Who to contact for flooding

Find out who to contact in an emergency, to report a flood, for emotional wellbeing, or practical help, to include financial support such as grants.

Subscribe to our Newsletters
Subscribe to our Newsletter

Subscribe to our Leicestershire newsletters for the latest news, tips, and support.

Indicates required field
Select your Subscriptions

See our privacy section. You can unsubscribe at any time from within the emails you receive.

 

If you, or anyone else is in danger as a result of a flood, call 999.

It’s vital to put people before property and to co-operate with the emergency services if they tell you to evacuate your home.

It's your responsibility to protect your home from flooding. The fire and rescue service may be able to provide over pumping or rescue from flood water depending on resource availability and risk level.

Report a flood or get advice

There is no single organisation that is responsible for flooding. 

Depending on what has caused the flood, or where the flood is, you'll need to report it, or get advice from the relevant organisation below:  

Types of flooding graphic with numbers as a key

Flooding from or in the following locations:

1. Reservoirs and main rivers

Contact the Environment Agency via:

  • The Environment Agency Incident Hotline on 0800 807 060 (24 hour), or
  • The Environment Agency Flood line on 0345 988 1188 
2. Railway

Contact Network Rail on: 03457 114 141 (24 hour)

3 & 5. Small streams and ditches (also known as ordinary watercourses) and surface and ground water (not on the road)

Contact the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) using our flood reporting form  

If you cannot complete the above form, please contact flood risk management directly at flooding@leics.gov.uk or call 0116 305 0001 (during office hours only).

What happens next: An officer will review the report and prioritise a response based on the scale of it and what has caused the flood. 

4. A blocked road drain or surface water on the road

Contact the Local Highways Authority using our Report it form  

If you cannot complete the above form, please contact our Highways team directly at flooding@leics.gov.uk or call 0116 305 0001 (during office hours only).

What to expect next: Responsibilities, how to report, and what to expect after reporting a blocked roadside drain or gulley are detailed on our Roadside Drains page.  

6. Private residence or business

Contact the private owner responsible for the property.  If a watercourse runs through your land, you may have responsibilities.

7. Mains sewer and waste water sewer

Contact your water company:

8. A canal

Contact: Canal and River Trust 

If the flooding source is not identified in the list above, please email flooding@leics.gov.uk  

Local support groups for wellbeing and practical support

Find out what support is available in your local area before, during and after a flood:

Flood action groups

Volunteers who work with local councils and agencies to reduce flood risks and represent local people. Email llrprepared@leics.gov.uk to find more. 

Community flood wardens

Volunteers monitor a specific local area and tell residents when flooding is likely to happen. Email llrprepared@leics.gov.uk to find more. 

The local resilience forum, LLR prepared

LLR Prepared is a local resilience forum that delivers emergency planning for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.  It provides information and advice on how residents, businesses and communities together can prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies.

Your district or borough council

If you have been evacuated or need to evacuate your home, you can contact your district or borough council  to find out about assistance with emergency shelter. 

Financial support

Property flood resilience repair grant

If you experienced internal flooding to your home or business during Storm Babet (October 2023) or Storm Henk (January 2024), you may be eligible for a grant of up to £5,000 (inclusive of VAT) through the Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Repair Grant Scheme

National support 

Floodline

The flood warning and information service used in the UK to issue flood alerts and warnings.

  • Telephone: 0345 988 1188
  • Textphone: 0345 6026340
  • 24-hour service

Find out about call charges

The British Red Cross

If you need any support after a flooding incident, volunteers at The British Red Cross can provide (where possible) free and confidential emotional support and signposting to local services. Call 0808 196 3651. 

British Red Cross support is available Monday to Friday. 

The Samaritans

For free and confidential emotional support and signposting to local services you can also contact the Samaritans.

Submit a flooding enquiry

If you can't find what you're looking for on our website, and are looking for advice on flooding, please contact us using this online flooding enquiry form. 

This form is not for reporting a flood, or to be used in an emergency as we may not be able to respond immediately. 

Submit an online enquiry