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Since our last issue we know there have been several incidents of homes and businesses across Wales flooding. We are here to help advise what you can do, before, during and after a flood. You can see our webpages for advice and information or please feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions. We will try to answer any queries you may have.
It’s also a great help if you can provide us with information so we can improve our own understanding of flooding events, and our Flood Warning Service for the future, for example:
- Do you have dated photos with specific locations taken during the incident, that you would be willing to share?
- Were there any actions from your flood plan, where you realised that you needed to make changes? Would you be willing to share anything you’ve learnt?
We will aim to answer your questions in our next newsletter. If your query needs to be answered by one of our partners, we will do our best to get those answers for you but please bear with us, as there may be a delay. Answers will be based on information available to date, as investigations continue.
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A guide for homeowners and businesses for taking steps to protect your property against flooding was published in January. It has been created by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) and follows their code of practice for property flood resilience.
The guidance and the code of practice are available to download from CIRIA’s website for free.
There is also a series called ‘Our Flood Resilient Home’ on YouTube, created by Hazard and Hope. Each episode focuses on a different house that has flooded and has since installed flood resilience measures. So far, there have been three episodes, which you can view on YouTube following these links: Episode 1, Episode 2 and Episode 3.
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In our recent survey, a few community flood volunteers raised the issue of speaking to members of their wider community about their community flood plan.
So we thought it might be helpful to highlight a way of doing this, digitally, which could be especially useful in these difficult times when we’re not able to meet face to face. We know a lot of community groups already use Facebook or Whatsapp to share information, but this could be another way to reach people.
Nextdoor is a free private app, where you can share all sorts of local information- from lost pets, local business recommendations and safety updates. You can send out an ‘Urgent Alert’ which immediately alerts everyone who’s in your neighbourhood on the app. You can also use it to send photos and videos which may be useful in an event.
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Fact: 2020 was a remarkable year for weather records
The Met Office have recently published articles on how 2020 ends earth’s warmest 10 years on record and 2020 – a remarkable year, showing the extreme weather we faced last year.
Welsh Government declared a climate emergency in 2019. The scientists’ predictions are that extreme weather events will be more frequent in the future. Meaning that we will experience more frequent storms and flooding.
With that in mind, taking action to reduce climate change could also reduce the risk of flooding.
Is there anything that your community flood group or wider community are already doing that you could share with the network? Is this something you would like to do?
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Fiction: I live on a hill, so flooding won’t affect me
Flooding can impact where you live, where you work or where you travel.
If you live on a hill, you may still suffer from flooding from a burst pipe or surface water pouring off a hillside directly into your property. You may also be impacted indirectly, for example if you get cut off by surrounding roads or land being flooded.
We encourage everyone to be aware of the flood risk in their local area, and to also have a plan of what to do, just in case.
This is why our free Flood Warning Service offers the option to register areas of interest, and not just your home address. You can register up to 5 areas of interest, if they are at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
Update your details through your online account, sign up online or call Floodline to find out more.
Floodline: 0345 988 1188
Type talk: 0345 602 6340
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What to expect when Flood warnings are issued.
Our flood duty officers in Natural Resources Wales are on duty 24/7 every day of the year. They monitor and forecast flooding from rivers and the sea and use real-time information along with our flood models and maps to decide what alerts, warnings and severe flood warnings need to be issued to the public and our partners. But when we issue them, what do we and the public expect to see?
Here is a breakdown of potential impacts at each level of our Flood Warning Service:
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Flood Alert
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Flood warning
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Severe Flood Warning
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Flood Warning No Longer in Force
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| Flooding is possible, be prepared. |
Flooding is expected, immediate action is required. |
Severe flooding, danger to life. |
No further flooding expected in your area. |
- Flooding of fields, recreation land and car parks.
- Flooding of minor roads.
- Flooding of farmland.
- Spray or wave overtopping on the coast.
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- Flooding of homes and businesses.
- Flooding of rail infrastructure and roads.
- Significant waves
and spray on coast.
- Extensive flood plain inundation (including caravan parks and campsites).
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- Deep and fast flowing flood water.
- Debris in the water causing danger.
- Potential or observed collapse of buildings and structures.
- Communities isolated by flood waters.
- Critical infrastructure for communities disabled.
- Communities evacuated.
- Military support.
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- Standing water following flooding which may be around for several days.
- Flooded properties.
- Damaged infrastructure.
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Flood Alert
This photo shows impacts expected for a Flood Alert - spray and wave overtopping on the coast.
 This photo shows impacts expected for a Flood Alert - flooded roads and flooding of farmland is expected.
 Flood Warning
This photo shows impacts expected for a Flood Warning – significant waves and spray on the coast, and flooding of homes is expected.
 This photo shows impacts expected for a Flood Warning - an overtopped river and flooding of homes is expected.
 Photo credit: Clare Jones.
Severe Flood Warning
This photo shows impacts expected for a Severe Flood Warning - communities impacted and evacuated due to flood waters.
 Photo Credit: NPAS (National Police Air Service)
Flood warning no longer in force
This photo shows impacts expected for a Flood Warning no longer in force - damaged areas cordoned off and assessed, flood debris and flood damage being repaired.
 This photo shows impacts expected for a Flood Warning no longer in force – standing water being pumped out of the area.
 Live flood warnings and alerts for flooding from rivers or the sea are updated every 15 minutes on our website https://flood-warning.naturalresources.wales or you can call Floodline to find information near you 0345 988 1188.
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In this section we can share messages and experiences from across the community flood volunteer network in Wales, and responses to questions we’ve received.
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Non Parry is a Flood Warden with the Llangefni, Anglesey Flood Group and has a request for people to get in touch with her, to share their experiences of property flood protection.
Non writes:
“We had a devastating flood in November 2017 which left homes and businesses wrecked, and you as other flood groups have suffered the same over the years.
Our group is interested in property level protection for homes and businesses, and I want to see if any other group has experiences or opinions to share.”
Please get in touch directly with Non.Parry@yahoo.com
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The latest Natural Resources Wales external funding bulletin is now available to read.
Funding Update - February 2021
It includes details about funding available, which may be of interest to your community.
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- What would you like to see in future issues of this newsletter?
- Is there something you’d like to know more about?
- Would you be willing to share your experiences of flooding or as a community volunteer?
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NRW are not responsible for the content of other sites. We are providing this as a signpost to information, and not as a promotion of other organisations or companies. We believe the advice that they are sharing is helpful to everyone. Links to external sites may only have information available in English.
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