Flood defences

sir – We know the devastating impact flooding can have, which is why protecting people continues to be our top priority. Your Leading Article (“Environment Agency cannot escape blame for its role in flooding”, November 13) ignored the work of our highly skilled operational teams, which have worked tirelessly to save lives, homes and businesses. So far, more than 14,400 properties have been protected by our flood defences.

Since the winter floods of 2015-16, the Environment Agency has invested £16.5 million in equipment, including temporary barriers and ultra-high volume pumps. We are investing £2.6 billion in flood defences and recently passed the two-thirds point in our bid to protect better 300,000 homes from floods by the end of 2021.

However, you can’t eradicate the risk of flooding entirely, especially with a changing climate. You argue that “climate change has become an excuse for not doing the basic things necessary”. It does the opposite: it underlines the importance of getting the basics right, while accelerating our plans to deal with future sea-level rises. Part of getting the basics right is not being afraid to learn lessons from any flooding incident, and I am sure there are things we can improve upon.

It has been an exceptionally wet autumn, and there will be more flooding this winter. Our hearts go out to those flooded, and we will do all we can to continue to keep people safe. Emma Howard Boyd

Chair, Environment Agency London SW1

sir – If we are determined to build houses on floodplains, why don’t we put them on stilts? Tim Bochenski

Bramhall, Cheshire