West Berkshire Council advises residents to prepare for potential severe winter flooding

West Berkshire District Council has advised residents to undertake preparations for anticipated winter flooding, with councillors cautioning that the severity could surpass last year’s events or even match the significant flooding experienced in 2014. The council reported that this past summer marked the third wettest in Berkshire since 1918. Angela Jordan, a Newbury resident who experienced flooding in both 2014 and again in January of this year, expressed her lack of confidence, stating she was “not confident” the county was adequately prepared “if the worst does come”. January saw the arrival of Storm Henk in England, soon succeeded by storms Isha and Jocelyn. By the close of March, millions of gallons of rainwater had inundated already saturated fields throughout West Berkshire, causing the River Thames, Kennet, Lambourn, and Pang to contend with overwhelming water levels. Ms. Jordan, whose residence is situated near the River Lambourn, stated that flood warnings “brings back memories of 2014”. She recounted: “We had to be rescued by the Army. “People were evacuated from their homes and the Army brought lorry after lorry of sandbags down to build walls around our houses and front gardens to save us from being flooded.”It was absolutely terrifying because the water came up so quickly. For weeks and weeks I had to put wellingtons on to get out of the house.” She elaborated that residents, including herself, require more tangible assistance should flooding occur. She asserted: “Advice does not save your house from flooding. “What we need are the those practical things, those reusable portable barriers that you see endlessly on the news whenever there’s another part of the country that gets flooded.”There’s nothing like that being provided here, householders can’t afford to pay for that kind of thing.” The Environment Agency (EA) maintains a team of five personnel available to monitor local rivers, clear debris from ditches, and eliminate other obstructions that lead to blockages. The EA is urging individuals who believe they might be at risk to acquaint themselves with relevant websites, such as their own, which provide early notifications of increasing water levels. Richard Hancock, representing the EA, commented that it “won’t take much to tip things over the edge in the coming months”. He clarified that rivers are already at very high levels, groundwater is elevated, and the overall risk is “heightened”. He further stated: “”Flooding is never an easy subject to deal with. “Having that awareness of risk, knowing what you can do to help yourself, knowing who you can go to for extra help if you need it is absolutely key.”It’s all about preparedness, knowing what you can do and where you can go for the help you need.”” The council announced its intention to have more personnel on standby throughout the winter compared to previous years, in preparation for potential severe events. Councillor Stuart Gourley remarked: “We’ve been working hard over the summer to keep rivers and streams free of obstacles. “We are always out and about on our highways cleaning our drains and our gullies. “We’ve cleaned over 16,000 so far this year and will continue to as we head into winter.”” Information regarding BBC Berkshire is available on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. This content is copyrighted by BBC 2024, with all rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content found on external websites and provides details on its approach to external linking.