California's rainy season is weeks from ramping up, and this year's storms could be turbocharged by the strengthening super El Niño. Flooding is an increasing risk for many communities across the Golden State, but there's at least one thing you can do today to recover swiftly should the worst happen: get flood insurance.

Act on flood insurance sooner, not later

California faces flooding risks from three main sources: rainfall runoff, intensified flooding near burn scars from previous wildfires and coastal flooding. But less than 2% of California has government flood insurance, according to FEMA. This does not account for private flood insurance, but it is suspected that this rate is also low.

(MORE: Here's your winter outlook)

This isn't just going to be a California issue, but states like Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina have considerably higher flood insurance uptake. That said, take a look at the map at the end of this article and assess your own situation and whether you should also get flood insurance in your state.

In the Golden State, flooding can occur when the first major atmospheric river event crashes ashore in October or November, but getting a policy from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) takes time and is an addition to any homeowners or renters insurance.

This isn't something you can do in the days before a storm. All NFIP policies have a 30-day waiting period and most private insurers require 10 to 14 days.

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And if you have homeowners insurance, there's a very good chance that it does not cover flooding.

How to get flood insurance

If you live in an area where landslides or mudslides could happen, it is worth asking your insurance agent what exactly is covered by your policy. This is often a gray area between homeowners and flood insurance.

One small piece of good news is that you probably won't need any insurance this year when it comes to fires. Given all the expected additional rainfall, next year's fire season should be more subdued.

That makes this winter the perfect time to build mitigation strategies if your community is prone to fires.

(MORE: El Niño's impacts could hit your bank account, grocery bill)

The outlook is wet

California receives over half of its rainfall between November and March with a focus and some of the biggest Pacific storms coming ashore between December and February.

The bulk of these storms come from atmospheric rivers that get their moisture from near Hawaii.

With El Niño driving above-average water temperatures across large sections of the Pacific, more moisture will be available this winter to fuel atmospheric rivers.

This means that areas outside of the flood-prone communities could also be at risk this winter.

While it is too early to know how many storms will affect California or how much more rain will fall, the state is likely to see well-above-average rain and snow this season.