A frustrated flood resilience campaigner has urged people to ditch sandbags for protective tape ahead of the first major storm of the autumn.
Mary Long-Dhonau OBE, known as Flood Mary, has argued that people ‘deserve better than sandbags’ as people brace themselves for Storm Austen, the first of a series of storms which draw strength from a so-called’Super El Niño’.
Although the worst of the stormy weather will miss Worcestershire, people are still being urged to prepare with the Met Office imposing a yellow wind warning for parts of southern England. The storm is expected to bring disruptive wind and rain from late Thursday and into Friday.
The Met Office has named #StormAusten
The storm is forecast to bring strong winds and heavy rain across the UK on Thursday night and Friday
The strongest winds will be across the southwest of England and into southern Wales.
Stay #WeatherAware ⚠️ https://t.co/QEVcM0yZbG
— Met Office (@metoffice) https://x.com/metoffice/status/2112479089655234563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>October 20, 2026
Risks include the chance travel disruption, power cuts and a chance of injuries from debris in places.
Mrs Long-Dhonau has welcomed new research from Flood Re and the University of Hull that shows how low-cost tapes outperformed traditional sandbags at reducing water entering through a front door during simulated flooding.
The flood expert, now of Ledbury, has direct experience of flooding while living in Waverley Street in Worcester.
ADVICE: Mary Long-Dhonau, a flood resilience campaigner, backs the use of tape over sandbags, backed up by the latest research (Image: Supplied by Mary Long-Dhonau)
She has campaigned for years against the reliance on sandbags as a household flood resilience measure while championing affordable alternatives, including flood tapes and aluminium tape, that people can keep ready at home in case of a flooding emergency.
The research, released during Flood Action Week, found that every type of tape tested – flood putty tape, duct tape, aluminium tape and yellow plastic tape – performed better than traditional sandbags when applied to the outside of a doorway.
High-quality wide duct tape reduced water leakage by 97–98 per cent compared with an untreated door, said Mrs Long-Dhonau.
Even the lowest-performing tape reduced leakage by 80 per cent, compared with 70 per cent for hessian, sand-filled sandbags.
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She added: “For years, I’ve been frustrated and upset by the sight of people desperately trying to get hold of sandbags when flooding threatens, believing they are the best option available to them.
“People deserve better – they deserve to know about practical alternatives, including those that are affordable and easy to store for when needed in an emergency.
I’ve been championing tape for some time, so it is wonderful to see this research give people assurances and evidence that help them to make those choices.”
Commissioned by Flood Re and carried out at the University of Hull’s PFRlab, the testing examined six commonly used door types at flood depths of up to 600mm, versus 54 traditional sandbags.
The research identified high-quality wide duct tape as offering a particularly strong combination of performance, affordability, durability and ease of installation.
Importantly, temporary emergency measures such as tape are not a recommended replacement of professionally assessed, specified and installed Property Flood Resilience measures, where they are needed.
Mrs Long-Dhonau launched her “Ban the Sandbag” campaign in 2022, challenging the continued use of sandbags as a go-to response to flooding.
Her campaigning has highlighted their weight, storage requirements and disposal difficulties, alongside concerns about their effectiveness.
Mrs Long-Dhonau said: “Over recent winters, I’ve spoken with thousands of people living at flood risk and many are looking for practical options.
While it doesn’t replace kitemarked property flood resilience measures, tape is relatively inexpensive and is something that you can keep in a cupboard for use in an emergency.”
