Page 44 - Yachter Spring 2023

44 FEATURE
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
Should you be worried
by sea-level rise?
If you live by the sea, or close to a river, you are probably aware whether you are at risk, but the people who suffer most in a flood, are those who are unaware that they are at risk, and hence are surprised when a flood happens as they have made no preparation. So, it is worthwhile looking at some of the maps to find out if you are at risk, and if so what type of risk.Also don’t just look for you own property, it is also useful to know whether neighbours, roads, businesses nearby are in risk areas.
If you do discover that you are at risk,
it is worth considering whether the Flood Warning Service would be useful.This
uses various ‘channels’, such as phone, text and e-mail, to let you know about alerts and warnings in your area.The best way of understanding the risk is by studying the various flood maps which are available.The image shows an example of one such flood map.
In a companion website article, we show how these maps can be used. Please refer to this web page for details: https:// solentprotection.org/newsletter-links
By looking at the maps you should be able to find not just whether you are at risk, but also whether you benefit from flood defences.This is useful to know, as although they often provide a high level of protection there is still a risk and should they be overtopped or fail in some way, flooding behind can be quick and severe.
Most people have at least in mind a ‘fire plan’ – how they would get their family out of the house in the event of fire, but many who live in flood risk areas don’t have a ‘flood plan’.To do so you need to
understand the type of risk. If you live in gently rising ground, you may well see
water levels rising and have time to react, but if you live behind a sea-wall that you cannot see, a failure could result in water levels rising quickly. Simple precautions, such as keeping valuable records and pictures upstairs could reduce the trauma of a flood. There is plenty of advice available.
How is the coastal
environment changing?
There has been much in the media about ‘sea level rise’, but unfortunately there are other effects from climate change that are probably more important. For instance:
• Increased storminess – The fact
that climate change causes increased variability in our weather is almost universally accepted, so unfortunately, we are more likely to see larger storm surges and gales, which will bring larger waves.
• Increased rainfall – Water levels in estuaries are determined by a complex interaction between river flows and tides, and increased river flows (from heavy rain) will increase the chance of high water levels in estuaries.
• Rising low-tide level – The drainage systems of all coastal towns rely on surface water being discharged at
low tide.When the level of the low
tide rises, these drainage systems will function less well and the risk of surface water flooding will increase.