By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
More than 1,200 homes and businesses suffered internal flooding following Storm Babet, new figures show.
The statistics confirm the storm caused far more local flooding than any other weather event in the last decade.
Councillors will discuss the lasting impact of the ‘severe’ October incident in a meeting next week.
The council’s Flood Risk Management Team verified 1,259 properties and businesses in 92 communities as suffering from internal flooding as a direct result of the storm.
By comparison, Nottinghamshire County Council had 1,547 reports of internal flooding recorded in total in the nine years between 2013 and 2022.
A total of 1,233 claims have been paid out by Nottinghamshire County Council’s Recovery Grant scheme for those affected by internal flooding in the aftermath.
The extreme flooding in October led to a major incident being declared by Nottinghamshire County Council.
The report will be discussed at the Place Select Committee on March 27.
As the Lead Local Flood Authority, the council must report on flooding incidents.
The report details flooding in Eastwood in September 2023 and the flooding caused by Storm Babet in October.
Further flooding in December 2023 and January 2024 from Storm Henk will be detailed in a separate report in June 2024.
The authority said it “remains committed to working with our communities and partner organisations to reduce the risk and consequences of flooding across the county”.
Five homes in Eastwood were flooded in September 2023 as some areas experienced over 60mm of rainfall.
“The impacts of this flooding have been and will continue to be felt by the
community for many months as they begin their recovery journey and dealing with the impacts of the flooding”, council documents stated.
In October, Storm Babet also led to 77 roads being fully closed with many more impacted by the flooding, resulting in significant disruption.
“Parts of the Midlands were subjected to the wettest three days since records began”, the council said.
Environment Agency statistics recorded up to 124mm of rain falling in parts of the county between 18 and 21 October with 95mm of that falling in a 24-hour period.
The Environment Agency issued 17 Flood Alerts, 57 Flood Warnings and 2 Severe Flood Warnings between the 19th and 23rd October.
In a flood emergency, the council must provide support on the scene including sandbags, closing off unsafe roads, structural assessments and gully emptying.
It must also identify vulnerable residents and support emergency services with evacuation.
A major incident was declared by the authority on October 21.
Highways and maintenance provider Via East Midlands responded to 376 calls for support from communities at risk including sandbag requests and closed 77 roads across the County.
Now, the council is considering the implementation of new measures to help communities affected.
These include extending the Property Flood Resilience programme to cover
new ‘at risk’ areas and building on support for community groups including training and CCTV.
The council will also consider creating a four-year programme of
investment in some rural areas. Funding has already been secured for Southwell, Clarborough, Gotham, Woodborough and Burton Joyce.
The council will also review its work on flood risk every six months.
