It has been an exceptionally wet autumn and winter in Somerset. Between October and February, catchments such as the Axe and the Brue have seen their wettest period on record, and the whole county has been affected by extreme rainfall events. Hundreds of properties have been flooded in dozens of communities, either from surface water, groundwater or fluvial flooding. In September Minehead experienced a flooding event that will live long in peoples memories. 
As climate change makes wetter winters and extreme weather events more likely, community resilience is more important than ever, and we will continue to support communities to be as prepared as they can be for flooding. This page has been created as a resource for people who are worried about the risks of flooding. We will add to it and update regularly with more information when it becomes available. 
Please click here for a flood action guide with preparedness information, and here for a recovery guide for those recently affected by flooding. If required, paper copies of these can be obtained from our Council Offices in Summerland Road. 

Sandbags
Neither Somerset Council or Minehead Town Council provide sandbags. Homeowners, tenants in private rented houses and housing association properties and businesses are responsible for protecting their own property from flooding.
Residents and businesses are strongly recommended to make provision, in advance against the risk of flooding. This is especially important if you live in a property or area that is known to flood or if you have requested sandbags from your former district council in the past.
There is comprehensive information available to assist householders and businesses to create their own flood plans and community resilience at The Flood Hub 
Reporting Flooding

Reporting of flooding is crucial for incident response and also for long term planning of flood risk reduction measures. If your community has been impacted by flooding but it has not been reported, then the relevant authorities may not be aware of what has occurred.

• The portal for non-emergency reporting is the Flood Online Reporting Tool: FORT - Home (geowessex.com). This information is shared with risk management authorities to ensure it goes to the correct organisation.

In an emergency, if there is a risk to life, report flooding to 999.
• For other emergency reporting, who you report the flooding to will depend on the source of the flood: https://www.gov.uk/report-flood-cause
• For main rivers: Environment Agency incident hotline (24hr) 0800 80 70 60
• For ordinary watercourses / surface water / roads: Somerset Council Report a problem on the road (somerset.gov.uk)
• For sewage / burst mains: Wessex Water 0345 600 4 600 (24hr) www.wessexwater.co.uk/your-wastewater/flooding/sewer-flooding