Added 26/6/2009
The Environment Agency has warned that the annual cost of damage to residential and commercial property from flooding in England, as well as the cost of further disruption, damage to infrastructure and loss of business, could rise from £2.5bn to £4bn by 2035 unless funding for defences is increased.
Reports from the Environment Agency have highlighted that one in six homes in England is at risk of flooding and that investment in the building and maintaining of flood defences will need to almost double to £1bn a year by 2035.
New figures released by the Environment Agency show that:
Environment Agency chairman, Lord Chris Smith, said: "The Environment Agency has completed 90 flood defence schemes since summer 2007, providing increased protection to more than 58,000 properties. Whilst continued investment in managing these risks is crucial, we cannot always prevent flooding so communities need to take responsibility for being prepared - for example by signing up to the Environment Agency's free flood warning service."
According to the agency, the top ten local areas with the highest number of properties with a significant chance of flooding from rivers or the sea are:
In a separate but related development, environment secretary, Hilary Benn, has announced the first round of new grants to help people protect their homes against flooding. Some £3m has been made available to 25 local authorities to protect nearly 600 properties across England by offering practical solutions, including air brick covers and door guards.
Download the Environment Agency press release.
(Link to extract from EA web site)
Roger Milne
25 June 2009