Lyn Fraley - 8-Feb-2007 - Following recent improvements to the Flood Watch service offered to people living in the area where the Rivers Severn and Vyrnwy meet, the Environment Agency is inviting residents to a meeting at 4.00pm on Friday 9 February 2007 at Kinnerley Parish Hall, Kinnerley, Shropshire, to discuss any queries or concerns.

The ‘Vyrnwy Catchment’ and ‘River Severn in Shropshire’ Flood Watch Areas have been separated into three areas with the creation of a dedicated flood watch area for the Severn Vyrnwy confluence. People living in the confluence area who are already registered with Flood Warnings Direct to receive Flood Watch messages will now automatically receive Flood Watch messages for the new Severn Vyrnwy Confluence Flood Watch Area. We have updated their records and have written to them to let them know of the change.

Mark Baynton, from the Area Flood Incident Management Team, says: "The new Flood Watch Area has enabled us to provide more specific information to people living where the Rivers Severn and Vyrnwy meet. If you have any queries or concerns, please come along to the meeting and we will do our best to answer them for you.

"If you have registered with Floodline Warnings Direct, and have chosen to receive Flood Watch messages, you will automatically be sent the correct Flood Watch messages for your area. If you haven’t registered yet, I urge you to do so now by calling Floodline on 0845 988 1188. Being prepared for flooding can help you minimise the damage and distress it can cause."

If anyone placed in the new Flood Watch Area wishes to continue to receive Flood Watch messages for the Vyrnwy Catchment or River Severn in Shropshire, they can let us know at the meeting or by contacting Bernice Johnson at the Shrewsbury office on 08708 506506.

People living upstream of the confluence area will continue to receive Flood Watch messages for the Vyrnwy Catchment Flood Watch Area. Those living downstream of the confluence area will continue to receive Flood Watch messages for the River Severn in Shropshire Flood Watch Area.

Flood Warning and Severe Flood Warning messages are not affected by this change as these are already issued for very localised areas.

Notes to Editor

Flood Warning Codes

Flood Watch - Flooding of low lying land and roads is expected. Be aware, be prepared, watch out!

Watch water levels
Stay tuned to local radio or TV
Ring Floodline on 0845 988 1188
Make sure you have what you need to put your flood plan into action
Alert your neighbours, particularly the elderly
Check pets and livestock
Reconsider travel plans
Flood Warning - Flooding of homes and businesses is expected. Act now!

As with Flood Watch plus

Move pets, vehicles, food, valuables and other items to safety
Put sandbags or floodboards in place
Prepare to turn off gas and electricity
Be prepared to evacuate your home
Protect yourself, your family and others that need your help
Severe Flood Warning - Severe flooding is expected. There is extreme danger to life and property. Act now!

As with Flood Warning plus

Be prepared to lose power supplies - gas, electricity, water, telephone
Try to keep calm, and to reassure others, especially children
Co-operate with emergency services and local authorities
You may be evacuated
All Clear - Flood Watches or Warnings are no longer in force for this area.

Flood water levels receding.
Check all is safe to return.
Seek advice.

Environment Agency invites residents and visitors to discuss Bewdley flood barriers

Lyn Fraley - 8-Feb-2007 - zhe Environment Agency is inviting people who live, work or shop in Bewdley to come along to Bewdley Library between 12.00 noon and 2.00pm on Wednesday 14 February 2007 to discuss the Bewdley flood defences and, in particular, the new defences at Beale’s Corner.

Members of our Upper Severn Area Flood Incident Management Team will be on hand to talk to anyone who has queries or concerns about the defences themselves, or the way they are deployed.

During a flood, it’s part of our job to warn of impending flooding, to give people advice and information on how to prepare and, wherever we can, to protect people from the damage and distress that flooding can cause.

Where we can, we use permanent flood-walls like at the corner of Dog Lane; it is only in the last few years that we have been able to deploy the innovative temporary defences for communities where we cannot build permanent defences.

Rob Scott, from the Flood Incident Management Team, says: "The health and safety of the people of Bewdley and visitors to the town during flooding is of paramount importance to us. We want to work with the community to deliver and erect flood barriers in good time, while minimising disruption to life and business in Bewdley.

"Flooding is a natural event, which cannot be prevented, but we can prepare for it. Bewdley is not suitable for permanent defences such as flood banks and walls, temporary and demountable barriers are the only way of protecting Bewdley people from the damage and distress of flooding.

"For them to succeed, we need the support of the whole community, including those who live, work or shop in Bewdley but are not necessarily at risk of flooding themselves. We are inviting anyone who has an interest in the barriers to come along to Bewdley Library on 14 February and talk to us."

Notes to Editor

Some common questions:

Why do you need to close access to the town when you put defences up?

For public safety. When flood barriers are being erected the surrounding area is classed as a construction site and any construction site is a dangerous place. We need to close roads while we operate vehicles and equipment in a restricted area.

I work or shop in Bewdley but live elsewhere. Beales Corner defences made life very difficult - will this happen again?

We are sorry for any inconvenience but our top priority is to protect people and property from the impacts of flooding. If we had not put the defences up at Beales Corner the road would have flooded anyway. We only erect the defences when absolutely necessary and the support of the wider community is very important to us.

You promised Beales Corner defences would allow the bridge to remain open. Why was it closed?

Once again, for safety. The floods last month were the first time we had used these defences with the added hazard of high winds. In future, we may still need to close the bridge for safety but we are actively looking at ways to re-open it once the defences are up.

Why don’t you erect the barriers when it would cause less disruption?

In Bewdley, we get about 12-24 hours warning time before floodwater reaches. the town. It takes several hours to erect the barriers, so the opportunity to put them up is quite short. We try to erect the barriers when it will cause least inconvenience and in daylight, which is safer for everyone, but sometimes we have little choice

Why don’t you leave the defences in place when you know another flood is possible?

For security, the barriers must be manned all the time they are up - which uses resources that may be needed elsewhere. We also want to minimise inconvenience to the community. If we are certain another flood is expected, we will leave them up - as we did at Upton last month.

What are you asking us to do?

We need the people of Bewdley and those visiting the town to support us and our partners in our efforts to reduce the misery of flooding.

Be aware of the risk of flooding and road closures and keep up to date with the latest information via Floodline, on our website or local radio -especially BBC Hereford and Worcester.
Be prepared to tolerate some inconvenience if it helps save people’s lives and homes. We will do whatever we can to keep the inconvenience to a minimum.
For everyone’s safety, do not remove barriers or signs that we put up, or try to enter areas that we have closed off.