Despite it being the official start of British summer, many locations have continued to be hit by severe flooding in the last few weeks. Locations all over the UK have been struck by severe weather warnings, and many properties have been left damaged by the continued rainfall. Unfortunately this is not considered remarkable. The UK has already seen heavy flooding since the year started, following on from years of previously high flood levels.
With such severe damage to properties and livelihoods being commonplace, it is only natural that groups of people would ask if enough is being done to help mitigate the damage and risk of flooding in the country.
The Environmental Audit Committee recently released its second report of Flooding: cooperation across Government. In it, the committee highlighted the cost and ramification of the last few months of flooding in the north of England, parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Particular focus was paid to recent storms, Eva, Frank and Desmond, which lead to claims of around £1.3bn in insurance funds. The committee found that despite the regularity of flood damage in the UK, government spending on flooding has varied dramatically year on year. In their conclusion, they claimed that: “Over the last 20 years there has been a review following every major flooding event and this year is no exception. This repetitive cycle suggests that there has been a lack of effective long-term strategic planning about how to manage flood risk.”
Whilst the report pays attention to the amount spent by government on flooding each year, it also attempts to break the figures down further. Despite the government stating that they are planning to commit £2.3bn on building more flood preventative defences, the committee voiced scepticism about how successful they would be. In particular, they highlighted the somewhat neglected but necessary upkeep for current flood prevention systems as a specific area of concern. In their conclusion the committee also added in summary that “the Government appears to be reactive rather than proactive.
“If the Government fails to learn lessons and improve its long-term strategy then communities and businesses which would otherwise be protected will continue to suffer the unnecessary distress of being flooded.”
Though flood assistance is incredibly important, flood prevention is essential in helping to stop water flow before it becomes an issue. Through leading advances in flood preventative equipment and devices, it becomes easier to spot potentially destructive situations and work to stop them, before they cause lasting damage.
Though the government seem to be making a conscious effort to tackle consistent flooding issues in the UK, it seems that more might still be needed to help relieve the flooding damage to the country.
Aquaread
Aquaread offer early flood warning systems to help provide instant alerts about rising water levels. This helps to give people all over the country instantaneous alerts to potential flood risk, and distribute the responsibility of flood prevention by providing portable devices available to anyone. Click here to find out more about the work that we do to help with flood prevention.