People urged to attend Flood Forum events in west Cumbria
People affected by flooding in Maryport, Workington and Wigton are being invited to attend Flood Forum events next week to share their experiences.
The events are organised by Cumbria County Council, working alongside the Environment Agency, and are the first stage in the formal process of establishing how and why properties and businesses flooded, and what could potentially be done to prevent flooding, or mitigate its impact, in future.
Attendees will be asked exactly what happened in terms of where the water came from, how it entered the property, its depth and other details. Alongside data already held, this property level information will help to build a highly detailed picture of what happened and why.
The information is collated and used to develop a report and recommendations for future action that could minimise the risk or impact of future flooding. Local communities are fully consulted on the contents of these reports, and the recommendations, prior to final publication. Once agreed the reports can be used by communities and agencies as the basis for applications for funding to allow schemes to be implemented. Working with the Environment Agency we aim to share draft reports with local communities for comment by early summer.
The details for the events are:
Maryport - Maryport Library, 3-7pm, Monday 21st March
Workington - Christ Church Central, 3-7pm, Wednesday 23rd March
Wigton - Wigton Market Hall (Cumberland Room), 3-7pm, Thursday 24th March
As well as providing information, attendees will also be able to find out more from a range of organisations, who will be providing advice and guidance on funding, insurance, flood prevention equipment and flood support registration.
Keith Little, Cabinet Member for Lead Local Flood Authority, said:“The floods were devastating for so many people and businesses; that is why it’s so important that they come along to these events and share their experiences. It’s only when we get the individual details from those affected that we’re able to understand the full picture of the floods and come to conclusions about how we could prevent it happening again. This has to a priority given how many properties were flooded across the county.”
Kath Evans, the Environment Agency’s Flood Risk Manager, said:
“The key to improving our flood resilience in the future is to learn from the events of this winter and tap into local knowledge. We’ve visited around 100 communities already and this next round of flood forums will give local people an opportunity to shape the future of flood risk management in Cumbria.”