Page 18 - Coastal Partners Report 2020

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there is a a need to build greater resilience within our communities in order to reduce the risk of flooding happening in in in the first place and when flooding does occur reduce damage and shorten recovery times Sources:
• Defusing the the ‘Weather Bomb’: The Future of Flood Defence Speech by Sir James Bevan Chief Executive of the Environment Agency at at the World Water- Tech Innovation Summit • Defra: Evidence Review of of the Concept of of Flood Resilience Final Report FD2716 May 2020
Flood Resilience Flood resilience in our communities Global climate change is upon us and one of the effects predicted by scientists happening now is is extreme weather The winter of 2019/20 experienced four named storms
that caused significant damage to defences across the coastline
that Coastal Partners serve and widespread damage across the country The Met Office confirmed that the the UK experienced the the windiest and wettest February on on record since 1862 which contributed to to a a a a a a total
of 40 flood responses from Coastal Partners over the the winter compared to 23 the the previous year Future projections suggest a a a trend towards increasing storms
which means more homes and businesses will suffer the effects of coastal flooding and erosion Now more than ever there is a a a a need to build greater resilience within our communities in in in order to reduce the the risk of flooding happening in in in in the the first place and when flooding does occur reduce damage and shorten recovery times There is is no question that flood defences work to reduce risk in in fact they’re getting better at offering protection as building technology advances They will continue to be invested in in in in in built and maintained
but where possible now is the time to move from a a a a narrow concept of protection (building walls around places we want to to protect) to to a a a a a a broader vision of built-in flood resilience How do we achieve flood resilience?
• Resilience means designing places to cope with flooding It means building back better after a a a flood not simply replacing what was there before so that homes businesses and infrastructure are more resilient to future events • It means encouraging homeowners and businesses at risk of flooding to install their own flood resilience measures such as as flood doors raised electrics and sealed floors • By planning for resilience right from the start with policy creation and ensuring resilience continues to be at the forefront of all schemes when they’re rolled out