Protecting your household
Why prepare?
A sudden emergency may mean that your home loses power. You could be without electricity for hours, or even days.
Some emergencies mean you have to leave your home in a hurry. Sometimes you can’t go back for a long time and when you do, your home and belongings could have been damaged.
If you prepare yourself for possible risks, you can reduce the impact on your home and family.
5 ways you can
Prepare for emergencies
1
Be aware of local risks
2
Sign up for warnings and alerts
3
Join the Priority Services Register (if you are eligible)
4
Write a Household Emergency Action Plan
5
Make a Grab Bag
1. Be aware of local risks
The first step of becoming a prepared and resilient household is to know the risks in the area. This website contains information on the very high risks across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Have a look at the local risk pages and see if those could happen in your local area. For instance, if you live in Basingstoke, you won’t be impacted by coastal flooding, but if you live in Lymington then you may be.
For some risks, you can check your property’s risk. Click on the button below to check your property’s long term risk to flooding
To help stay up-to-date with risks in your area, you can sign up for emergency warnings and alerts.
2. Sign up for warnings and alerts
There are various ways that you can be alerted to danger and risks. Some are automatic alerts, and other you need to sign in.
Emergency alerts
The UK Government has an Emergency Alerts service. This service will notify you on your mobile phone or tablet if there is danger to life nearby. The alerts will include information about the danger and will provide you with additional information about how to keep yourself safe. Emergency alerts will only be sent from emergency services or government departments, so it’s important to read the alert and follow the instructions to keep yourself safe.
For more information on Emergency Alerts, click the button below:
Emergency alerts will automatically be sent to compatible devices, to see if your device can receive emergency alerts, click the button below.
Check if your phone/tablet can receive emergency alerts
Email alerts
While the Government Alerts are sent out automatically, there are others which you need to sign up to receive. Use the links below to sign up for email alerts and warnings about extreme weather and flooding events:
Met Office Email Alerts
Sign up for Met Office alerts via the Met Office App, or email alerts using the link below
Environment Agency Flood Alerts
Sign up for Environment Agency flood alerts and warnings using the link below
3. Join the Priority Services Register (PSR)
Utility companies keep a register of customers who may need additional support in a utility outage. This is called the Priority Services Register – or PSR. You may be eligible to join if you are of state pension age, have a disability, have young children or have additional communication, access or safety needs.
Gas and Electricity
To join your gas/ electricity supplier’s PSR follow the link below:
Water
To join the water PSR, you will first need to know who supplies your water. If you don’t know who supplies your water, use the link below to find out:
When you know who supplies your water, find their link below and sign up to their PSR:
Bournemouth Water
Portsmouth Water
South East Water
South West Water
Southern Water
Thames Water
Wessex Water
4. Household Emergency Action Plan
A Household Emergency Plan is a document you create to help prepare your household for emergencies. It should include contact numbers, details on isolating your gas, electricity and water, and sources of information and advice.
Download the template below to make your own household emergency plan
Items to organise
Evacuation Checklist
Emergency pack
Warm clothes and blankets
Essential medication
Baby essentials
Bank cards and wallet
Mobile phone and charger
Home and car keys
Toiletries and sanitary supplies
Pet carrier and collar
Items to organise
5. Emergency Grab Bag
Battery powered radio
Torch or a flashlight
Spare batteries
First aid kit
Essential contacts
Bottled water or cans
Evacuation checklist
Helpful links and resources
British Red Cross - First Aid Training
The British Red Cross provides free first aid training online and in-person. Follow the link below to learn more
what3words
In an emergency it’s important to be able to tell people your exact location. This can be done with traditional addresses, but it can also be done using what3words. Click the link below to learn more.
Met Office - WeatherReady
Thinking ahead and preparing for what the weather may bring can make a real difference. There are some simple steps you can take to stay safe and healthy at this time of year – from preparing your home or business to taking care of yourself, your family and neighbours.
For Children
StayWise
Saving lives through education. StayWise has a free online library that is packed full of educational resources and activities from the UK’s leading emergency services and safety-focused organisations making it easy for you to find trusted materials that provide learning opportunities to help keep children safe.
British Red Cross - First aid learning for children aged 5 –11
Through this resource, you’ll meet six characters as they use their first aid skills to help others. You can watch films and take part in activities to learn and practise first aid skills.
Mental health support
NHS - Every Mind Matters
Every Mind Matters is the NHS self-help site for when we’re feeling low, anxious or stressed. They offer simple, practical ways to ease anxiety, manage stress, lift your mood and sleep better.
Help in a crisis
This website lists local crisis support numbers, safe haven drop-ins and more across the Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Foundation Trust
Mental Wellbeing Hampshire
Mental Wellbeing Hampshire is a partnership of organisations working to support good mental health and wellbeing in our communities.
Shout
Shout is the UK's first and only free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging service for anyone who is struggling to cope.
To start a conversation, just text the word ‘HANTS’ to 85258.
