Case Study
Topic
Repairs to Domestic Properties
Historic Environment
Incident / Exercise
Incident: Lewes flooding, Thursday 12 October 2000
Background and Context
Following three days of exceptionally heavy rain on already saturated
ground, the River Ouse overtopped the flood defences and flooded
substantial parts of Lewes.
613 residential and 207 business properties were flooded, along with 16
public buildings. 1000 people were displaced. 503 vehicles were
damaged or destroyed and the total cost of the flooding was given as £88
million.
How the Topic was Handled
A Restoration Sub-Group was appointed, working to the Lewes
FloodRecovery Co-ordinating Group. Its Terms of
Reference were “To co-ordinatethe clear-up of the affected
areas, including the consideration of long-term health issues.”
Represented on the sub-group were:
-
Lewes District Council (Environmental Health, Housing Maintenance,
Building Control, Design & Conservation, Waste and Recycling)
-
East Sussex County Council (Transport & Environment, Trading
Standards)
-
East Sussex Brighton & Hove Health Authority (Public Health
Consultant).
This sub-group met five times, under the chairmanship of a senior
Environmental Health Officer from Lewes DC, the last time being in May
2001.
Key points arising were:
-
No major structural problems, except in old buildings.
-
Provision of public health advice, particularly on how to handle cleaning
up flooded homes and avoiding contamination.
-
Recognised from beginning that worst flooded would need at least six
months to dry out.
-
Removal of flood damaged fittings from historic buildings has revealed a
range of deep-seated (and often uninsured) structural problems – attempts
to get English Heritage and lottery grants. No lottery grant
achieved, but English Heritage provided a three year package (Heritage
Economic Regeneration Scheme).
-
160 listed buildings affected. Many special problems arose, including the
need for very long drying out periods before restoration could begin.
-
Cavity wall insulation when wet often has to be completely removed.
-
500+ skips for removal of flood damaged household effects in first three
weeks (120+ in Spences Lane alone), at a cost of £80,000.
-
Regional epidemiologist commenced survey into health effects in July 2001
using sample of 120 flood-affected households and ‘control’ population of
non-flooded households. The results, due to be published in March
2002, will show that there was a significant impact on people’s
psychological health and that there were impacts upon self-reported
illnesses such as earache, skin rashes and gastro-intestinal
upsets.
Lessons Identified
The Restoration sub-group particularly noted the following:
-
The Health Impact Survey (see below) is a national first and could have
significant impact. Hitherto there has been little information
available on health implications of flooding.
-
Restoration of old buildings is severely hampered by funding problems.
-
The Recovery Group was one of the major success stories of the
flooding. Groups could have been even more productive if
organisations had proffered dedicated time rather than tacking duties
onto already very busy workloads.
-
They regretted not having the direct involvement of the Environment
Agency and the commercial sector, but found it very useful to discuss
insurance issues with the Lewes D.C. Insurance Officer.
Contacts for Further Information
Further information can be obtained from:-
Alan Smith, Head of Emergency Planning, East Sussex County Council
E-mail: alan.smith@eastsussex.gov.uk
or
Lindsay Frost, Director of Planning & Environmental Services, Lewes
District Council
E-mail: lindsay.frost@lewes.gov.uk
Additional Documents
Review of the recovery process
[External PDF]
