Eustice says flooding caused by recent storms is still a ‘live incident’

ENVIRONMENT SECRETARY George Eustice has warned flooding caused by recent storms is still a “live incident”.

Mr Eustice urged people living in at-risk flood areas to remain vigilant following record-breaking flooding caused by storms Ciara and Dennis in a statement in the Commons yesterday.

He said water levels were due to continue to rise and added: “So we will continue to see effects this week.”

He said 1,400 homes in England had been flooded but recent improvements to flood defence schemes had reduced the number of homes that could have been affected. He added: “Investment made in recent years has significantly improved our resilience but there is much more to do.”

But Labour’s Shadow Environment

Secretary Luke Pollard said although Mr Eustice’s speech was “a much better statement than the Government gave only a few weeks ago about Storm Ciara, that is certainly true, but not enough is being done, simply explaining what has happened doesn’t stop it happening again.”

He asked: “Where was the Prime Minister? Where was he? Why wasn’t a Cobra meeting convened?

“Why was there no national leadership from this government?” Mr Eustice replied: “In a Government, you have a Cabinet, and you have Cabinet Ministers who lead on particular issues. When the Prime Minister appointed me a week ago on Thursday, the first thing we discussed was the upcoming Storm Dennis, and we discussed how we would approach it. And he made clear then that he wanted me to lead on this, and that’s entirely right.”