23,000 properties in York and North Yorkshire at high or medium risk of flooding
That's according to data from the Environment Agency
Thousands of households and businesses flood prone areas are failing to put in basic protection against rising waters – according to new figures.
Data from the Environment Agency shows there are 23,000 properties in York and North Yorkshire at high or medium risk of flooding.
Ian Dawson's home in North Yorkshire flooded for the first time in 2019 after 27 years of having never been affected. This meter high flood occurred after days of heavy rainfall that caused the Arkle Beck River to burst its banks. Ian and his family were forced into temporary accommodations, which they changed eight times over the next 18 months.
"The bath was full of mud"
"It brought down stones, boulders, trees, it came up through the sewerage into the bathroom, it came through the windows and the doors and the back of the house, it did a lot of damage."
"The water got in and had gone into the walls, it had gone into the floors, the plaster, the carpet, wooden floors. So imagine going into the bathroom, the bath is full of mud, brown sludge, toilet, shower, kitchen all that sort of area was covered in mud."
The Environment Agency says 74% of property owners living in flood prone areas have done nothing to protect their homes from flood risk
Ian ultimately decided to adapt his house and invest in PFR measures such as flood barriers and closing off outlets for the shower and bath.
He has this advice for others whose properties are at risk: "If you can afford to buy prevention measures such as barriers, do it, it's far easier to spend three or four thousand pounds, if you can, to do it now, than to go through, in our case, four years of upheaval."