Flood checklist: How to prepare for a flood & how to survive a flood

Canstar’s flood checklist includes emergency flood assistance resources and flood preparation tips for before, during and after a flood or flash flood. We’ve brought together government and emergency services information nationally. Remember: if it’s flooded, forget it.

source: Kathie Nichols/Shutterstock

*As of 03/03/2025, Southeast Queensland and Northern NSW have been put on cyclone watch as Cyclone Alfred hovers off the southern Queensland coast. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has classed the cyclone as a category 2 system, predicting it will “become slow moving and turn west towards the Queensland coast on Tuesday evening. Alfred’s intensity may fluctuate between category 1 and 2 later today and tomorrow, but is forecast to cross the southeast Queensland coast at category 2 strength late on Thursday or early Friday,” says the latest update from BOM.

Head to government website, Get Ready Queensland for information on how to prepare and secure your home for an extreme weather event.

Get emergency flood assistance now

Call your state or territory emergency service (SES) on 132 500 for emergency help in a flood, storm or tsunami. For a life-threatening emergency call Triple Zero (000). You can view the latest flood warnings for your area, state or territory on the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) website.

Government services

For more information on flood preparedness, visit the government advice for your state or territory:

Detailed information about flood readiness is available from these websites above. For example, the NSW State Emergency Service (NSW SES) has information for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Flood safety resources are also available to support people who are deaf or hard of hearing, have limited mobility, have an intellectual disability, or have a visual disability.

People with a disability can use the National Relay Service to contact state emergency services. In NSW, for example, the NSW SES has an explanatory video available for how to seek support.

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Flood preparation before a flood

How do you prepare for a flood? Here are eight tips for flood preparedness to help you protect yourself and your family, as well as your home and property.

1. Find out if you’re in a flood area

You can check the Australian Government’s Flood Risk Information Portal to estimate the risk of flood for your home. This portal has been developed between the state and territory governments and the insurance industry. It includes flood maps and flood studies, as well as details for surface water observations analysed with satellite imagery.

2. Check your insurance coverage

Having sufficient insurance to meet your personal needs – including home insurance, contents insurance and car insurance – can help you to have peace of mind in preparing for wild weather such as floods, damaging winds and storms. You can compare car insurance and home and contents insurance policies with Canstar.

If you already have insurance, but are unsure if it includes cover for flood damage, you may like to review your policy documents or contact your insurance provider to confirm what the policy includes. You may also be interested in our related pages, including:

3. Clean up outside and inside

Secure all loose items like outdoor furniture, garden tools, and children’s toys. If you can, lock them away inside or move them to a higher, more secure position. As for inside:

Move as many items as you can to a higher position in your home, especially chemicals, oils, and anything that could float and cause damage.
Roll up rugs.
Secure anything that could be knocked over and create a hazard in a storm surge, such as heavy bookshelves. Put smaller electrical appliances up on tables and benchtops.

4. Charge your mobile phone

Charge your phone, tablet or iPad, laptop, and any other electronic equipment fully before the flood. That way, even if the power goes out, you can still make calls and check for updates on the storm.

5. Disconnect utilities

Once your phone is charged, unplug all your electrical appliances, as recommended by Ergon Energy, and turn off your home’s power at the switchboard. Also turn off the gas and water.

6. Prepare an emergency kit

Here are some important things to include in an emergency and/or evacuation kit.

Emergency kit essentials:

Torches
Battery-powered radio
Extra batteries
Clean drinking water
Rubber gloves
First aid kit
Medications in a waterproof bag
Identification and insurance documents, photo albums or other mementos in a waterproof bag
Warm clothing, bedding and pillows – plan to stay overnight if you evacuate
Food that won’t perish quickly
A camp stove for boiling water and cooking food
Waterproof bags.

7. Listen for announcements

Keep your radio on and tuned to your local station so that you can hear all important information. On the BoM website, you can find current flood warnings, and rainfall and river conditions.

8. Be a good neighbour

Now that you are prepared, check that your neighbours are also; especially if they are elderly, disabled, do not speak English well or have young children.

Compare Home and Contents Insurance with Canstar

If you’re comparing home and contents insurance policies, the comparison table below displays some of the policies currently available on Canstar’s database for an Australian aged under 50, seeking cover in NSW or the ACT for a cost to replace contents of below $75,000. Please note the table is sorted by Star Rating (highest to lowest), followed by provider name (alphabetical) and features links direct to the providers’ websites. Consider the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD), before making a purchase decision. Contact the product issuer directly for a copy of the PDS and TMD. Use Canstar’s home insurance comparison selector to view a wider range of policies. Canstar may earn a fee for referrals.