Environment Agency will investigate Horncastle Flood Scheme
Storm Babet brought significant heavy rainfall across much of the UK. On Friday 20 October, we saw at least a month's rain in 24 hours across Lincolnshire.
At its peak there were 29 Flood Warnings and 32 Flood Alerts in place across the county.
This resulted in property flooding and in particular, in the town of Horncastle, where concerns have been raised about the operation of its flood storage area.
The Environment Agency has made it a priority to find out what happened with the operation of the Horncastle Flood Alleviation Scheme.
The Environment Agency’s Chief Engineer has been asked by Phillip Duffy, Environment Agency Chief Executive, and Leigh Edlin, Area Director, to begin a thorough investigation, whilst the wider flood response incident continues.
A sluice gate within the Scheme did not automatically operate as it should. This meant the flood scheme did not store as large a quantity of flood water as it was designed to. This is likely to have affected some properties near the River Bain.
Leigh Edlin Environment Agency Area Director said:
We are aware that the Flood Alleviation Scheme did not reduce flood risk to the extent it was designed to. We will continue our investigation and ensure we learn from its findings.
The Flood Alleviation Scheme is now being operated manually. Our teams remain on high alert and our Lincoln incident room is open 24/7, as the risk of flooding remains high in many areas.
The Environment Agency is committed to keeping the local community informed of what is happening. Their Community Information Officers were out in Horncastle on Friday and over the weekend, talking to local people to offer support and gather information about what happened. They also attended an event organised by the local community leader in the community centre on Monday. They will continue to work with the community as more information becomes available.
Although Storm Babet has passed the county’s river systems are still full, and the ground is saturated. Any further rain may cause rivers to react quickly. Therefore, the risk of flooding will remain high over the coming days as peaks move through the systems.
The Environment Agency encourages people to be vigilant. Stay away from swollen rivers and advises people not to drive through flood water, as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.
They also encourage people to check their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation at https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk, call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or follow @EnvAgency on Twitter for the latest flood updates.