19/10/2005 - On Thursday, 27 October 2005, the Environment Agency’s mobile advertising van will visit Leicester and Newark. The visit is part of this year’s Flood Awareness Campaign to encourage people living and working in these flood risk areas to act now to help protect themselves from the damage and distress flooding can cause.

We have spent millions of pounds on improving defences since the Autumn 2000 floods and our vital work to reduce the risk of flooding in vulnerable communities will continue. But there is much people can do themselves to help protect their homes, families and treasured possessions.

Our research shows that, despite seeing in the media news of the devastating floods in the Far East and New Orleans, and closer to home in Boscastle and Carlisle, people living in flood risk areas across England and Wales still think it will not happen to them and are not doing enough to protect themselves.

The Environment Agency’s three steps to take to prepare for flooding:

Visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk/floodline or call our 24 hour Floodline on 0845 988 1188 to find out if you are at risk of flooding

Find out if flood warnings are available in your area

Make sure you understand the flood warning codes so you know what to do when a flood warning is issued

If floods are imminent, people must:

Co-operate with emergency services and local authorities – you may be evacuated

Turn off gas, electricity and water supplies at the mains. Find out where these are well in advance of any flood

Put plugs into sinks and weigh them down with something heavy

Move sentimental items like photographs upstairs and think about storing them more safely in future in case you forget or don’t have time to move them during a flood

Move as many possessions upstairs as you can.

Paul Lockhart, our Flood Risk Manager for the Lower Trent Area says: "We hope that seeing our mobile advertisement will remind people that they are living or working in a flood risk area and prompt them to take action now. It is too late when the flood water is rising around them.

"The recent news coverage of the devastation caused by flooding in New Orleans graphically demonstrates why it is so important to prepare, even if you live behind a flood defence. It is no good thinking it will not happen here. The events at Boscastle and Carlisle prove that it can.

"Flooding is a natural event and, although my team works hard to reduce the risk, even the best flood defences cannot be guaranteed against the forces of nature. Our message to low-lying communities is - whether you are living behind defences or not, you must follow our advice and prepare."