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Environment column: Help to prevent flooding this winter

Lesley Worswick, the Environment Agency's Area Director for Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire, starts a fresh column for us by discussing the work being done to be ready for any winter flooding - and she urges people to make sure they're flood aware.

This is my first ever monthly newspaper column which coincides more or less with several weeks of new experiences. Most notably something of a career change for me as I take on the role of Area Director for the Environment Agency Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire area.

I’ve been with the Environment Agency for over 20 years in various roles right across the organisation. Most recently, I spent a number of years as Deputy Director for the Agency’s Operational Regulatory Services and Area Environment Manager for Merseyside. So in some ways, taking up my role as Area Director in GMMC is like coming home.

It is safe to say, I am joining the team at an interesting time. There is no doubt that it has been a challenging, difficult and for some a heart-breaking year and my heart goes out to anyone who has lost a loved one to this wretched virus.

We have all had to learn to work differently this year, but crucially we remain fully operational as a category one responder. Our top priority is to protect people and the environment during the coronavirus pandemic.

As part of this, our recently launched Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy has set out its aims to create a nation ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change – today, tomorrow and to the year 2100. It will ensure today’s growth and infrastructure is resilient to tomorrow’s climate by making sure the right investment and planning decisions are made now to secure sustainable growth and environmental improvements – helping us build back better and greener.

Throughout the year we have continued to build and repair flood defences and investment in flooding has significantly increased in the last year, with the government announcing that it would double its investment in flooding and coastal erosion to £5.2 billion over the next six years.

But it’s really important that we also regularly test our emergency response arrangements. We need to ensure that we’re prepared and that our staff are fully trained.

The clocks have gone back an hour and it will start getting dark earlier. For some this can mean cosy nights in and walks in the countryside, but there are various risks that winter weather poses, and now is the time our teams are planning ahead to make sure we are prepared.

Over the past few weeks, our field teams have been checking our flood defences and assets to fight winter flooding. They have tested a variety of the high tech equipment we use to support incident response and ensured they could complete all exercises with coronavirus guidance in mind, as the health and safety of our staff and the public is imperative.

This has included deploying our temporary flood barriers, to ensure that all those involved in or play a part in flooding incidents are able to respond quickly and training on debris screen clearing. This can be one of our first line defences against flood risk as keeping watercourses clear prevents blockages from restricting the flow.

The teams also activated our Salford, Sale and Didsbury Flood Storage Reservoirs in order to test emergency plans. The Salford defences themselves were actually put to a real life test almost eight months ago on Sunday, February 9, 2020, as a result of Storm Ciara, when the reservoir protected around 2,000 properties from flooding.

Despite this, the climate emergency does mean we cannot always prevent or build our way out of an incident. We all need to have an element of personal resilience to ensure we can prepare, act, survive before, during and after a flooding incident.

Having your house and community flood is a miserable and life-changing experience. Research has shown that the mental health impacts of flooding can last for two years or more with depression, anxiety and PTSD affecting up to a third of people.

Being aware, having a plan and taking precautions to reduce our own risk is half the battle and that is what I am encouraging you to do through our annual Flood Action Campaign. The ask for you is straightforward, simply visit the ‘what to do in a flood page’ on GOV.UK, check if your home is at risk, sign up for warnings and see our ‘Prepare, Act, Survive’ flood plan. It takes just a few minutes to check if you are at risk but can save you months or years of misery.

If you want to help us spread the word, you can get involved in our Flood Action Week between November 9-15. All you need to do is follow @EnvAgencyNW on Twitter and Instagram and share our content. This year, we want to make sure our communications reach as many people as possible – it’s such an important message and we want people to keep safe, especially during such difficult times.

I’m already proud of the great staff we have working here in Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire, many dedicate their entire careers to helping keep people, communities and the environment safe from the devastating effects of flooding.

But we can only do this with you too – so whatever else you do today, please make sure you are flood aware and prepared this winter.


Lesley Worswick

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