Cars drive through deep water on a flooded road in The Nine Elms during July 2021 floods
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)An overhaul of managing floods in London is needed, a report has found, a year after dramatic floods which left some homeless.
Around double the average rainfall for the month fell on both July 12 and July 25, with around 1,500 properties affected.
Many of those whose homes flooded are still unable to return to their homes a year later.
The London Flood Review report, commissioned by Thames Water, found that a mish-mash of organisations had varying levels of responsibility, making it “confusing” to respond to the heavy rains.
London boroughs are responsible for certain types of flooding within their borough boundary, like surface floods, but water often crosses into neighbouring boroughs.
Meanwhile, the Environment Agency is responsible for main river flooding, while Thames Water is in charge of sewer floods.
“As a result, the system can be extremely complex, and it can be tempting and easy to lay the blame at someone else’s door,” found the report.
“In situations where it rains this much, however, this attitude can be unhelpful and put people’s lives at risk.”
It recommended that a pan-London body be established between all parties to assess the risk of surface water flooding and sewer flooding together.
It also said that CCTV cameras and monitors across the city could be used to assess the depth of water and how quickly it is rising so crews can divert flows away from high-risk areas among other recommendations.
The investigation found that the heavy rain caused some sewer systems to become overwhelmed, while in other cases, drains on the road could not cope with the volume of water, leading to surface flooding, or a combination of both.
It also found that one of the greatest issues ahead of the flooding was that it was only originally categorised as a “yellow” risk, meaning “little opportunity for typical preparedness actions”.
Mike Woolgar, the chair of the London Flood Review, warned that climate change was making many existing ways of managing drainage less effective.
“The events of July 2021 are likely to be indicative of events we may see more frequently in the future,” he said.
“Our review of these events demonstrates the critical nature of collaborative working between all those who bear responsibility for water and flood risk management.”
