Surging floodwaters rose so quickly monitors were destroyed
SENSORS installed by the Environment Agency to monitor river water levels stopped working because floodwater rose so fast the devices’ electrical circuits were destroyed.
The torrential rain is contributing to record-high river levels and England has endured more than double its average February rainfall so far.
Sir James Bevan, head of the agency told The Daily Telegraph the floods “destroyed some of our assets”, including the equipment that logs river height.
Speaking at the World Water Tech Innovation Summit in London, he said: “One EA team was anxiously watching the telemetry data from one particular river which was showing an astonishingly rapid rise when the water levels suddenly appeared to stop going up.
“The team breathed a sigh of relief until they realised that the graph wasn’t flatlining because the river had stopped rising. It was flatlining because the river had risen above the electrics running the gauge and overwhelmed the hardware. In every flood, there will be things that don’t work properly. That’s the nature of floods. They destroy some of our own assets, so what we are doing right now is focusing on the immediate response to protect lives and property.
“As soon as that’s over, we will start to assess the damage done, make repairs to the flood defences and to the equipment that we use, and we will do that as quickly as possible.”
Britain will need £1billion a year for flood defences alone, he added, with more money required to fix homes and businesses. Currently, the Government’s manifesto plan is to provide £4billion for five years.
Eighteen gauges across 15 rivers have recorded their highest water levels in the past month, including the Colne, Ribble, Calder, Aire, Trent, Severn, Wye, Lugg and Derwent.
Low-lying areas along the Severn are forecast to be hit by severe flooding today, with potential breaches of defences a concern in Ironbridge, Shropshire and Bewdley, Worcestershire. Homes were evacuated yesterday after the River Aire burst its banks in Snaith, East Yorks, as social media users posting footage of water pouring over flood banks.
Wales, where more than 1,000 homes have already been evacuated, is likely to face more flooding, with tomorrow’s predicted rain expected to cause snow on the mountains to melt, adding more water.
Caroline Douglass, the EA’S director of incident management, said: “We are in our fourth week of exceptional river levels and stormy weather.
“People need to be aware of their flood risk, sign up to flood warnings, make a flood plan, and not drive or walk through flood water.”