Close watch on swollen rivers as county braced for heavy rains
Impact on river valley as severe as the rest of the country combined
YORKSHIRE IS braced for more heavy rain over the weekend as rivers across the county are monitored amid fears they could cause flooding.
The Environment Agency (EA) Deputy Director Craig McGarvey said northern England had a higher risk of flooding than anywhere else in the country, with Yorkshire and the Pennines at the greatest risk.
The warnings come as Yorkshire braces for the third successive weekend of storms, with almost continuous wet weather over the past fortnight meaning England has seen 141 per cent of its average February rainfall so far.
Spells of heavy rain over the weekend could lead to further flooding in parts of the North and the Midlands and Mr McGarvey insisted all rivers across Yorkshire are being monitored but singled out the River Ouse in York and North Yorkshire as being at particular risk.
The news came as it was revealed the scale of devastation caused by flooding over the last two weeks in Calderdale is nearly as severe as damage in the rest of England combined. The Yorkshire river valley was hit hard by rising flood waters caused by Storm Ciara and narrowly avoided further damage in Storm Dennis, prompting an outcry for the Government to do more to protect its residents and businesses – and help them recover.
With yellow weather warnings issued for some parts of Yorkshire, stark statistics show the uneven strain Calderdale has taken.
Figures from recent days show close to 1,000 businesses had been flooded nationally, with 572 hit during Storm Ciara in the Calder Valley.
Residents in Worcester, who have been flooded out of their homes for five days, say they are still uncertain when they will be able to return, amid forecasts of further heavy rain. All but two of the 24 residents of Diglis Avenue, which is situated on the bank of the River Severn, have been forced to abandon their homes as water reached “waist-height”.
THE SCALE of devastation caused by flooding over the last two weeks in Calderdale is nearly as severe as damage in the rest of England combined.
The Yorkshire borough was hit hard by rising flood waters caused by Storm Ciara and narrowly avoided further damage in Storm Dennis, prompting an outcry for the Government to do more to protect residents and businesses – and help them recover.
With yellow weather warnings issued for some parts of Yorkshire, stark statistics show the uneven strain Calderdale has taken.
Figures from recent days show close to 1,000 businesses had been flooded nationally, with 572 located in the Calder Valley hit during Storm Ciara.
Some 1,500 residential properties were affected, with 615 in Calder Valley – the majority of the rest were in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
And two Calder Valley schools will stay closed next week, the only two in the country with a total of 470 children, as the other 18 reopen.
Overall 20 schools closed due to flooding nationally, eight of which were in Calder Valley.
It is thought the clear-up bill for the area’s infrastructure currently stands at around £5m.
The apparent inequality with the rest of the country has pushed MPs and political leaders to call for help with the clear up, and future events.
The Government took nine days to trigger financial help for the area after Storm Ciara hit, attracting
criticism from inside its own ranks as well as out.
Craig Whittaker, the Tory MP for Calder Valley said getting that money had been a “nightmare” and criticised the number of properties which needed to be affected before Government assistance was triggered.
And the leader of Calderdale Council said the situation was “not sustainable”.
But new Environment Secretary George Eustice, defended the response and said the Government had a “firm grip” and that flood defences were “working as intended”.
Mr Whittaker, whose own home was flooded during the chaos, said: “The immediate fix for me is no one should be in the position where they are waiting around for Government help, when you’ve got 1,187 properties flooded and that does not trigger it, what the hell is the criteria?
“My office has been inundated with people wanting help, we should be focussed on that not having to chase the Government.”
He said: “The beauty of (the response to the floods in) 2015 was we managed to get the Environment Agency to do a catchment plan.”
This looked outside of simply the £100m being spent on flood defences and incorporated other initiatives such as tree planting or constructing more reservoirs.
He said: “I would like to press for some pilot schemes around the country – and in Calder Valley – so we can invest in this type of work.
“The Calder Valley will always flood no matter what we do, but what we can do is we can do more than just build walls.”
He added: “We’ve got to do more to stop this happening on this scale.”
While Holly Lynch, Labour MP for Halifax who hosted leadership contender Lisa Nandy yesterday in flood-hit areas, said Boris Johnson’s refusal to call a COBR meeting had hampered recovery efforts.
She added the next issue to look at would be a re-insurance scheme for businesses refused cover due to flooding, similar to those available for homes.
She said: “This is the next big battle that we’re going to have to have.”
We’ve got to do more to stop this happening on this scale.
Craig Whittaker, the Tory MP for Calder Valley.