Aussies on the east coast woke up this morning to another La Nina alert from the BOM. The 3rd consecutive La Nina summer. It means an increased risk of flooding through Queensland and northern New South Wales. Again. If it hasn’t by now, natural disaster fatigue is sure to be setting in. After a decade of flash flooding and coastal flooding at our home in Brisbane, we know that floods are relentless, exhausting and traumatic. But if you’re not prepared, a triple La Nina is NOT the time to put your head in the sand. Instead, learn in 5 minutes how to prepare for floods in Australia and get safely through La Nina 2023.

How to prepare for floods – summary

My aim is to have you better prepared for the upcoming La Nina 2023 summer season after you read this article. So here’s a summary of how to prepare for floods. The article focuses on Australia. But the concepts apply no matter where you live.

These 6 steps are based on our lived experience of Brisbane floods and floods in North West Tasmania, as well as our knowledge of climate systems, and our learnings from the BOM and SES:

1. Know the BOM flood categories, follow their flood watch and warning advice.
2. Find out how flooding impacts your neighbourhood – from your Local Council and your neighbours
3. Make a Flood Emergency Kit.
4. Prepare your home for flood season.
5. Have a plan – when you will evacuate, the route and where you’ll go. Or where you’ll take refuge if you decide to stay home.
6. Follow evacuation orders – act early.

What happens during a flood?

Our personal account of what happens during a flood is from Brisbane. We hope by sharing it -both in weather terms and the human experience – you’ll know what to expect and how to prepare for floods in future.

So let’s run through what happens during the 3 common types of flooding you’ll face in Australia:

1. River flooding

Weather drivers: When heavy rainfall hits already soggy land, the water can’t be absorbed into the soil as it normally would. Instead, it flows overland into river catchments. The rivers can’t hold all of the water coming in, and flood.

The human experience: when rivers flood they get faster, higher and wider. We saw this with the Brisbane river. The water flows over its banks and into nearby areas.

When a river spills its banks, it is terrifying. You’re faced with fast moving, muddy water full of dangerous debris. Tree branches, logs, people’s property are washed away. If your property is in the water’s path anything loose in your yard gets washed away, along with your landscaping.

Brisbane River flood impacts in 2011 were unexpected. The water came backwards up the storm water / drainage system in inner Brisbane. It caught a lot of residents unawares. It rose over a number of hours and lasted a few days.

Everything was covered in mud when the water drained. Including the inside of peoples homes and their valuable possession. And it stunk.

Brisbane River floods showed us that rivers can flood when the rain falls elsewhere. It’s surreal. With the sun shining, streets and homes were inundated. Local rain is not a tell tale sign of river flooding.

Who is impacted: anyone who lives next to a river or in low lying areas around a river system. River floods can extend for kilometres from their river source.

2. Flash flooding

Weather drivers: short bursts of really hardcore rain. Like 150mm in an hour. The rain comes so fast that local roads, drains and overland flow paths can’t cope. Water backs up and floods happen.

Flash flooding occurs directly where the rain falls.

The human experience: flash flooding brings fast-rising water levels in gutters, from drains, on roads and in the path of overland flows. Water trying to flow down already full drainage systems rises as quickly as the mother nature sends down the rain.

Our road was flooded within an hour, stranding us and our cars at home.

Homes can be inundated from flash flooding just as quickly. And it’s easy to become caught out and stranded in your car.

Who is impacted: as rainfall gets more intense with climate change, any Australian can be impacted by flash flooding. It happens in big cities like Brisbane, but also small towns like Toowoomba and even in rural areas. And sometimes, there’s very little warning.

3. Coastal flooding (storm surge)

Weather drivers: winds push seas to higher than normal levels. The ocean breaks over beaches and waves wash into nearby properties. Flood levels worsen when a storm surge coincides with a king tide.

The human experience: On the coast, waves can wash into property with force, carrying your possessions away. Sea water can spread inland up to 200 meters.

Unexpectedly, sea water can also wash back up local stormwater drains, if it has nowhere else to go. We went through this in Brisbane.

The flood water rises and recedes slowly with the tide. You are constantly checking peak tide times to anticipate flood level peaks and work out how high the waters will rise.

It’s an agonising wait to see if you are inundated.

Flooding occurs along wide bands of the coast where the storm / winds are. Storm surge is common after cyclones.

Who is impacted: coastal homes within 200m of the ocean, if it’s a large storm surge.

10 facts you need to know to survive a flood

1. Rivers can flood on a sunny day. If the rain event has happened upstream. River floods downstream typically happen around 6 hours after the heavens open.
2. Flood water travels 2 to 5 meters per second. Faster than it looks on the surface.
3. BOM categorises river flooding as minor, moderate and major. You can read what each means below.
4. Flash floods are the most dangerous type of flooding. They can turn roads into rivers in minutes. They can strand properties, and wash away cars and people.
5. Flash floods can occur with very little to no warning because the intensity of rainfall is getting hard for BOM to predict as the climate changes.
6. River flood warnings don’t always get the extent of flooding right. Always prepare for the worst prediction (and hope for the best).
7. Major flooding comes with major disruptions – the power goes out, food doesn’t arrive in supermarkets, road closures are everywhere, and there’s no public transport. Ironically, you may have limited fresh water supply at home.
8. If you live inland in a flat and low-lying area, expect the flood to hang around for longer and move more slowly.
9. If you live on the coast or in a mountain area, flood waters will flow and recede quickly.
10. Coastal flooding moves with the tide, so rises and recedes in a the space of a few hours.

Why is it important to be prepared for a flood?

BOM says flooding is the second most deadly natural disaster in Australia after heatwaves. Perhaps its in 3rd place since Covid.

But you can limit damage and loss from flooding by preparing early. Here is why to prepare:

La Nina

There’s a triple La Nina on the horizon. For Queensland, the 1974 floods coincided with this kind of La Nina event. The 1954 triple La Nina didn’t bring bad flooding. But what if it does this year? Forewarned is forearmed. You can’t afford to take your chances this summer.

Building planning failures

Rivers are the lifeblood of many Australian cities and towns. But that same access to water means exposure to flood risk. Building on rivers didn’t turn out to be that smart. We’ve also built on flood pains over the years. If you’re in a flood zone like this, you must be prepared.

Climate change is changing floods

Another reason it is important to prepare for floods is the impact climate change is having on floods in Australia. Australia’s CSIRO is expecting more intense, heavy rainfall events.

This could increase the instances and intensity of river flooding and flash flooding.

They’re also expecting fewer, but more powerful cyclones up north. Perhaps leading to more intense coastal flooding.

How to prepare for floods personally

Know your flood warnings and classifications

Flood watch: You’ll see flood watch alerts from BOM when rainfall forecasts indicates that flooding may happen.

Flood warning: BOM will put out a flood warning alert when they’re more sure local flooding will happen in a certain area.

BOM also classifies river floods, so we know how severe the flooding might become:

Severe weather alert for flash flooding: For flash flooding, the BOM will issue a ‘severe weather alert’ for heavy rain that may lead to flash flooding. They’ll also broadcast the rainfall forecast. For example, 150mm over 2 hours.

It’s good to know what the BOM means when it broadcasts warnings, so you can interpret the information for your area, home and family. And get prepared for what’s to come.

6 thought-provoking reasons to prepare a Flood Emergency Kit

A Flood Emergency Kit has everything you need to survive a flood. Whether that means evacuating to a shelter, evacuation centre or family / friends home. Or taking refuge from flood waters at home.

Our article ‘What should be in a Flood Emergency Kit’ explains exactly what you need to pack for flooding, and how.

If you don’t have an Emergency Go bag or Flood Emergency kit but live in a flood zone, we highly recommend making one. Here is why:

1. When a flood hits, you may be required to evacuate, with very little warning.
2. Flood levels may be worse or inundation larger than is forecast or predicted.
3. If you don’t evacuate quickly, your evacuation routes could be cut off, leaving your stranded.
4. When a flood watch or warning happens, you may not have to time to buy supplies or supermarket shelves may already be empty.
5. In an emergency, stress and panic can set in. You’re unlikely to grab what you need to help get you through an evacuation to safety.
6. The right supplies and equipment can not only help you survive a serious flood, it can help you recover better afterwards.

You can also use a more general evacuation kit for emergencies like flooding. The recommended kit is an Emergency Go Bag. It’s a kit made for evacuations, but you can tailor it to flooding if need be.

How to prepare for a flood in your home

The intention is that you can turn the lists below into a checklist reminder, in a flood situation.

The most important thing to do to prepare your home for a flood is to get flood insurance.

If you’re in the US, you generally buy flood insurance separately from home insurance. Whether you need flood insurance or not (under law) is determined by your flood zone.

If you’re in Australia, it’s less straightforward. Some home insurance policies include flood insurance. Some don’t. It depends on the insurer and the policy. This makes it difficult to know whether you have the right policy for your specific flood risk. I wish we had something more akin to the US system. But that’s a whole different article.

Next, let’s look at how to prepare for imminent flooding.

Flood watch

A BOM Flood Watch advice comes 1 to 4 days before a potential flood.

The time has come to start preparing your home. Here’s what to do:

• Check your Flood Emergency Kit is ready. Check batteries still work. Add any medical scripts, sentimental items, important documents / USBs.
• Stock up with 72 hours of flood, water, candles and batteries to last a shortage. Roads, power and water may be cut off. For days even.
• Store away or tie down anything in your yard you don’t want to be washed away.
• Prepare your shed / garage – store chemicals and and tools above possible flood levels – high on shelves.
• Know who to call. The SES for emergency assistance. 000 for a life threatening situation.

Remember, ‘What should be in a Flood Emergency Kit’ will save you precious time as you checking through your kit at this stage of preparing.

Flood warning

A Flood Warning occurs 6 hours before a flood impact.

It’s time to make final preparations. Take these steps:

• Get pets inside with you or move livestock to higher ground.
• Move equipment to higher ground if possible. This includes your car, caravan, boat. We used to park ours at the top of a hill around 200 meters inland in Brisbane.
• Lift up whatever you can inside your home that is sitting on the floor.
• Open fences, lock sheds and sandbag your home.

What to do during a flood

• Check the BOM app and follow official warnings on media and social media (BOM, SES, State Government, Local Council)
• Follow orders to evacuate.
• Grab your Emergency Go Bag or Flood Emergency Kit.
• Check your evacuation route is safe. Stick to the route.
• Stay out of flood waters.

How to survive floods

Survive floods at home

Flood survivor stories tell of the shock of waking up in waste deep water with little warning. Luckily, that’s never happened to us. But the panic would be instant.

So how do you survive a flood at home, if you find yourself caught there?

Here is what the experts say:

• Grab your Go Bag or Flood Emergency kit and mobile phone.
• Move to the highest point in your home.
• Move higher with flood levels. Go upstairs if you can. Then onto your roof.
• Call the SES for rescue. Call your emergency contacts to alert them.

Survive a flood in your car

Caught in your car in flood waters is a life-threatening place to be. According to the experts from the ABC’s BIG Weather program, here’s how to handle it if your car starts filling with flood water:

• Take off your seat belt and roll down the windows immediately. The water may stop you from opening the door.
• Be sure to open electronic windows before the car is inundated or they won’t work.
• Use the headreast or breakglass hammer in your Car Emergency Kit to smash the window open if your car electronics are dead.
• Climb out of the car window and sit in the window space (legs inside).
• Crawl onto the roof.
• Call the SES or 000 and stay on the roof if possible.

How to survive flood waters

You’re in a deadly situation if you find yourself washed away in flood waters. According the the ABC’s Big Weather program experts, here’s how to handle it:

• don’t panic! Lay flat on your back. Lift your feet up close to the surface to avoid debris. Use your feet to keep sharp objects away from you as you’re washed along.
• Never try to stand up. This is when your feet get trapped and you can be pulled under.
• Time your breath with the waves.
• Float with the water until you reach a place of still water. Don’t spend all of your energy fighting to get to the bank in rough waters. Spend it staying afloat.
• Swim for the bank when you reach still water and shout for help.

What NOT to do during a flood

Don’t:

• Drive into flood waters. ‘If its flooded, floor it’ is a dumb plan. Just 15cm of water can make your car float. Once that happens, it’s unrecoverable. If it’s flooded, forget it.
• Wade into flood waters. The water is always moving faster than it looks. Dangerous debris might be below the surface. It can also harbour chemicals and bacteria.
• Try to surf or paddle the drains in a flood.
• Go site-seeing in a flood.

Conclusion and next steps

Flood weary folks in Queensland and NSW, our hearts go out to you. Our fingers are crossed for the summer season. But with the increased risk of floods from another La Nina event, it’s even more important to be prepared. You don’t need to be daunted or deterred!. Follow these 6 simple steps to better ready yourself for flooding:

1. Know the BOM flood categories, follow their flood watch and warning advice.
2. Find out how flooding impacts your neighbourhood – from your Local Council
3. Make a flood emergency kit.
4. Prepare your home.
5. Have a plan – when you will evacuate, the route and where you’ll go. Or where you’ll take refuge if you decide to stay home.
6. Follow evacuation orders – act early.