Flood Free Homes

I have firsthand experience of being repeatedly flooded out of my home. The ravages of floodwater can have far-reaching consequences for everyone affected, not only in terms of the physical damage caused but also less obvious issues, such as stress and depression.

The first bleak walk back into your waterlogged home is so hard to comprehend, if you’ve not been through it yourself. Your belongings are covered with a thick brown sludge, your furniture is sodden and your home stinks. You watch helplessly as everything you have worked so hard for is thrown into a skip. Worse still, you lose items that no insurance policy can ever replace: a child’s first drawings; photographs of relatives who are no longer with us; and it is these experiences that are heart-breaking.

"Since the 1990’s, when my first flood happened, I have spoken to and visited countless people who have their lives devastated by being flooded. They have spoken to me of their utter despair at having lost their home, their ‘sanctuary’, in this way. Flood water is a silent, indiscriminate burglar that takes no prisoners, and doesn’t care whether its victims are the young, old, disabled, rich or poor. It seems to malevolently wreck the lives of thousands of people, year in, year out. It is impossible to put an accurate price tag on the cost of being flooded, but so many people tell me that it the worst singular experience in their lives and the memory of it will stay with them forever.

Extreme weather events are becoming too common place to be ignored, and flooding is the biggest natural threat faced by the UK. It is my belief that flooding is already happening more regularly and last winter’s endless TV footage clearly demonstrated the demands made on our country by the wettest winter on record accompanied by high tidal surges. Never has it been more essential to invest in both building and maintaining flood defences. If we are to avoid vast swathes of the country being brought to its knees on a regular basis then we must invest heavily in all aspects of flood risk management.

In this small country of ours, we have already built too many homes in inappropriate places and the knock on effect on individuals and communities has been devastating and costly. It is time to put an end to this short-sighted irresponsibility. We urgently need a cross party consensus for managing floods, one that will address all forms of flood risk, one with an ambitious  long term goal that will embrace innovation and investment to reduce flood risk."

Mary Dhonau OBE HonRICS

Chief Executive Know Your Flood Risk Campaign

Chair of the Flood Protection Group The Property Care Association

‘Mary Queen of Floods’ makes waves at Whitehall

Reception held at the House of Commons heard calls for an end to housing development on flood plains and increased flood risk funding

On January 20th, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) launched its Flood Free Homes campaign, which raises the issue of long term investment in flood defence and land and water management. ABI is calling for £1 billion per year to be spent on managing flood risk by 2025; cross party consensus on long term solutions; and an end to new developments in areas at risk of flooding. The campaign launched at the House of Commons yesterday, is supported by Know Your Flood Risk, Friends of the Earth, National Flood Forum, the Property Care Association’s Flood Protection Group.

Mary Dhonau, OBE, chief executive of Know Your Flood Risk, was asked to speak at the House of Commons reception, attended by forty MPs. Mary met with Roger Williams, MP, to discuss the current risk to homeowners, based on the latest flood risk modelling data, and joined ABI’s call for an end to housing development on flood plains and an increase in government funding for flood risk management.

Know Your Flood Risk works to raise awareness of flood risk, by lobbying the government and the insurance industry and providing homeowners and businesses with practical guidance on their risk of flooding and how to mitigate the risk of their properties being flooded. As part of its mission to inform home owners of the risk to their property, Know Your Flood Risk works with major data providers, including Landmark Information Group, to maintain up to date flood risk modelling data and ensure that property owners have access to information on the different types and levels of flood risk. 

Environment Agency data shows that approximately 2 million homes in England and Wales are at risk of river and sea flooding, with an additional 2.4 million homes at risk of surface water flooding. One in four homes in the UK are at risk of surface water flooding and ground water flooding, as well as wave overtopping. However, a survey undertaken by the Know Your Flood Risk Campaign revealed that 83 per cent of homeowners do not believe their homes are at risk of flooding and 68 per cent had no measures in place to minimise the risk to their home. Importantly, although 95 per cent of homeowners surveyed by Know Your Flood Risk had contents insurance, 45 per cent do not know whether their insurance policy covers flood damage. 

In addition to advising homeowners on their flood risk, Know Your Flood Risk provides information and support on flood recovery and general flood resilience via its acclaimed guides. As part of its bid to educate homeowners and businesses on their flood risk, Know Your Flood Risk provides access to flood reports, powered by Landmark Information Group’s flood risk data, which enables owners to assess the flood risk to their individual property.

Explaining the key issues behind the Know Your Flood Risk campaign, Mary Dhonau said, “Never has it been more essential to invest in both building and maintaining flood defences. If we are to avoid vast swathes of the country being brought to its knees on a regular basis, then we must invest heavily in all aspects of flood risk management.”

“Too many homes have been built in inappropriate places and the knock on effect on individuals and communities has been devastating and costly. We urgently need a cross party consensus for managing floods, one that will address all forms of flood risk, one with an ambitious  long term goal that will embrace innovation and investment to reduce flood risk.”

In follow up to the reception at the House of Commons, Mary Dhonau will publish a blog on ABI’s Flood Free Homes campaign website, in which she shares her personal experiences of having her home flooded and echoes ABI’s calls for increased investment in flood defences and flood risk management and an end to building new properties in areas at risk of flooding.

Fluvial, pluvial, tidal, or groundwater: Landmark maps all flood risk

This month, Landmark featured in a prominent Sunday Telegraph supplement that focused on flood risk and protection.

The article focused on Landmark’s introduction of the ESI National Groundwater Flood Risk Map data, which has been integrated into the flood risk reports.  This means that detailed analysis on all forms of flood – fluvial (river), pluvial (surface water), coastal or tidal and now groundwater – can now be analysed to assess the risk posed at a given property or location.

With extreme weather conditions threatening to become ever more prevalent, plus Environment Agency data illustrating that overall flood risk has increased over the last decade, the ability to accurately assess associated risk is increasingly important in first stage prevention.

At Landmark, we provide access to specialist flood data from a range of expert sources and produce bespoke flood analysis reports to clarify what level of risk is posed to a particular area of land, building site or property.

Our environmental data is exhaustive and by analysing risk rather than susceptibility, our reports provide accurate due diligence, so preventative measures or an appropriate action plan can be put in place, as needed.

To read a copy of the full supplement – click here.

After the Winter Floods

The Floods of December '13, January, February and March '14 seemed never ending.  The media extensively covered the relentless weather that battered our country, and day-by-day we learned of the devastation that floods from both the sea and rivers brought with them.

We saw graphic images of homes wrecked over the Christmas and New Year period and deep floodwater covering vast swathes of Somerset for weeks on end, cutting off communities from the outside world and ruining the livelihoods of so many in the farming community.  

We watched as the Thames wreaked havoc in Egham, Wraysbsury and Datchet, and the Severn rising to record breaking heights in the Midlands.

To many people, the floods of the Winter of ‘13/14 are now nothing more than a memory and a conversation topic. I ask you to spare a few moments to think about what those homeowners are going through now – at the end of April. Flooding is not just about when the media and ministers visit.

Being flooded can wreck your daily life for at least 9 months whilst your home is being dried out and restored back to ‘normal’  I want to share with you a few of the photos I’ve been sent via Twitter from people who were flooded. These are photos of their homes right now and are from homes in Tonbridge and Somerset.

These people, and so many like them, still face months out of their homes, along with the misery and hardship that brings with it.

This is why I am so passionate about raising awareness of flood risk; to enable individuals and communities to plan, prepare and militate against it. In many cases, flooding can be prevented and in others, by adapting homes to be more resilient to flooding, the impact can be significantly reduced.

For further information visit www.knowyourfloodrisk.co.uk and download a free copy of the Homeowners Guide to Flood Resilience.

Mary Dhonau OBE

Chief Executive, Know Your Flood Risk Campaign

Follow Mary on twitter @floodmary

Follow the campaign KYFR @flooduk