Flood defence failure planning is vital
Britain must become better prepared for flood defence failure as the severity of extreme events increases and bolstering defences becomes uneconomic, experts have told NCE.
“We need to plan and design for the breaching of flood defences,” said Capita Symonds flood risk expert Ruth Goodall.
“The big issue is the residual risk [where flood defences fail],” she said. “We need to make sure we are planning for it and make sure communities are aware of it.”
Hyder director of water environment Bob Sargent said adaptive measures are needed to ensure the UK better responds to extreme floods. “We need to be proactive and not look at it after it has been flooded,” he said.
“We have to accept that unfortunately some buildings are going to be flooded. We need to increase the resilience of these buildings.”
Bob Sargent, Hyder
Sargent advocated building with materials that would not be irreversibly damaged by floodwater, so they can be quickly restored after flooding. “We have to accept that unfortunately some buildings are going to be flooded,” he said. “We need to increase the resilience of these buildings.”
Goodall said buildings should be “designed for residual risk”, with living space high above ground providing “somewhere to run to” in the event of a flood.
Public awareness of how to respond to a flood must be improved too, she said. Many people are unaware of the danger of standing on bridges during floods, or of hidden manholes and undercurrents when wading into flooded streets.
Providing defences that can withstand extreme events such as last weekend’s floods is unrealistic, said Sargent. “In areas like Cockermouth they are right by the river and there isn’t room, it isn’t physically possible,” he said. “The scale of the event is not containable.”
“Every year that we under invest increases the risks to the public.”
Aidan Millerick, drainage expert
Decisions need to be made on how to fund adaptive measures to help the country respond to floods, said Sargent. “It is going to be expensive, but then so is losing everything in a flood.”
Drainage expert and former Microdrainage managing director Aidan Millerick said that investment over the past decade had been inadequate.
“The Pitt Review has pointed to the fact that government’s current investment strategy is inadequate,” he said. “Every year that we under invest increases the risks to the public, their homes and livelihoods.”
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