Lessons Learnt in Calderdale from the Great Flood of Boxing Day 2015 Mark Thompson Director of Economy and Environment Calderdale MBC
Floods go with the territory Floods are getting worse You can defend yourself Communities are the key Councils have a vital role Reservoirs: The missing link A schematic solution 1
Floods Go With the Territory 1615: Earliest flood on record; Elland Bridge is swept away 1722: Ripponden Parish Church and Stirk Bridge are destroyed 1855: 15 yard high wall of water inundates homes, properties and schools 1870: 3 drowned as worst flood of the century hits Valley 1921: Hill slide streams turn to raging torrents and valley inundated 1946: Public call for defence measures as nearly 1000 homes flood 1967: Premises flooded to 2 foot depth, though ongoing improvement scheme helps 1982: August thunderstorms cause severe flooding, main roads shut for 12 days 2012: Highest food flood on record on Calder, river rises 5 metres 2015: Boxing Day floods hit 3000 premises, destroy 2 historic bridges, closes 8 schools, and causes major landslide. 2
Calder Floods December 2015 3
River Gauge Data for Boxing Day Flood 7 River Calder gauging stations 2015 peak compared to previous peaks 6 5 4 3 Winter 2015 Peak level (mald) Previous Peak (mald) 2 1 0 Todmorden Hebden Bridge Mytholmroyd Sowerby Bridge Elland 4
The Hit 5
Calderdale! Work in Progress 6
Major Infrastructure Affected Elland Bridge A646 Falling Royd Scout Road Crowther Bridge Copley Bridge Midgley Road Confirmed numbers of properties flooded are 1,939 flooded homes and 1, 108 flooded businesses. Significant damage to highway assets and infrastructure. 12 substations affected. Utility infrastructure including pump stations affected. Numerous landslips. 7
Housing Resilience Solutions Grant Applications: 1314 Grants Approved: 1008 Value of Work Carried Out: 2,464,191 8
Business Resilience Solutions Grant Applications: 479 Grants Approved: 401 Value of Work Carried Out: 1,866,748 9
Mytholmroyd Flood Model 10
Mytholmroyd Flood Engineering Works Plan 11
Community Resilience 12
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Calderdale Flood Recovery and Resilience Partnership Structure Flood Recovery and Resilience Board Chair Calderdale Council leader Core Senior Officers Group & Operational Group Chairs Flood Scrutiny panel Operational Groups Flood Damage Repair Chair: CMBC Flood risk capital and investment schemes Chair: Environment Agency Natural Flood Risk Management Chair: Yorkshire Water Community Resilience Chair: Elected Community representative Communications Chair: CMBC Calderdale Flood Action Plan Calderdale Local Flood Risk Management Strategy Calderdale Flood Investment Programme 14
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Issue Response Timing in declaring emergency Accurate forecasting Clear lead decision makers and triggers Consider an amber status. Must consider anticedent conditions e g Saturation of catchment Invest in additional monitoring and modelling e g GeoPDFs showing impact of forecast hydrology Staffing capacity Identify central and local leads well in advance. Co location capacity Identify easily reached well equipped base. Out there capacity Power outages Understanding what has happened Are extra inspection, triage and practical teams on stand by?..consultants, contractors and neighbouring authorities are part of the team. Invest in high tec and low tec kit Radios? Paper? Flood box? Collect information once on one cross agency form. Have process for practical and financial help ready. 16
Issue Response Mobilise the community Manage the comms. Think about groundhog questions beforehand Provide the hubs, cabins, tools, communications and the liaison officers Press office must be in the core team. Vital role of social media. Involve Councillors. Sandbag policy? Lines into the contact centre? Keys to the cabins Commandeer the whole resource Plan ahead Chase down the Finance A whole system response Versatile officer groups. Waste contractor. Third sector roles. The army? Catchment Based Action Plan. Clear Programme of works. Change budgets to resource key teams. Act! E g Additional Scour protection for bridges, relocate sub stations, Soil Nailing, enhanced gully cleaning etc. and major works National spend Programmes, Department for Transport, Regional Finance and Growth Deal Resources, Local Capital and Revenue Big engineering, enhanced maintenance, community mobilisation, natural flood management 17
Reservoirs in the Calder Valley Map 22 Reservoirs 18
Be Prepared! 19