Last week a month’s rain fell in 24 hours, causing death and destruction across a vast sweep of Britain.
From fishing villages in Cornwall to one of the country’s newest cities, St Asaph in North Wales, meandering rivers turned into deadly torrents. More than 1,100 homes and businesses were flooded and Labour accused the Government of slashing spending on flood defences from £354million to £259million this year, forcing 294 schemes to be cancelled.
By yesterday, after Prime Minister David Cameron had visited scenes of devastation in the West Country, the Treasury had found £120million to speed up 50 defence schemes and protect 60,000 homes.
According to some estimates, another 200,000 properties could remain at risk. Even the most vehement climate-change sceptic would find it hard not to admit that today’s rainstorms have the spite of tropical monsoons,
Restoring peat bogs to their former glories will slow the flow down
Protecting homes on floodplains and the coast is expensive, though research shows every £1 spent on flood defence saves £8 in repair bills.
However, there is growing belief that nature itself can help curb its worst excesses and the Environment Agency has produced a document Working with Natural Processes to Manage Flood and Coastal Erosion.
Jack Rhodes, water policy officer at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, says adapting the landscape and, in many cases, reverting the countryside to its natural state, will combat floods.
“The aim is to manage rain from where it lands to the time it gets to the sea,” he says. “It starts in the hills. A lot of work can be done in the uplands, where natural vegetation slows rainwater and keeps it on the high lands for as long as possible so you don’t get surges into the valleys.
“Restoring peat bogs to their former glories will slow the flow down. Restored uplands are also better for wildlife.” Inexpensive but effective defences such as wood barriers and earth embankments with narrow pipes in strategic areas can slow storm waters rushing down over open land. They create temporary pools, holding back huge amounts of floodwater.
“On a larger scale, you can create washlands,” he adds. “This has been done on the River Avon in Hampshire where, during high flows that threaten a town, the floodwaters can be taken off and stored in floodplain meadows. These places are wonderful havens for wildlife and also mean you can build smaller, less expensive flood walls in towns.” Controversy continues over building homes on floodplains. The Institution of Civil Engineers last night warned: “Building homes that aren’t sufficiently flood resilient in areas already at risk of flooding could lead to long-term consequences.”
Even those who champion natural methods accept the need for robust, man-made structures.
“You can do a lot through natural management,” says Mr Rhodes, “but we are always going to need some form of concrete defence in towns. However, natural schemes minimise the amount needed, reduce costs and are great for wildlife. There are some interesting things that can be done in towns by opening up traditional concrete drains flowing through urban areas and letting them run through park areas to create water features. When they flood, the water remains in the park rather than flowing into homes.
“A good example can be seen at the London Olympic Games site where the river embankments were hollowed out to broaden the water flow and create an artificial floodplain with riverside vegetation.”
Homeowners can also help. Using water butts and replacing concrete and block paving with shrubberies and herbaceous borders can slow the flow of water into antiquated, Victorian drainage systems.
Says Mr Rhodes: “We need to improve our drainage infrastructure using modern materials. But water can be channelled into natural areas where it is safe rather than flowing into sewage drains.
“Along our coasts, much can be done using salt-marshes to help deal with tidal surges.
“It is thought the biggest risk in flooding terms in Britain is the East Coast defences being overwhelmed.
“The Cabinet Office keeps a list of national emergencies. This is their second biggest fear after a major health pandemic.”