Rising flood risk prompts campaign sign-up
A recent report issued by the Environment Agency calculated that approximately 48,000 homes were affected by the summer 2007 floods. Each home costs up to £30,000 to repair and the cost of flooding for affected businesses was up to £112,000. As the threat of flooding continues to increase, it is imperative to raise awareness of the potential devastation that can result from flooding and the steps that can be taken to help mitigate these risks.
The ever-growing threat of flooding is reflected by the fact that over 150 people from both the public and private sectors have now signed up to the ‘Know Your Flood Risk’ (KYFR) campaign, launched by the National Flood Forum and Landmark Information Group. Members are from varied backgrounds, all with a shared interest in raising the awareness of flood risk. These members include legal and property professionals, housing developers, flood protection specialists and homeowners, through to national government and local authorities.
Designed to raise awareness of the issue of flooding, the campaign aims to provide practical guidance and support to help protect homeowners and property professionals against the risk of flood.
Rupert Evans, Director of specialist flood risk consultancy Evans Rivers and Coastal Ltd, comments: “We signed up to KYFR in a second. Flooding is always the type of thing where you think ‘this won’t happen to me’ but unfortunately devastating floods like the ones we saw in Cockermouth at the end of last year will become even more common over the next few decades. Everyone has to be aware of the dangers and we have to get people talking about it.
Rupert continues: “The KYFR campaign is exactly the kind of signal that people need in order to realise the consequences of not knowing their flood risk by increasing awareness in the community.”
The number of people clicking through to knowyourfloodrisk.co.uk and signing up to support the campaign is continuing to increase significantly. On signing up to the campaign, members join a community of stakeholders whose goal it is to raise awareness of flood information and the potential risks. As a collective voice, ‘Know Your Flood Risk’ and its members aim to raise the profile of flooding and ensure consumers are not only aware of the risks they face, but also how to mitigate them.
James Sherwood-Rogers, Managing Director of Landmark Legal and Financial comments: “Floods like the ones we saw across the country at the end of last year are not a freak occurrence; they now take place much more frequently, with at least three major floods in the last ten years. We have seen thousands of homes and communities destroyed by flood damage. There is a responsibility on all of us to take what proactive action we can to reduce our exposure to the damaging effects of flooding. A crucial step in achieving this is to become more aware of the risk and to take action to protect our possessions and make our homes more resilient.
“The ‘Know Your Flood Risk’ campaign is designed to increase general awareness of the devastating impact that flooding can have, particularly as it is becomes a more common phenomenon. By working together with the National Flood Forum we hope that we can encourage companies, individuals potentially affected and interested parties to get on board and work together to help raise the awareness of flood risk and reduce the serious consequences of flooding.”
Mary Dhonau OBE, Chief Executive of National Flood Forum and flood victim comments: “KYFR has got off to a really positive start with over 150 members having already signed up. By focussing our efforts into one campaign, we will hopefully start to see a more effective outcome and make moves towards creating more flood resistant communities.”
To sign up to the ‘Know Your Flood Risk’ campaign and receive membership benefits, visit knowyourfloodrisk.co.uk or email info@knowyourfloodrisk.co.uk.
* The calculation of 1 in 4 British homes at flood risk is based on the number of residential homes within the 2008 RMS 1,000-year Inland Flood risk zones compared to the total number of homes in Britain. The flood risk map identifies areas at risk from all sources of precipitation-driven flooding including flooding from major and minor rivers and surface water flow. The 1,000-year flood risk map identifies areas that would be at risk under very extreme rainfall and flooding.
** Environment Agency
