Warehouse flood first-hour checklist for facility teams

How to use this checklist

This page is a starting framework, not a replacement for your emergency plan, your insurer's instructions or professional advice. Print it, edit it to match your building and keep a copy where the shift supervisor can find it. The order matters: protect people, control the source, then protect property and records. If anything on the list conflicts with your own safety rules, follow your safety rules.

The checklist is divided into stages so that nobody has to read everything while water is spreading. Assign a lead for each stage in advance. In a small team one person may cover several stages, but writing the names down avoids confusion about who is doing what.

Keep expectations realistic. The first hour of a real event rarely follows a script, and some items will not apply. Use the list as a prompt for things that are easy to forget under stress, such as asking about fire watch, taking a photo before moving stock or noting the time the water was first seen. Even partial use of a checklist tends to leave a better record than none, and the habit of writing things down carries over into the later stages of the event.