Hundreds of U.K. critical infrastructure facilities at flood risk

The BBC has reported that that research commissioned after the devastating floods of 2007 concluded
that hundreds of U.K.
critical infrastructure facilities are at risk of flooding, making the United
Kingdom likely to fall victim to similar
disasters in the future. The report states that there are hundreds of critical
sites which are seriously vulnerable to the effects of flooding that would
extend the impact to millions of people across the United
Kingdom. It continues saying that the
risks from weather and other natural hazards are rising and are predicted to
rise further in the near future. It concludes that it would “be imprudent
to rest on the basis that events on the lines of those which happened last
summer were so infrequent as to reply on a reactive response alone.”

Officials are concerned over the speed of the
events with the summer flooding rapidly hitting communities and seriously
affecting business and disrupting key local services. In some parts of the United
Kingdom, over a third of those
affected are still in temporary accommodation and overall the direct cost of
the summer deluges is estimated to exceed £3 billion. This report come ahead of
the official review by Sir Michael Pitt into last summer’s floods. His inquiry —
due to publish its final report next month — has already found that more than
1,000 electricity and water works were affected, along with 12 sections of
railway line and eight stretches of motorway. It is believed that the report
seen by the BBC is also recommending that the government calls on companies,
regulators, and ministers to act.

Last summers floods saw 13 people killed and
damage directly affecting 44,600 homes; 7,100 businesses were flooded.
Estimates vary on the cost of the events, but it is pretty clear that their
were direct costs of over £3 billion. During the past ten years flood defense
budgets have been consistently reduced. Recent announcements promise more funds
over the next three years, but these are likely to be considerably less than
that required with estimates of the cost of strengthening the flood resistance
of key sites running into the region of £1 billion. The near-loss of the
switching station at Walham, near Gloucester, in
July last year caused considerable alarm with at one stage COBRA ordering the
preparation of plans to evacuate the areas that would have been affected.
Walham provides electricity for 500,000 homes and businesses in Gloucestershire
and acts as a key relay for supplies to south Wales. Only the emergency work provided at the last
minute with the support of the military kept the site from being flooded. The
report cited by the BBC states that hundreds of other critical sites across the
United Kingdom are
vulnerable to similar threat. “The Walham site is now defended by
extensive flood defences although one is forced to ask why this was not done
sooner as the information on the threat was freely available from the
Environment Agency.

The flooding of a treatment works, at Mythe, also
in Gloucestershire, at the same time led to 350,000 people losing water
supplies for up to three weeks. Spokesmen for the industry associations
representing the electricity network and water companies said the summer floods
had served as a wake-up call. They added that urgent research into the risks
was under way — and in many cases further flood defense work had been carried
out. The government’s Environment Select Committee, however, has said the
infrastructure to deal with the same scale of flooding seen last year is in
“an unclear and chaotic state.” Ministers, the committee said, had
repeatedly suggested that the £800 million a year for flood management by
2010/2011 would allow the government to deal effectively with future cases of
flooding. A report has warned, though, that the settlement for flood defenses
made under the Comprehensive Spending Review was “far less impressive
under close analysis.”