Flood protection 'impossible to guarantee'

21st February, 2006

Existing forms of flood defence have let down areas vulnerable to damage, councils in Cumbria say.

Residents in the flood-prone county are being urged to buy into a grant scheme to pay for new floodwater barriers, with the traditional sandbags increasingly seen as an inadequate source of protection.

Alan Smith of Allendale Borough Council admitted that the scheme, at a cost of £100 per household, was being launched because customary measures had failed to deliver effective results.

'Unfortunately, it is impossible to guarantee delivery of sandbags during storm conditions because of, for example, flooded roads or fallen trees,' he said.

However, with central government funding not available and many houses needing to apply for planning permission before installing new flood defences, the availability of new preventative measures across the country is likely to remain seriously limited.

Residents should take care to protect their property against the risk of flood by assessing the range of competitive home insurance deals offered online.

 

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