Getting together with your local community to make an emergency plan can minimise the impact of an emergency situation on your own household.

Your community could be your neighbours and those that live near you, or it could be a local club or organisation that you're part of, such as a sports club or religious group. Whoever your community is with, you should ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you aware of the risks you and your community might face, eg flooding?
• How can you help yourself and those around you during an emergency?
• What can you do to get involved in emergency planning in your community?

Make a community emergency plan

By planning in advance, you will be better prepared to respond in an emergency and better equipped to recover in the long-term.

Simple community emergency plans identify:

• Who can help and the skills they have
• Useful emergency equipment
• Vulnerable people in the community
• Useful emergency contacts.

You can start your own plan by using a template from Surrey County Council's website or find advice on creating a community flood plan from the Environment Agency.

Surrey Prepared 

Additional information about how you can better prepare for emergencies can be found at Surrey Prepared.