Are You Prepared For Floods?

The long term weather forecast for a wetter than normal winter appears to be correct!  As with all emergencies, being prepared is half the battle.  Some points to consider are –

• Are gutters, down pipes and drains clear?  While they might be clear today, autumn leaves can quickly block them again.
• Are ditches, streams, etc. clear of debris?
• For stock being outwintered on potential floodplains, is there a clear exit route.  Remember with shorter days stock could need to be moved when light is poor.
• Are bales stacked on “high” ground?  If not consider using them for feed or bedding ASAP.
• If you have straw bales scattered over stubble fields, consider collecting, stacking and sheeting them on high ground.  In continuous heavy rainfall the outer 8 inches of a 4 foot round bale will be saturated and quickly start to rot, leaving only 45% of the bale as dry straw, which even then can only be used for bedding.  So if straw was purchased at £80/tonne the 2.75 foot core left will have cost £175/tonne!
• Make sure feed stores are watertight.  With current prices making gutters and roof, water running in underneath doors would result in a big cost, even worse if it reduces the health of stock due to the toxins etc.

Basil Lowman, basil.lowman@sac.co.uk