Case Study
Topic
Repairs to Domestic Properties
Incident / Exercise
Incident - Carlisle Floods, 8 January 2005
Background and Context
On the night of Friday 7 / Saturday 8 January 2005, severe storms and
unprecedented rainfall on already saturated ground fell across Cumbria.
Over the Friday night and into Saturday, this caused extensive flooding and
storm damage particularly in the Carlisle area.
The impacts of this included:
-
3 deaths
-
1,925 homes and business flooded - to 2 metres
-
3,000+ people homeless for up to 12 months+
-
40,000 addresses without power
-
3,000 jobs put at risk.
How the Topic was Handled
Key points were:
-
Had a housing recovery sub group including local authorities, registered
social landlords and Government Office for the North West, which was
initially concerned with consideration of the provision of large numbers
of temporary accommodation units. It then focussed on issues arising
relating to the repair and refurbishment of domestic properties.
-
Government gave an initial sum of £1.5 million to address flood related
housing issues. This money was allocated to 13 projects within the flood
affected communities including private sector renewal works, energy
efficiency measures, a scheme for putting in place individual flood
resilience measures in rural properties, and a number of
community/environmental schemes.
Lessons Identified
Issues identified with the reinstatement of homes were:
-
Varying insurance company approaches; some provide project managers,
specialist contractors, approved builders, etc. and others do not.
-
Lengthy drying out period; after the humidification and heating, residual
dampness must dry out over a lengthy period.
-
Major extent of refurbishment required: most flood affected properties
had entire ground floor stripped back to bare brickwork and reinstated.
-
White van/skip/cement mixer land; whole of flood affected area became a
building site with associated traffic management, waste disposal and
environmental impacts.
-
Variable quality of contractors.
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Stock condition survey carried out in flooded areas.
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Achieve decent homes standard; many Victorian / Edwardian properties
involved - efforts made by housing team to ensure reinstatement to decent
homes standards where lacking.
-
Uninsured homes; interventions necessary to ensure uninsured properties
cleared, dried out and repaired to prevent adverse impacts on
neighbouring properties. Interventions included grant aid, support in
releasing equity, and access to commercial loans including deferred
repayment by housing team.
-
Continual monitoring of properties to gauge progress with repairs.
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Council tax exemptions to owners whilst displaced during repairs.
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Extended time-scale:
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50% back after 9 months
-
70% after 12 months
-
90% after 18 months
-
20-30 properties > 24months.
-
Plan to more effectively advise and co-ordinate all this.
Contacts for Further Information
John Mallinson, Head of Scrutiny and Emergency Planning Services, Carlisle
City Council
Tel: 01228 817010
E-mail: johnm@carlisle.gov.uk
Lindsay Cowen, Emergency Planning Officer, Cumbria County Council
Tel: 01228 815700
E-mail: lindsay.cowen@cumbriaepu.gov.uk
