As we head into the winter season in the UK, we need to think about the potential rainfall and the impact it can have on our homes. Are you at risk of flooding this winter?
The National Assessment of Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk (NaFRA) shows that 6.3 million properties in the UK are at risk of flooding. One in four properties in England are expected to be at risk by mid-century (Gov UK).
One of those homes is Mary Long-Dhonau’s former home. Mary experienced flooding at her former home in Worcester multiple times. This has driven her to become an expert in flood prevention and a public speaker to raise awareness of flood risks.
She was awarded an OBE for services to the environment in 2009 after campaigning for insurance companies to ‘build back better’ in 2007. The ‘build back better’ scheme lends funds to property owners so that they can improve their property flood resilience to reduce future risk.
Mary also helped launch the BBB Flood Re scheme at Parliament in 2022. Flood Re is a joint initiative with the Government and insurers to make flood cover more affordable. Flood recovery is expensive. Flooding in the 2015/6 season cost £1.6 billion to repair. Flooding in 2019/20 cost £333 million and was likely to have cost £2.1 billion without flood defences, so flood planning is crucial (Gov UK).
The risk of flooding is increasing with climate change. Flood Re estimates that in the UK we have had 9% more rainfall in the last decade than the four decades before. They estimate that 62% of people whose home is in a flood risk zone are not aware they are. And most people underestimate the damage and the disruption to their lives. The average person is out of their home for 9 months while recovery work is done.
‘Flood Mary’ as she is known, is passionate about this, saying “your home is annihilated with filthy, stenching flood water and people think flood water may be blue but it’s brown.” Flooding can be coastal, river overflow or flash flooding in cities. “Yes, even people who live on hills can be flooded as I’ve witnessed myself,” says Mary.
Mary’s website has a wealth of resources and she has recently launched a directory of flood resilience products and measures for households. These include Watertight International who co-presented a workshop with Mary for Blue Patch last year.
The directory includes information on insurance, preparing for a flood, temporary and permanent resistance measures, recovery from a flood and flood recovery services (surveys and restoration).
Permanent resistance measures include watertight doors, windows, barriers, gates, fences, pumps, valves and alarm systems. With the right flood prevention measures in place you can reduce damage to your home, reduce the cost of repairs and the length of time it will take before you can return to live in it.
If you own a residential or business property that is at risk of flooding, visit floodmary.com to download resources in preparation for this winter.