To claim is real ‘nightmare’
not every home can be protected from flooding as climate change raises the risk of extreme weather.
The agency’s chief executive, Sir James Bevan, said in a few places the scale of coastal erosion, or risk of river, or sea flooding will become so great that communities may have to move.
However, he said flood defences worked to protect many people, and would continue to be needed, alongside measures to help communities become more resilient to increased flooding.
There is also a need for “nature based solutions”, such as restoring the bends in rivers, planting trees and creating wetland habitats to slow the flow of water down river and reduce flood risks, added Sir James Bevan.
Sir James said it would be unrealistic to ban all development on the flood plain, but it should only be done if there is no alternative, and any building that goes ahead should not increase the risk of flooding for other people.
And homes built on the flood plain should be resilient to flooding; for example, with garages on the ground floor and people living higher up.
His comments came in a speech at the World WaterTech Innovation Summit in London yesterday when he warned a twin-track approach of defences and resilience to flooding is needed to defuse the “weather bomb”.
The Environment Agency is spending £2.6bn on new defences to better protect 300,000 properties by 2021 and more than £1bn on maintaining existing defences in England.
People are being encouraged to ensure their homes and businesses are more resilient to flooding by installing measures such as flood doors, raised electric sockets and sealed doors.
A spokeswoman from DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs), said: “Property Level Flood Resilience (PFR) refers to measures that can be put in a property to help manage the impact that flooding has on homes and businesses.
“PFR aims to help reduce the risk of flooding in future and/or reduce the impact to enable people to get back into their homes or business premises quicker after a flood.
“This grant is to fund the additional cost over standard property repair costs, of using materials that are more resistant or resilient to damage by floodwater, or rearranging utilities and layout within the property, to speed recovery from any future flood event.
“Properties that received a PFR grant following previous flooding (such as in 2015) will not be eligible for another PFR grant, as those properties will already have these measures installed.”