Flooding - Information
Reporting Flooding
Reporting of flooding is crucial for incident response and also for long term planning of flood risk reduction measures. If your community has been impacted by flooding but it has not been reported, then the relevant authorities may not be aware of what has occurred.
In an emergency, if there is a risk to life, report flooding to 999.
- For other emergency reporting, who you report the flooding to will depend on the source of the flood: https://www.gov.uk/report-flood-cause
- For main rivers: Environment Agency incident hotline (24hr) 0800 80 70 60
- For ordinary watercourses / surface water / groundwater / roads: Wiltshire Council
- Flooding can also be reported to Wiltshire Council via the MyWilts app, non-emergency https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/mywilts-online-reporting
- Highways - telephone 0300 456 0105 or use report non-urgent highway defects.
- Out of hours emergency telephone number: 03004 560 100
- Also, Town and Parish Councils can highlight issues via the Operational Flood Working Groups
- For sewage / burst mains: Wessex Water 0345 600 4 600 (24hr) www.wessexwater.co.uk/your-wastewater/flooding/sewer-flooding
Funding and Grants
- The Government’s Flood Recovery Framework is used in exceptional circumstances to support councils and communities following severe flooding. This has been activated for the areas most affected by Storm Henk. Wiltshire Council have opened applications from residents or businesses who have been affected by flooding between 2-12 January. For details on deadlines, please email drainage@wiltshire.gov.uk. For more information, please visit Flooding - Wiltshire Council or email stormhenksupport@wiltshire.gov.uk.
- Households that were flooded between 2-12 January may also be able to apply for up to £5,000 to install Property Flood Resilience measures as part of flood repairs, and farms that have suffered uninsurable damage from Storm Henk may be able to apply for grants up to £25,000. Applications are not yet open for these schemes.
- There are also grants available through a Wessex Water scheme: https://www.wessexwater.co.uk/visit-and-learn/funding
Being Prepared
- If you have an emergency plan, it is advisable to regularly review and exercise the plan, to ensure the details are up to date and that individuals are clear on actions to take. Having a plan will help your community respond quickly to emergencies such as flooding, reducing stress and confusion, and helping to mitigate the impacts.
- Resources for creating an emergency plan are available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-flood-plan-template/community-flood-plan.
- If you would like support with creating or reviewing your community emergency plan, get in touch with us at floodwessex@environment-agency.gov.uk.
- Some communities have community emergency volunteer or flood warden schemes. These volunteers do not do the job of the emergency services, but they can help a community enact its emergency plan, identify who is vulnerable and may need help, and in some cases communicate with the authorities.
- Communities Prepared is a national resilience programme that equips community emergency volunteers with the knowledge and confidence to prepare for and respond to emergencies. They have a free online hub: https://www.communitiesprepared.org.uk/. There are free self-led courses that include Flood Volunteer, What Happens During an Emergency, and Community Emergency Volunteer Coordinator.
- The Environment Agency supports community flood wardens and emergency volunteers by offering advice and guidance, and sending out a quarterly newsletter with useful information and news. Duty officers may also reach out to community contacts during an incident. If you would like to be added to the database please email floodwessex@environment-agency.gov.uk.
We know that as well as the economic and physical impacts, flooding can have a serious effect on emotional wellbeing. Wiltshire Talking Therapies will treat referrals from those impacted by natural disasters as a priority. Referrals can be made via a GP or directly online: Wiltshire Talking Therapies :: Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (awp.nhs.uk)
We hope that these resources prove useful for you and your community. Together, we can be ready to respond and recover when emergencies occur.
Kind Regards
Andrea Summers Daniel Everett
Wessex Strategic Recovery Manager Principal Technical Officer - Drainage
Environment Agency Wiltshire Council