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
