Flooding Q&A: answers to questions raised after destructive rainfall
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Version 0 of 1. Which regions were most affected, what was the impact of flood defences, and what has the government pledged? Which regions have been affected? Areas across England were flooded in the last two months, including in: South and West Yorkshire; Lincolnshire and the Rivers Trent and Derwent in the East Midlands; Birmingham, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire in the West Midlands; Gloucestershire, Devon and Cornwall in the south-west; and Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Sussex and Surrey in the south-east. Large parts of four counties in the north were severely hit in the first weeks of November, including South Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. Councils estimated that more than 1,800 homes and properties were badly hit. However, it is difficult to put a precise number on how many properties have been affected across the country as the scale of the damage is still being realised. Why was the flooding so severe? There were several factors at play, but the most obvious was the sheer volume of rainwater that fell in a short period. It was estimated that a month’s worth of rain – about 80mm – fell in 24 hours on already saturated ground in the worst-affected areas in early November. The country as a whole had received 92% of its average rainfall for December by last Thursday. The climate emergency may also have played a part, as the Met Office estimates that the amount of rain from extremely wet days in the UK has increased by 17% in the most recent decade measured, 2008-2017, compared with 1961-1990. Did the flood defences fail? The Environment Agency has said about 14,400 properties were protected by flood defences, including nearly 5,000 in South Yorkshire alone. Sheffield was spared the worst of the damage this time thanks to flood prevention measures installed after the catastrophic floods of 2007. However, experts have said this simply pushed the problem downstream, to villages like Fishlake in Doncaster, where hundreds of homes were badly damaged. What more could be done? Political leaders in these regions want the government to commit to multimillion-pound investments in new defences that would protect the properties badly hit in November. They want ministers to establish a “Cobra for the north” – a government-led emergency response team that would kick in as soon as there is severe flooding in the region. Some council leaders also want an overhaul of the system for allocating taxpayers’ money to flood defence schemes, which experts have said favour wealthier areas at the expense of the less well-off. What has the government promised? The Conservative party pledged in its manifesto to spend £4bn over the next five years on a new flood defence programme, a commitment repeated in the Queen’s speech on 19 December. It said it was investing in 1,000 flood prevention schemes across the country to better protect 300,000 homes by 2021. However, the Environment Agency has said an average of £1bn a year will need to be invested in flood defences as well as a wider programme making all infrastructure flood-resilient by 2050. |