100 Days of Flood Recovery in Lancashire

This past week saw Lancashire reach the 100-day-mark since Storm Eva and the attendant winds and heavy rains devastated many communities across the county. Monday April 4^th marks the centenary in days since the damage and in that time, local flood authorities have worked tirelessly to repair the havoc wreaked not only on flood defences but on homes and businesses, as well.

With their efforts overseen by the Environment Agency, the authorities have conducted four emergency repair projects in places such as Bolton, Littleborough and St Michaels. The hope is that the structural integrity of the defences will be repaired and improved upon in time for this year’s winter, when rainfall levels could theoretically rise even higher than 2015’s record-breaking weather.

One for the History Books

Ever since the mid-1800s and the innovation of meteorological measuring instruments by Wilhelm Lambrecht, we have sought to measure rainfall in order to prepare for torrential downpours. However, even the most pessimistic of forecasts could not have predicted the vast amounts of water which fell on Britain during the winter of 2015/16, especially in Lancashire and surrounding parts of northwest England.

Excessive rains meant that the River Lune, which runs through Cumbria and Lancashire, recorded the highest ever flow rate of any river in England in history! With 1,742m³ of H₂0 passing by the gauging station, it would have taken the river a mere two seconds to fill an entire Olympic-sized swimming pool!

The floods disrupted domestic and business life in more than 100 communities in Lancashire, with almost half of these receiving visits from Flood Support Officers in the last 100 days. As well as extensive repair work, the Environment Agency is also investing heavily in improved defences. They have pledged to spend £2.3 billion in 2016 on over 1,500 schemes designed to counteract the effects of floods, which could safeguard as many as 300,000 homes and businesses.

Prevention Better than the Cure

Since 2014, there has been a nationwide movement away from flood defences and towards flood risk management, thus putting the ability to protect property in the hands of residents and local authorities. Using an extensive network of precipitation measurement tools, the Environment Agency hopes to better predict the risk of flooding in the future, thus allowing residents and officials to make the appropriate arrangements.

One success story of such schemes took place in Stansted Mountfitchet, where the early flood warning system protected the village from a potentially devastating flood. Having been overwhelmed by heavy rains in 2014, the village took the prudent measure of installing monitoring systems and no less than one month after their completion, December’s torrents arrived.

By alerting the local community of the impending risk of flooding, resident volunteers were able to get to the site in time and assess the need for action. As such, the system represents a promising method of flood prevention in the future – and it’s no surprise that 828 Lancashire properties have been added to the government’s free flood warning service in the wake of the recent deluges.