If your home or community is at risk of flooding, here are some important steps you can take to stay safe. First, experts say you should research how local officials will communicate with you in an emergency before one hits. “You want to make sure to sign up for emergency alerts in your area and know what other mechanisms might be used, whether that's communication through sirens, through your local government, or through a weather agency," said Monika Weber, a disaster preparedness specialist in Colorado. They will tell you if you need to evacuate. In the event you are caught in flooded area, evacuation may no longer be an option, and you’ll need to find higher ground. That could mean climbing “to a higher floor of a building or even up a hillside to keep yourself safe and out of floodwaters,” Weber said. Just be sure there’s a window if you’re indoors in case waters continue to rise and you need an emergency escape as a last resort. And think twice before you walk or drive through moving water. As little as six inches of moving water can knock you off your feet, and “as little as one to two feet of moving water can move a small car or even a large truck or SUV,” Weber said. "Even post-flood when there's standing water around, you want to make sure not to walk through that because there's a lot of contaminants that can cause risk to your health, but then also things that have been swept away that can cause injury or other harm,” she said. If an evacuation is needed, having a go-bag or packing list handy can speed things up. You'll need the essentials while you're away and important documents should anything happen to your home or property.