If you want to understand property flood resilience from the people who have lived through flooding, there are few better places to start than Mary Long-Dhonau's Property Flood Resilience Guide, updated for 2026.
Mary Long-Dhonau OBE is one of the most respected voices on flooding in the country. Her guide travels the country and lets flooded homeowners and businesses explain, in their own words, what they did to recover faster next time.
One theme comes through on almost every page: pumps are quietly central to a resilient home. Here is what the guide teaches, and where pumps fit in.
Property flood resilience means preparing a home so that if it floods, the damage is limited and the household can return sooner. Mary Long-Dhonau's 2026 guide shows how real homeowners achieve this with recoverable measures such as tiled floors, raised sockets and, repeatedly, pumps. Puddle pumps clear water that gets in, and sump pumps paired with cavity drainage remove water that rises from below.
Who is Mary Long-Dhonau, and what is the guide?
Mary Long-Dhonau OBE, widely known as Flood Mary, has spent decades campaigning on flooding and flood resilience, having been flooded repeatedly herself.
Her guide, available as a free ebook on floodmary.com, is a collection of real case studies from homeowners and businesses across the country who have made their properties more resilient. In her own words, "Having been flooded myself and benefited from my own recoverable measures", she set out to learn what others had done, so that people who are newly flooded can be informed and inspired when facing repair. It is practical, honest and free, and we recommend every at-risk homeowner reads it. The guide is also supported by the Environment Agency, FloodRE and Resilico.
What does flood resilience actually mean?
Flood resilience, sometimes called property flood resilience or PFR, it is about reducing the impact of flooding, and helping manage flood risk.
The guide draws a clear distinction that runs through every story: resistance measures try to keep water out, such as flood barriers and airbrick covers, while recoverable measures limit the damage and speed recovery, such as tiled floors, cement board instead of plasterboard, solid wood or metal-legged furniture, raised electrical sockets, and pumps to remove water.
One of the most sobering points Mary makes is that the recovery is often worse than the flood itself, with families out of their homes for a year or more, which is exactly why resilience matters.
We cover the pump side of this in our guide to sump pumps and property flood resilience.
The pattern in the guide: pumps are core kit
Read the case studies as an engineer and the same components appear again and again.
Several of the resilient homes use a cavity membrane system on the walls that deliberately lets any water that comes through pass behind the plaster and drain down into a sump, where a pump removes it.
Homes describe multiple submersible sump pumps in chambers below the floors, interlinked with pipework, and backup power such as a generator specifically to keep those pumps running during a power cut. Pumps are repeatedly described as an essential part of the household flood tool kit, and cheap to buy relative to the damage they prevent.
Why automatic pumps can help, from a real story
One story in the guide makes an important point - which is during longer flooding, any manual pumps need to be monitored. A coffee shop owner flooded repeatedly had pumps that did not switch on and off automatically, so during floods the couple could not leave, taking turns to watch the pumps running.
An automatic pump, which senses the water level and switches itself on and off, removes that burden and can help protect a property even when no one is there. Pumping at low levels is detailed in How to Pump Water Away Automatically at Floor Level.
The Evak Residox Automatic (pictured) offers a simple way to pump to low levels of water.
The AMA Drainer 301 is well regarded for use in a sump to remove water, these can be part of a packaged pump station with more information detailed in our blog where the setup removed the dependency on neighbours and eliminated the need for lifting equipment, plugging in pumps, moving hoses, or making decisions under pressure. The pump manages water quietly, automatically, and early, operating only when it is required: What is a Sump Pump and How Do You Install One?
For smaller-scale flooding, where a manual pump is sufficient and can be switched on and off at the mains, the Stream SPP-2 is highly regarded for pumping water down to very low levels, as little as 2 mm, as the best small flood pump.
Barriers alone are not enough
A barrier holds back the bulk of a flood, but water can seep under thresholds and rise through floors, and it has to be pumped away. That is why a barrier and a pump are two halves of one system, covered in our guide to why flood barriers still need water pumps, and why a low-level puddle pump behind a barrier is such a common part of a resilient home.
The pumps behind the pages
Several of the pumps and systems the guide illustrates are ones we supply and know well, so here is where each fits.
Our work with Mary Long-Dhonau
We are proud to have worked alongside Mary Long-Dhonau on flood resilience. We supplied a puddle pump for a Cumbria flood resilience showcase with Mary, which we wrote about in our Botcherby Community Centre Cumbria flood showcase piece.
We also collaborated on the Build Back Better initiative supported by Flood Re, which helps flooded households repair their homes more resiliently, and we sat down with Mary to discuss how flooding changed her life, the video can be watched below.
If Mary's guide has convinced you to prepare, our overview of the three main types of flood pumps is a good next read, and the wider flood control and property flood resilience ranges cover the rest.
The Property Flood Resilience Guide is written and published by Mary Long-Dhonau OBE and is available free at floodmary.com. We reference it here with admiration and link to the original; the stories and words in it belong to Mary and the homeowners who shared them.
Frequently asked questions
What is property flood resilience?
Property flood resilience is preparing a home so that if it floods, the damage is limited and the household can return sooner. It combines resistance measures that keep water out, such as barriers, with recoverable measures that limit damage and speed recovery, such as tiled floors, raised sockets and pumps to remove water.
Where can I read Mary Long-Dhonau's Property Flood Resilience Guide?
Mary Long-Dhonau's Property Flood Resilience Guide is available as a free ebook at floodmary.com. It gathers real case studies from homeowners and businesses who have made their properties more resilient, and it is a practical, honest starting point for anyone at flood risk who wants to understand recoverable measures.
