Huge clean-up begins after record storms batter Britain, 2 months after government climate advisers issued warning on inadequate defences
28 September 2012 (ITV) – Hundreds of homeowners are facing a massive clean-up today after record storms battered Britain. Across the North, householders have been reclaiming their homes, which insures estimate will cost an average of about £20,000 per household. Daybreak’s Katy Fawcett reports from York. Residents of a block of townhouses in Newburn, Newcastle, were among those who faced a second night out of their homes after floodwater gouged out the ground beneath the building, which remains cordoned off amid safety concerns. Some areas have seen more than double the average rainfall for the month since Sunday, and although the worst of the rain has now passed, river levels in some places were still rising as the water comes down through the system. The town of Morpeth, Northumberland was one of the towns that had secured funding for defences through a partnership programme, the Environment Agency had said. The council had allocated £12m and the Northumbria Regional Flood and Coastal Committee £10.6m for flood defences, plans which had been given the go-ahead to start early next year. Morpeth residents are now facing a massive clean-up for the second time in four years after a month’s rain fell in 24 hours. The flooding of many parts of the UK comes just two months after the Government’s advisers on climate change issued a warning about inadequate defences. The Committee on Climate Change reported in July that more than half a million homes and businesses will be at “significant” risk of flooding without more investment. The Environment Agency has warned that it needs a year-on-year increase of £20 million for flood defences on top of inflation to maintain the current level of protection. But flood defence spending is 12% below what it was in the last spending review period, with a gap opening up of £860 million between what has been pledged for 2011-2015 and what is needed to keep the same number of properties protected. […]
