Warwickshire County Council is putting additional resources into clearing blocked drains, gullies and culverts around the county’s roads to combat the effects of increased flooding.An exception...
Warwickshire County Council is putting additional resources into clearing blocked drains, gullies and culverts around the county’s roads to combat the effects of increased flooding.
An exceptionally wet winter has led to saturated ground conditions which easily become flooded with additional rain fall. This is why the County Council is taking action to recover the county’s highway drainage systems from the recent flooding and to prepare as much as possible for potential downpours in the remaining winter months.
For example, where flooding is most at risk, work to clear drains will now also take place at weekends. To increase capacity, the Council has contracted an additional two drain cleaning jetters, bringing the total of jetters at work across the county to four.
Councillor Jeff Clarke, Warwickshire County Council's Portfolio Holder for Transport and Planning, said: “The danger, deep distress and inconvenience of flooded homes and roads is well known. Yet as the climate warms up, the risk of flooding due to more frequent, intense localised rainfall increases.
“To combat this, the County Council is doing as much as we can to reduce the risk to our communities by targeting our resources at roads with known flooding hotspot, and also areas where residents tell us there are problems.
“Our Flood Risk Management Team works hard to respond to issues caused by properties being flooded, working with our partners, including the Environment Agency and district councils to coordinate responses.”
Flood facts for Warwickshire:
Warwickshire County Council spends £800,000 per year on gully cleaning and jetting operations, plus £300,000 per year on drainage repairs.
Warwickshire County Council has worked with the Environment Agency and other partners to deliver £3.28 million worth of work since 2015, reducing the flood risk to 75 properties.
In this same period, the flood risk management team have carried out over 500 investigations into flooding aided by over 250 specialist CCTV investigations at a cost of £500,000. 80 of these investigations have led to the team commencing enforcement action.
In addition to works out on site, Warwickshire County Council plays an important role in ensuring that new development does not increase flood risk. The flood risk team have considered the surface water drainage impacts of over 4,000 planning consultations and assessed the impact of over 750 new structures within watercourses across the county.
General flooding advice
- Take time to understand your flood risk. Flood risk maps are freely available on the Ukwebsite at https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/long-term-flood-risk/
- Prepare in advance. WCC works in partnership with the National Flood Forum and very good information can be found in the following leaflet that they have produced https://nationalfloodforum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Ready-For-Flooding-26-11-14.pdf
- After the event, please ensure that you report any flooding to the council through the website. The following leaflet gives some advice on the records to make if safe to do so. https://apps.warwickshire.gov.uk/api/documents/WCCC-1039-86
Advice for people affected by flooding
Warwickshire County Council provides the following advice for those affected by flooding:
- Don’t drive through floodwater if you’re unsure of the depth.
- Don’t attempt to drive through closed roads.
- If you feel you’re in danger dial 999
- Avoid walking on footpaths close to rivers and water courses
- Monitor Environment Agency’s alerts and warnings.
For further advice on flooding visit Warwickshire County Council website: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/flooding