Homeowners must still protect themselves, warns ‘Flood Mary’
FLOOD Re may help those at risk find insurance, but that should not stop communities adopting flood prevention measures, according to expert Mary Dhonau – also known as ‘Flood Mary’. The Government is committed to spending £4.1billion between 2016 and 2022 on flood defences. An extra £700million from a 0.5 percentage point rise in insurance premium tax from October (to 10 per cent) is also earmarked for flood assistance, but critics say it may not be enough.
Dhonau, a former opera singer and head of a campaign Know Your Flood Risk, backed by data firm Landmark Information Group, champions self-help. She says: ‘Residents should get together to take preventative action especially as such efforts can attract funding from local authorities and the Environment Agency.’
Single mum Sue Cashmore, 55, has been forced to take action to protect her two-bedroom terraced home in Cockermouth, Cumbria, after suffering flooding four times in the past decade – most recently in December last year. She could no longer afford insurance and was not covered when the latest floods hit.
However Sue, who is chairwoman of the Cockermouth Flood Action Group, had taken action to minimise the impact. She says: ‘I have water resistant plaster on the walls, I tiled the kitchen from floor to ceiling and have standalone steel units.’
Sue will go online at midnight tonight as Flood Re goes live to seek affordable cover. She says: ‘There have been a lot of “maybes” about how it will affect the cost. I wonder what premiums will be like.’
Christine Human also took Dhonau’s advice and her group of residents in Williton carry out a kind of neighbourhood watch for flood risk. She says: ‘Flooding was a horrible experience but being part of a self-help community is the best feeling.’
Learn more at knowyourfloodrisk.co.uk and https://gov.uk/prepare-for-a-flood.