Flood Preparation for Landed Homes
The Pre-Monsoon Checklist

Why November is the month to prepare

Selangor's Department of Irrigation and Drainage (JPS) has identified 56 flood hotspots and 232 high-risk zones across the state for this season, according to The Star. Klang tops the list, followed by Petaling, Gombak and Hulu Langat, and the North-East Monsoon is projected to stretch through to March. Kuala Lumpur has its own flash-flood spots too.

For a terrace, semi-D or bungalow, the useful window is short. Once the first big storm has flooded a street, every drain contractor and every hardware shop is busy at the same time, and the jobs that take an afternoon in early November become a queue in December. Most of the list below is cheap, quick work that only pays off if it is done before the water comes. The roof is a separate job with its own checklist: see the monsoon roof preparation checklist.

Know how your house floods

Every flood plan starts with one question: where does the water come from, and how high has it come before? A landed house in the Klang Valley usually floods in one of three ways, and each needs a different answer.

• Surface water from the road: the monsoon drain overflows and water runs across the road, through the gate and in at the front door.
• Backflow through the drains: the council drain is full, so water comes up through the floor traps, the yard gully and the toilet, even when the road looks fine.
• Rain the house cannot shed: blocked perimeter drains, a porch that slopes inwards or a house that sits below road level, so heavy rain pools against the walls and seeps in.

Ask the neighbours how high the water came last time, look for old tide marks on the walls and gate posts, and check the nearest river-level station on JPS Public InfoBanjir. If the house sits below the road, the guide to raising the ground floor explains the long-term options.

Clear the drains, gutters and silt traps

Most of the water that floods a landed house in a cloudburst should have left through its own drains. Before the season, walk the whole perimeter. Lift the drain covers, scoop out sand, leaves and old renovation debris, and check that water flows towards the outlet, not back towards the house.

• Perimeter drains and the apron around the house: clear every run, and note any section that holds standing water after rain. Cracked or undersized drains are covered in the perimeter drain repair guide.
• Silt traps and gully traps: empty them completely; a trap that is already full of silt does nothing in a storm. See the silt trap guide if the house has none.
• Gutters and downpipes: flush each downpipe and make sure it discharges into a drain, not onto the porch.
• Floor traps and sinks inside the house: a slow drain on a dry day will back up in a storm. Clear it now; our clogged drain guide covers the usual causes.

Do not sweep mud or debris into the council monsoon drain outside. Blocked public drains are the council's job; report them early in the season rather than during the first storm.

Stop water coming up through the floor traps

If dirty water has come up through the floor traps or the toilet before, the house has a backflow problem, and a flood board at the door will not stop it. The usual fixes are non-return valves on the ground-floor drainage, sealed or plugged floor traps in rooms that are not in use, and making sure the last inspection chamber before the council drain is not cracked or open. The guide to sewage backing up in heavy rain explains how to tell which kind of backflow you have.

A cheap stop-gap for the season is a set of drain plugs or weighted bags for the floor traps you do not need, kept by the door with the flood boards. Take them out again after the water goes down, or the bathroom will not drain.

Flood boards, sump pump and the things that need testing

Anything you only use when it floods is the thing most likely to fail when it floods. In early November, take each item out and try it.

• Flood boards and flood doors: fit them once. Check the seals have not perished, the slots are clear of dirt and every family member knows where the boards are kept. The flood barrier and flood door guide compares the types.
• Sump pump: pour water into the pit and watch the float switch start the pump, then check the water leaves through the discharge pipe. Clean the inlet screen. See the sump pump guide for alarms and backup options.
• The gate and porch: check that the gate can be closed and that anything loose in the porch, such as pots, bins and shoe racks, can be moved quickly.
• Sandbags: if you use them, buy or fill them now. They are hard to find once the warnings start.

Move things up before the warning, not during it

When a flood warning comes, there is rarely enough time to carry a fridge upstairs. Decide now what goes where, and move what you can before the season starts:

• Important documents, title papers, insurance schedules and old photos: into a sealed plastic box upstairs.
• Small appliances, laptops and the Wi-Fi router: onto high shelves or upstairs.
• Large appliances that cannot move: on raised stands or plinths where the floor has flooded before.
• Furniture: lift sofas and beds on blocks if water reaches the ground floor every year; move rugs and carpets up.
• The car: decide in advance where it goes when a warning is issued, and do not drive through flooded roads.

For a single-storey house, the plan is about height and speed: high shelves, raised stands and a list of what to grab. If water reaches the same rooms every year, the bigger fix is a raised plinth or threshold, covered in the long-term section below.

Electricity: what to know before water arrives

TNB's flood safety advice is simple, and it is worth reading before the season, not during a flood. When water enters the house, avoid using electrical appliances and switch off the main switch at the distribution board. Before you leave the house, switch off the main incoming supply at the main switch, switch off and unplug appliances at the sockets, and keep electrical equipment in a high place away from the water. If the house has solar PV, switch it off before leaving so it cannot feed power back into the house wiring.

Make sure every adult in the house knows where the distribution board is and which switch is the main switch. Never touch electric poles or stay wires during a flood, and call TNB CareLine 15454 if the water is rising and the supply needs to be cut. Moving sockets or the distribution board higher up the wall is a sensible long-term change in a house that floods often. That work must be done by an electrical contractor registered with Suruhanjaya Tenaga.

Documents, insurance and a baseline record

Check your insurance before the season, while there is still time to change it. Look at your policy schedule for flood, special perils or natural disaster cover, for both the building and the contents, and ask your insurer or agent to confirm in writing if you are not sure. Sources disagree on what a standard home policy includes, so do not assume either way. The home insurance guide explains the policy types.

Then take a slow video of every ground-floor room, inside every cabinet and wardrobe, and of the model plates on your appliances. Save it to cloud storage. If the house floods, that video is your proof of what was there before. The flood insurance claim guide explains what else to record after a flood.

An emergency grab bag

Selangor's authorities have urged residents to prepare family emergency bags this season. Keep one bag per household by the stairs or the door, packed and ready, so nobody has to think when a warning comes.

A family flood plan: who does what

A plan only works if everyone knows it. Agree it at home in November, write it on one page and stick it inside a kitchen cabinet door. Follow official evacuation orders when they are given; do not wait to see how high the water gets.

Sign up for weather warnings on MetMalaysia or its myCuaca app, and keep the nearest JPS river-level station bookmarked. When you are allowed back in, the returning home after a flood checklist covers the first hour.

Longer-term fixes for houses that flood every year

If the same rooms flood every season, the checklist above only limits the damage. The lasting fixes change how water reaches the house: raised thresholds and plinths at the doors, resized or regraded perimeter drains, a sump pit and pump at the lowest point, permanent flood gates at the porch, and floor finishes and cabinets that cope with water, such as tiles and plastic or aluminium carcasses rather than particleboard. Some of these need council approval, especially work at the gate or on the boundary. Where rain also gets in through doors and walls, see where rainwater comes into the house.

How ClickBina helps before the monsoon

ClickBina is an experienced KL & Selangor contractor. Before the season, our crew clears perimeter drains and silt traps, fixes drain falls, fits flood boards and flood doors, builds raised plinths and thresholds, and installs sump pits and pumps. We do the non-electrical work, and we can look at the low points around your house with you and tell you which jobs are worth doing first.

WhatsApp us your area, the property type and how the house has flooded before, and we reply within the hour.

Sources & references

• The Star, 4 November 2026: Klang tops list of Selangor's 56 flood hotspots — JPS Selangor hotspot data, the monsoon outlook to March and the advice to prepare family emergency bags.
• TNB press release S.A. 2021/11/131, Panduan Keselamatan Elektrik Semasa Musim Tengkujuh — main switch, unplugging, keeping equipment high, solar PV and CareLine 15454.
• JPS Public InfoBanjir and MetMalaysia — official river-level, rainfall and weather warnings (linked above).

How we wrote this: this checklist gives no prices and no fixed timings; every house floods differently. Electrical advice follows TNB's published flood guidance.