can be reduced.- Before the Flood — North Dakota State University — Includes information on sump pumps, sandbagging and generators.
- eXtension: Cooperative Extension System — Floods: Prepare | Floods: Plan | Reduce Potential for Future Flood Damage
- Disaster Handbook: Flood Preparedness and Response (650 K PDF) — University of Wisconsin Extension Service — The complete Extension resource.
- Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) — A collaborative multi-state effort by Extension Services across the country to improve the delivery of services to citizens affected by disasters.
Minnesota
- 511 Traffic and Road Conditions — Dial 511 — Minnesota Department of Transportation — Weather, construction, delays and more, online or by phone at 5-1-1.
- Minnesota Duty Officer Program (56 K PDF) — 800-422-0798 (Greater Minnesota only) or 651-649-5451 (Twin Cities Metro Area) — Homeland Security and Emergency Management — Assistance and additional resources for a wide range of emergency situations, including reporting hazardous spills.
- Emergency & Community Health Outreach (ECHO) — 1-888-883-8831 — Minnesota/North Dakota flood resources in several languages common in Minnesota, Severe weather warnings.
- Lake Level Minnesota — Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — Get information for specific lakes with the Lake Finder.
- Severe Weather Awareness — Minnesota Department of Public Safety: Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management — Subscribe to email announcements and updates.
- Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery — Minnesota Department of Health —Individual and family preparedness, emergency communications, legal issues and more.
National
- Are You Ready? — FEMA — Asks you pertinent flood preparation questions depending on what scenario you may encounter.
- DisasterAssistance.gov — Collaboration of U.S. Government agencies — Use this questionnaire to determine if you qualify for assistance. Additional information on how to get help from the U.S. Government before, during and after a disaster.
- Emergency response plan - Guidance for wastewater systems (2.5 MB PDF) — This 83 page report references information and data that should be included in an emergency response plan.
