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Suffolk’s Local Climate Impact Profile
2004-2008
Page 1
CONTENT PAGE
Executive Summary 3
Climate Change 6
How is Suffolk planning to adapt? 8
Suffolk’s Climate 9
Suffolk’s Vulnerability 12
Local Authority Responsibility 14
Suffolk’s LCLIP 15
Tidal surge (09/11/2007) 18
Gales (18/01/2007) 24
Heatwave (July 2006) 30
Snow (29/01/2004) 36
The Future 40
So where do we go from here? 45
Useful Weblinks 46
Appendices 48
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Climate change is happening at a faster rate than previously seen in geological
history. Scientific experts agree that recent changes are very likely to be due to human
activities that have increased atmospheric concentrations of harmful emissions such
as Carbon Dioxide (CO2) through the burning of fossil fuel. As a result the UK’s will:
Become warmer and drier in the summer.
Become milder and wetter in the winter.
Have more extreme events, such as flooding, gales and heatwaves.
Have less snow events.
If no action is taken, the local government services, businesses and the public will
become more vulnerable to the changing weather conditions and potential disruption
that they may cause.
In 2008 the Suffolk Strategic Partnership developed the new Community Strategy for
2008-2028 called ‘Transforming Suffolk’. Through the Greenest County theme, the
Partnership aims for Suffolk to be an exemplar in tackling climate change and
protecting and enhancing its natural and historic environment. The Partnership has
adopted National Indicator 188 ‘Adapting to Climate Change’ as a key target that local
authorities need to meet by 2011. Suffolk’s local authorities took the decision to work
together to meet this target and have started by identifying potential threats and
opportunities due to the changing and documenting them in this Local Climate Impacts
Profile (LCLIP). The aim of the LCLIP is to:
Raise awareness of the consequences to council services of extreme weather
events.
Begin to assess the cost and other implications of these weather events on our
public services.
Highlight the potential scale and frequency of future impacts in order to identify
both risks and opportunities.
Provide information to justify adaptation measures relating to potential future
climate change.
The LCLIP initially used local media sources to identify extreme weather events
experienced in the county over the last 5 years (01/01/2004 – 31/12/2008). From the
initial search, it was decided that the 09/11/2007 tidal surge, the 18/01/2007 gale, the
July 2006 heatwave and the 29/1/2004 snow would be selected as examples for
further investigation by interviewing local authority service employees. These events
are summarised in the table below.
Page 3
Event Summary Total
Costs
Tidal Surge Suffolk narrowly escaped potentially devastating floods but
(09/11/2007) the councils still spent a lot of time and money preparing for
the predicted impacts. These varied from the setting up of
call centres and rest centres to filling sandbags and moving
high volume pumps.
Some flooding did occur, e.g. the A12 at Blythburgh. This
affected various services, such as highways and waste
collections.
This event can be seen as a trial run for future extreme tidal
surges, where Local Authorities have learnt a variety of
lessons. As a result our emergency plans and procedures
have been modified to be better prepared for future surges. ~ £83,332
Gale This event was more destructive because it occurred in the
(18/01/2007) middle of the afternoon, when most people were working or
travelling around the county. However, there were fewer
fallen trees when comparing this event with the 1987 gale,
which had similar wind speeds. This positive change could
partially be due to the Tree Management Policy, which
demonstrates proactive work helps to reduce service
disruptions and costs in future gales. ~ £123,455
Heatwave The heatwave lasted longer than other extreme events and
(July 2006) there was a slow build up of impacts and costs to services.
This effect was demonstrated by the Fire and Rescue
Service because they had to dispatch more engines to
incidents at the end of July compared to the beginning, due
to vegetation drying out and becoming more flammable.
Office work was also disrupted due to the effects of extreme
heat in buildings not designed to cope. Outside workers
either had to take shelter in the hottest part of the day
(especially when they were working with children) or were
allowed to start their shifts earlier in the day. ~ £485,000
Snow Whilst interviewing, it became apparent that little information
(29/01/2004) was known about this event because employees were
unable to remember the event and recording systems for
weather impacts had not been setup. Consequently,
accurate information could not be obtained, so a brief
overview could be reported in the LCLIP.
The biggest impact snow caused for all the services was
when workers were unable to commute to the office, either
due to the treacherous roads, being snowed in or having to
look after their children because their school was closed.
Consequently, local authority services started to work under
minimal staff and jobs began to backlog. Unknown
Page 4
Not every service was affected by extreme weather events and their impacts varied
enormously depending on the nature of the service. Nevertheless, more needs to be
done as records were not kept for all services and if they were, the damages were not
necessarily related to weather events. This means the costs identified in the LCLIP are
likely to be an underestimate and a new monitoring system would need to be set up in
order to accurately record this information in the future.
Suffolk is predicted to become warmer and drier in the summer, with temperatures
experienced in the 2006 heatwave becoming the norm. Winters are expected to
become milder and wetter, so there will be less cold frosty days but more intense
rainfall with the potential to causing flash flooding. It is also likely that stronger winds
could be experienced, which could combine with the rising sea levels to increase the
frequency of tidal surges along the coastline.
Even though some work, such as business continuity plans and emergency plans,
have already been developed, the LCLIP shows that Suffolk’s vulnerability is still likely
to increase and further action needs to be taken. Therefore, the delivery of the
objectives within “Transforming Suffolk” to both limit the causes of climate change and
adapt to changing weather patterns is crucial to ensure a sustainable future for the
county. Local authorities need to exercise their responsibility as community leaders in
this area and demonstrate good practice in order to influence wider stakeholders.
Our climate is continually changing and we need to adapt with it. This LCLIP needs to
be used as a platform to gather more extensive information and has to be linked to
future local authority decisions. The final goal is to increase our resilience to extreme
weather events and reduce its impacts by improving our preparedness and adaption
throughout Suffolk.
Page 5
CLIMATE CHANGE
“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from
observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures,
widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.”
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Earths climate has continually changed throughout history and life has had to
react to survive. There is now consensus among the international experts that the
planet is warming at a faster rate and on a greater scale than previously seen in
geological history. This is partly due to natural changes but overwhelming evidence
from scientists show that human activity is the main cause.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)1:-
Global Greenhouse Gas emissions due to human activities have grown since
18th century (illustrated on Graph 1 below) and have increased by 70% between
1970 and 2004.
Global increases in CO2 concentrations are due primarily to fossil fuel use, such
as coal and oil, with land-use change, from forests to agriculture, providing
another significant but smaller contribution.
There is high agreement and much evidence that with current climate change
mitigation policies and related sustainable development practices, Global
Greenhouse Gas emissions will continue to grow over the next few decades.
Graph 1 ~ Variations of the Earth’s surface temperature 1860-2000
(Source: IPCC)
1
UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), AR4 Synthesis Report
Page 6
These changes in the Earths atmosphere have resulted in the following:
Eleven of the years between 1995 and 2006 rank among the twelve hottest
years since records began in 1850.
The Global sea level has risen since 1961 at an average rate of 1.8 mm/year
and since 1993 at 3.1 mm/year.
Satellite data since 1978 shows that the annual average Arctic sea ice extent
has shrunk by 2.7% per decade. Mountain glaciers and snow cover on average
have also shrunk in both hemispheres.
From 1900 to 2005, rainfall increased significantly in eastern parts of North and
South America, northern Europe and northern and central Asia but declined in
the Sahel, the Mediterranean, southern Africa and parts of southern Asia.
“Global Greenhouse Gas emissions will continue to grow over the next few
decades even with current climate change mitigation policies and related
sustainable development practices.”
2007 IPCC Assessment Reports
With changes in our climate set to continue, we are going to have to start adapting our
behaviour in order to reduce weather impacts that the public and business are already
starting to experience, such as the melting and subsidence of roads, crop and
grassland fires and falling trees onto property and power lines.
Climate change refers to the baseline climate (the climate we are experiencing
annually) and how it changes due to natural variation and human modification on
atmospheric composition.
What is the difference between Weather and Climate?
Climate is the average weather in a specific locality for a period of time
(usually 30 years).
Weather describes what is happening at a particular point in time (i.e. the
snow, thunderstorms, torrential rain that you see outside your window).
Source: Local and Regional Adaptation Partnership
Page 7
HOW IS SUFFOLK PLANNING TO ADAPT?
In 2008 the Suffolk Strategic Partnership developed the new Community Strategy for
2008-2028 called ‘Transforming Suffolk’. Through the Greenest County theme, the
Partnership aims for Suffolk to be an exemplar in tackling climate change and
protecting and enhancing its natural and historic environment. The Partnership has
adopted National Indicator 188 (NI 188) ‘Adapting to Climate Change’ as a key target
that we need to meet by 2011 (defined in Appendix 1). This indicator is designed to
help councils and partners measure their progress in preparing for the changing
climate, enabling the management of any opportunities and risks.
Although some good work has already been done, Suffolk’s local authorities took the
decision to work together to meet key NI 188 targets. They decided to identify potential
threats and opportunities from weather and climate change, to help people to
understand the significant impacts on the council and partners’ services. We have
chosen to do this by creating a Local Climate Impacts Profile (LCLIP).
The purpose of this LCLIP is to raise awareness and act as a catalyst in making future
action plans. It demonstrates those physical vulnerabilities specific to Suffolk and
helps us identify the extent to which we, as local authorities are prepared and able to
respond to deal with current weather events. This Suffolk LCLIP, which focuses on the
consequences of historic events from 2004-2008, allows us to examine vulnerabilities
and consequences of events on service delivery across the County, District and
Borough Councils.
Research was undertaken using local media sources to gain an understanding of
when historic weather events (e.g. flooding, heatwaves and gales) occurred and their
consequences in Suffolk on council services. Further knowledge was then gathered
from staff in those affected service areas across all councils. This information,
combined with data that predicts future climate change, compiled by the UK Climate
Impacts Programme (UKCIP), allows us to understand how our services may be
affected in the future.
This LCLIP aims to:
Raise awareness of the potential impact on council services of extreme weather
events.
Begin to assess the cost and other implications of these weather events on our
public services.
Highlight the potential scale and frequency of future impacts in order to identify
both risks and opportunities.
Provide information to justify adaptation measures relating to potential future
climate change.
Page 8
SUFFOLK’S CLIMATE
The United Kingdom Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP), based at Oxford
University, produced a set of climate predictions based on the best available
international scientific evidence in 2002. This is known as UKCIP02 and is due to be
updated later in 2009 with UKCIP09.
UKCIP 02 predicts Suffolk will have:
An annual temperature increase between 0.5 oC and 1oC by 2040, where
summer temperatures like those experienced during the heatwaves of 2003 and
2006 will be normal, while frosty days will be rarely seen in the winter; therefore
plant growth could be seen all year.
A 10% drop in annual rainfall by 2020 that will lead to lower soil moisture and
could result in water shortages and more summer hosepipe bans.
More intense rainfall, which could lead to more flash flooding.
A higher sea level, up to 20cm by 2050, which will increase the risk of coastal
flooding.
An increase in other extreme weather events, such as lightning and tornadoes,
which may damage property and power lines.
Like the rest of the planet Suffolk’s climate has started to change. Suffolk’s climatic
values were obtained from the Met Office, which calculated the average readings at
particular locations over a 30 year period (see Graphs 2 & 3 below). By comparing
1961-1990 and 1971-2000 climatic averages, we can see how our climate has
changed over the 10 year period.
From the graphs we can see that average climatic temperatures have increased by
0.2oC - 0.5oC at Lowestoft and 0.3oC - 0.6oC at Wattisham. At first glance this does
not look like a significant increase but by scaling up these figures, average
temperatures could rise between 2oC and 6oC in 100 years, which would have
dramatic consequences. To put this into perspective the average temperature
difference between Spain and England is only 5 oC and Spain experiences peak
summer temperatures that regularly exceeded 44oC.
Page 9
Graph 2 ~ Climatic Temperature in Lowestoft, Suffolk
Comparison of Climatic Temperature in Lowstoft
25
Temperature (oC) 20
15
10
5
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Months
1971-2000 Max. Average Temperature 1971-2000 Min. Average Temperature
1961-1990 Max. Averahe Temperature 1961-1990 Min. Average Temperature
Graph 3 ~ Climatic Temperature in Wattisham, Suffolk
Comparison of Climatic Temperature in Wattisham
25
20
Temperature (oC)
15
10
5
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Months
1971-2000 Max. Average Temperature 1971-2000 Min. Average Temperature
1961-1990 Max. Average Temperature 1961-1990 Min. Average Temperature
Changes in average temperatures could mean:
A reduction in productivity for outdoor workers because of potential health risks,
such as skin cancer and heatstroke, from extreme temperatures and greater UV
exposure. Daily jobs could take longer to complete or working shifts will need
to change to that of the current Mediterranean lifestyle, with a break in the
middle of the day when temperatures are at their hottest.
Increase public complaints about odours and pests associated with waiting
waste collections, which leads to greater calls for weekly collections of residual
waste or better segregation of organic waste.
Farmers may suffer from drought and/or crop fires, which in turn will impact on
their productivity.
Page 10
Roads surfaces may destabilise and melt resulting in costly damage and traffic
disruption.
Increase in food poisoning due to the increased survival of microorganisms in
the warmer conditions, which will be associated with the increase in eating
outdoors or food storage in warmer conditions.
Annual rainfall is expected to decrease leading to more drought conditions, yet
isolated intense rainfall will increase potential flash flooding.
Fewer frosty nights, subsequently highway gritting and winter maintenance
costs will reduce.
Annual and summer rainfall is expected to decrease leading to more drought
conditions, yet isolated intense winter rainfall will increase slightly so potential flash
flooding is more likely to occur. Again using climatic data for Graph 4 below, we can
see that changes have already started to happen in rainfall for Lowestoft between
1990 and 2000. Annual rainfall has reduced by 7.2mm and July’s by 4.8mm, but
Januarys rainfall only slightly increased by 0.4mm.
Graph 4 ~ Rainfall Difference between 1961 average & 1971-2000 average
1
Rainfall Difference (mm)
0
Annual Rainfall Jan Rainfall July Rainfall
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
Lowestoft
-8
Changes in annual rainfall patterns could mean:
An increase in the risks of ground instability, by alternate wetting and drying of
soils, leading to undermining of carriageways, bridges and buildings, damage to
path and roads and potential landslips.
Difficulties maintaining traditional and heritage parks and garden planting
schemes, leading to the loss of summer bedding, rose beds and some native
and ornamental trees species.
A potentially increase in contamination of drinking water, water borne infections
and exposure to toxic pollutants.
Increased risk of disruption for people getting to work and school.
With weather events predicted to occur more frequently, Suffolk is likely to be affected
by one or more extreme weather events at least once throughout the year.
Page 11
SUFFOLK’S VULNERABILITY
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change defines Vulnerability as:
‘The degree to which a system is susceptible to, and unable to cope with,
adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes.
Vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude, and rate of climate
change and variation to which a system is exposed, its sensitivity, and its
adaptive capacity.’
Vulnerability to extreme weather events is not only dependant on the type of event we
experience but also on our natural and human landscape.
The low-lying nature of the county of Suffolk and our coastal location makes us
particularly susceptible to coastal flooding from tidal surges. With rising sea levels and
a predicted increase in frequent storms Suffolk’s coasts will be hit harder and more
often. Sea defence costs will increase and both natural and human landscapes will
change with the effects of increased breaching.
Suffolk is also susceptible to flash flooding because its surface geology is
predominantly made up of chalk boulder clay. Clay can quickly become impermeable
in heavy rain and therefore unable to absorb water. Consequently, surface water
flooding, not related to rivers courses, will be more likely to be seen in these areas
compared to the sandy soils and chalk areas which absorbs water more readily due to
its porous nature.
Source: Adapted from the Environment Agency
Page 12
Flash flooding also occurs in urban areas because infrastructure, such as roads and
driveways, are impermeable. Following rain storms, water movement is reliant upon
our drainage systems that are designed to with stand a 1 in 30 year event for 15-30
minute intensity, however urban flash flooding can still occur after lighter rainfall, often
caused by a blocked drain. With future plans for development including an extra
48,100 new dwellings in Suffolk by 2021, (under the regional Spatial Strategy 2), our
current drainage systems could be stretched further.
Flash Flooding in Lowestoft (24/09/2006)
Dykes burst their banks, after a months worth of rain fell in a day, causing thousands
of pounds worth of damage, when homes were flooded, pets were rescued and
schools were closed. Anglian water also admitted that the volume of water seen, a 1
in a 100 year event, overwhelmed their networks.
Source: Lowestoft Journal (29/09/2006)
It is known that weather events have greater human and financial impacts on densely
populated towns and cities compared to sparsely populated rural villages and hamlets.
It can therefore be predicted that more lives will be disturbed and larger damage costs
to property and services will be seen if Suffolk’s population does grow to an estimated
733,600 inhabitants by 2021.
2
Suffolk County Council, 2009
Page 13
LOCAL AUTHORITY RESPONSIBILITY
Suffolk’s local authorities, along with other agencies, including the emergency
services, the health services, the Environment Agency and utility companies, are part
of the Suffolk Resilience Forum, which is responsible for planning the response and
providing support during major incidents. This Forum is activated with regard to
severe weather when key thresholds on the Adverse Weather Response Plan have
been exceeded. These thresholds are:
Severe Gales - gusts of 70+ mph; Storms - gusts of 80+ mph.
Heavy Snow - 2cm per hour for 2hrs; very heavy snow - 2cm per hour for 2hrs,
accumulating to 15cm or more.
Heatwave – The Met Office operates a ‘Heat-Health watch’ system in England
from 1st June to 15th September every year. The threshold temperatures in the
East of England are 30ºC in the day and 15ºC at night for 5 consecutive days.
However, local authorities do not just have a duty to respond in relation to major
incidents they also have a role to take action to mitigate against problems before they
occur.
Over three quarters (76 %) of people agree that local authorities have a key role
to play in tackling climate change.
Source: Local Government Association Climate Change
Public Opinion Poll, 2008.
Climate change has begun and 70% of the public (2008 Local Government
Association Climate Change Public Opinion Poll) wants it to become a priority in
council policies. Climate change has the potential to have a large impact on the public
and how local authorities operate, so the time has come for local government to
examine its response. This needs to be addressed through conventional risk
assessment methodologies, such as meeting governmental targets, assessing our
reputation to meet the communities’ needs through our services and identifying
additional costs due to weather impacts.
In order to prepare for the predicted changes, we need to look internally and see how
each authority has been affected by past extreme weather events. We can then plan
to adapt for future events, by taking actions to reduce potential negative
consequences and enhance opportunities.
Page 14
SUFFOLK’S LCLIP
An LCLIP is a research model developed by UKCIP to allow local authorities to
research their local climate history, to assess the impacts of extreme weather events
and to study future climate predictions. It also allows the authority to assess their
future risks, from extreme weather events and climate changes, so that they can
prepare for the future. However, UKCIP has noted that the LCLIP is a component in
the approach to plan to adapt to climate change and not a stand alone activity.
The Suffolk LCLIP uses local media sources, internal interviews and available
scientific information to investigate the consequences of historic extreme weather
events in our county.
What is the difference between Severe and Extreme Weather?
Severe Weather: Weather that occurs beyond the normal intensity for a
particular location, which is expected to reoccur on an annual timescale.
Extreme Weather: Same as severe weather but would only be expected to
reoccur on average every 10 years.
Extreme and severe weather events occur beyond the normal intensity for a given
location, so what Suffolk may class as high rainfall, Scotland would find normal.
However, it is also important to remember that extreme events will not always cause a
detrimental impact on our service delivery and other external factors may influence the
severity of the impacts.
To determine how many extreme weather events have occurred and gather
information about how each event impacted Suffolk, a trawl of local media sources
was conducted (detailed in Appendix 2). The Suffolk LCLIP only concentrated on last
five years (01/01/2004 – 31/12/2008), because events before 2004 would be hard for
employees to recall specific details. It is also important to note that the media research
is not considered as a complete list of weather events and not every impact will have
been reported.
The variety of extreme weather events reported in the local papers has increased and
the number of incidents reported was higher in the last two years, as seen on the
graph below. This may be an indication of the raised awareness that the climate is
changing.
This graph summarises the types and frequency of extreme weather events reported
in Suffolk’s local papers from 2004 – 2008. N.B. Mix Weather is classified when
different weather types are seen at the same time (e.g. 04/07/09 = lightning, flooding
and high winds).
Page 15
Frequency of Reported Weather Event
3
Number of Extreme Events
Snow
Flooding
2
Lightening
Storm
Gales
Mix Weather
1
Tornado
Heat Wave
0
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Year
Weather Impacts on Suffolk Authorities
There has been a great range of weather events in the last five years and therefore
this LCLIP concentrates on widespread extreme events, such as flooding, gales,
heatwaves and snow. This is because small, localised events, such as lightening and
tornadoes are unlikely to have a great impact on the ability of a local authority to
deliver its services.
Heavy Rainfall
Most of the flood incidents that were reported are surface flash flooding. The
Environment Agency (EA) reports that the last major fluvial flood that affected people
in Suffolk occurred in 1993. This is primarily due to Suffolk’s rural nature and the fact
that planners have not allowed intense development on flood plains. Consequently
our river systems are still flexible and dynamic and able to cope well with extreme
events.
The EA determined what the return period (how often an event is expected to occur in
a period of time e.g. once in 5 years or 4 times in a year) for the dates of ‘extreme
rainfall’ found in the media research (Appendix 3). All of the rainfall events identified
were within what the EA would expect to see every year. Therefore, these events
were not deemed extreme. This shows that local authorities need to be more
proactive in clearing public ditches and highway drains to prevent surface water
flooding related to extreme deluges expected in the future.
Page 16
The remainder of this LCLIP concentrates on specific historic weather events; these
are:
09/11/2007 Tidal Surge
18/01/2007 Gales
July 2006 Heatwave
29/01/2004 Snow
These all impacted upon a large area, affecting several services across Suffolk.
Consequently, costs and damages were more likely to be documented and
remembered by staff, enabling a more accurate picture of these specific events to be
gained.
Method
To better understand how the local authorities were affected by these specific weather
events, interviews were carried out across different service areas. Initially, an
overview questionnaire (Appendix 4) was sent to all council departments to determine
the services that were most affected by the extreme weather events, this also
determine which services needed to be interviewed. The interview questions
(Appendix 5) helped to gather further information about the work each service carries
out, how their area was affected by the weather and to record costs and damage
records (if documented).
Page 17
TIDAL SURGE (09/11/2007)
A combination of north-westerly winds exceeding 80mph, low pressure and high tides
led to a flood warning, from the Environment Agency, for the east of England, shown
on the map. Lowestoft and Felixstowe were at greatest risk in our county, Ministers
were particularly concerned over the vulnerability of the Lowestoft Port.
The diagram below shows the flood warning zones of the East Coast, Suffolk laid in
the severe flood warning category. (Source: Daily Telegraph, 12/11/2007)
It was predicted that the conditions could cause damage similar to 1953 tidal surge,
which flooded almost 100,000 hectares of eastern England, damaged 24,000 homes
and killed 307 people. Total costs to repair and return affected areas and people to
normality reached approximately £5 billion at today’s costs (BBC, 2003). 38 people
died in Felixstowe when homes in the West End area were flooded. At the same time
100s of people in Suffolk spent a freezing night on rooftops, awaiting rescue by
firefighters, police, soldiers or lifeboat men.
Thankfully on the morning of 09/11/07, the surge did not coincide with high tide and a
shift in wind direction meant the predicted widespread flood did not occur.
Nevertheless, the surge still peaked at 2.1 metres between 3am and 4am, which was
0.7 metres above the alert level for Lowestoft.
Information was gathered from Suffolk County, Suffolk Coastal District and Waveney
District Councils in relation to this event because they were the authorities most
affected.
Page 18
Suffolk County Council
Emergency Planning
A Severe Flood Warning was declared at 1300hrs on 08/11/07 for predicted flooding at
0745hrs on 09/11/07. A County Emergency Command Centre was established at
Suffolk Police headquarters in Martlesham, where coordination of activities took place
throughout the day and night. Similar centres were established in Waveney and
Suffolk Coastal District areas, so parish links could be setup to assist.
Three Rest Centres were established in Leiston, Lowestoft and Beccles, where
minimal staff were used to keep them running after they had been opened. The public
were then advised, through the media, to leave their homes and move to rest centres if
they lived in high risk flood areas. Sandbags were also filled overnight and placed in
strategic locations on the coast to protect larger areas.
There was still a lot of confusion for the public. National media messages were
alarmist and contradicted the messages being spread locally. However, the
emergency response ran smoothly and minor alterations to future responses were
identified and have been incorporated into emergency plans for future events.
Costs: ~£2,300
Business Continuity
Some preparation work was carried out to identify schools, care homes and other
government services located in the flood risk areas, but they did not have to activate
the business continuity plans. Local businesses were warned about the impending
danger from the tidal surge. If the surge had topped the sea defences the biggest
issue for Suffolk County Council would be maintaining regular daily services whilst
carrying out recovery work.
Fire and Rescue Service
This tidal surge did not only impact the services in Suffolk and Norfolk but had a
rippling effect across the whole country. This is because 17 specialist teams, 20 water
rescue teams and 14 high volume pumps were all brought in and strategically placed
along the coast (2 pumps were needed to protect Sizewell Power Station). This cost
the service £51,000 per day. However, it was also important to make sure some of the
engines and crews remained in west and south Suffolk to deal with daily core
business.
The effects of the predicted surge were potentially so devastating that the then
Prime Minister, Tony Blair called the Chief Fire Officer to make sure Central
Government and the local authorities were working together, and to ensure that
Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service had all the resources they required.
Again a command system was setup (Gold: officers working at the police head
quarters, Silver: officers that liaised between the ground staff and head quarters and
Bronze: officers working with the public). It soon became apparent that
accommodation and catering also had to be setup for employees. Shifts changed and
tried to remain to a 4 hours on 4 hour off pattern, in that time pumps, fuel, boats and
engines all had to be moved.
Cost: £60,000/day
Page 19
Adult and Community Services (ACS)
Care homes in Suffolk, which were at high risk of flooding, had to evacuate their
residents to rest centres and hotels. The initial problem was to actually locate all the
care homes in the flood risk areas, as many are privately run. Since this event
Emergency Planning now have flood risk maps from the EA, showing the location of
key public buildings e.g. police, fire service, schools and care homes, making it easier
to locate who needs to be evacuated. ACS ensured there were enough specialist
employees available to make people comfortable in the Rest Centres. Private care
home staff also gave assistance as they had travelled with their residents to the
centres. A bereavement centre was also set up in anticipation of the devastating
consequences of the flood.
Late in the evening of 08/11/07 social workers were mobilised for an emergency call
centre to provide advice to the public concerned about family and friends. The request
for helpers was sporadic because the centre was setup late in the day. The lessons
learnt from this will result in the call centre being setup when warnings are given of an
imminent surge and by using pre-determined emergency plans.
Domiciliary Care carried on their daily duties and was only involved in the emergency
call centre. They experienced few problems with home visits but this would have
become a very large problem if the surge had flooded parts of the county.
Children and Young Person Services (CYP)
Schools were put on high alert in the early morning. 25 schools, mainly in Lowestoft,
decided to close for the day. Messages and advice from CYP were given to the public
through Radio Suffolk. It was also decided that the children’s homes should be put on
alert but not to be evacuated immediately as they were able to do so at short notice.
CYP staff worked throughout the night, keeping close links between Suffolk County
Council and the schools, advising them on mitigating procedures, such as moving
equipment off the ground floor. Overall, CYP recorded no damages or costs for this
event and the ‘Action Cards’ (guidelines card to help advise services what to do in
emergency situations) that they followed proved to be robust to deal with this situation.
Highways
Even though the surge did not top sea defences, it still pushed water up the rivers,
such as the Gipping, Blyth and Waveney, causing flooding along the floodplains. The
A12, around Blythburgh, was closed for 26 hours. The diversion added 9.6 miles to
people’s journeys. Highways had to wait for the water to recede and clear the road of
mud and debris, before the A12 could be reopened. Additional costs were also
incurred when employees were used to assist with other flooding incidents instead of
their usual daily work.
Cost: ~ £5,372
Public Rights of Way (Part of Highways Service)
Officers liaised with residents and other organisation, such as Natural England and the
RSPB, warning them of the imminent surge. It was then decided which priority routes
needed to be closed. Two officers setup signs and barriers on four routes for the
public’s health and safety. The River Blyth flooded its bank, removing all or partial
areas of the public rights of way along the effected section. Costs of repairing the
damage were split with the EA (this amount is unknown). For the whole event officers
were away from their daily job for total of 45 hours.
Cost: £660 for closure of 4 routes.
Page 20
Transport
Aside from the A12, there was little effect on Suffolk’s transport network, no
preparation was needed for the tidal surge and there was only a small amount of
rerouting needed when the flooding occurred.
Waste
There was little effect on Suffolk County Councils waste service and no preparation
was needed for the tidal surge.
Local Borough and District Council Services
Customer Services
During the flood alert there was an increase of calls from the public to the district
offices. The most common question regarded how the public could get access to
sandbags and why the local authorities in Suffolk were not providing them. Calls also
persisted after the event as some places were flooded and further advice was needed.
The service was overwhelmed by the number of calls, especially as there were
reduced staffing numbers due to staff absence, a consequence of childcare needs
when the local schools closed. Since the event Waveney District Council has setup a
call centre to be the main contact for the public, this enables calls to be passed on to
the relevant staff in a more organised manner.
Economic Development
Even though the flooding was not as physically devastating as it could have been, the
event raised awareness and reminded people that coastal towns could flood anytime
in the future.
Page 21
Environmental Health
In preparation, the service followed operational orders and helped to man the rest
centres on 8 hour shifts. Afterward, both Waveney and Suffolk Coastal Environmental
Health had to check flood damaged business premises, to ensure spoilt food had been
thrown away.
Homelessness became an issue for five families in Southwold who had to flee their
home after the River Blyth breached its banks. Fortunately the families received help
from their insurance company but if they had not been covered Environmental Health
would have had to move them out of their flooded homes and provide them with
accommodation leading to additional long term costs.
Ground Maintenance and Open Spaces
When Suffolk Coastal Services received the early warning their primary job was to
close the remaining flood defences on Felixstowe sea front. They then helped with the
preparation of filling sandbags for the electrical sub station at Felixstowe Port and
collected emergency bedding for Leiston rest centre. After the surge the sea defences
and promenade had to be checked for damage.
Housing, Property and Facilities
This tidal surge did not damage any of the council owned buildings in Waveney or the
Suffolk Coastal Offices. If it had hit buildings in the coastal flood risk area, massive
damage costs, business continuity disruption, loss of equipment and work would have
been incurred. This would have taken months if not years to replace, repair and/or
rebuild.
Leisure and Tourism
There was a loss of revenue for Waveney District Council when hall hiring had to be
cancelled because the sport centres were being used as rest centres.
Management and Procurement
Waveney District Council set up a command centre in Lowestoft Town Hall, with a
separate press office. Workers were happy to assist outside their daily jobs which
made the work easier. Nevertheless, there were one or two people that the service
relied upon heavily because of their prior experience and knowledge of the area.
A rest centre was also setup in Waters Lane because it already had good catering
facilities. Additional training also had to be given to personnel on site to help manage
the rest centres.
Sand bags were a problem. It was decided that they should be strategically placed at
the last minute due to the limited number the districts had for the short period of time.
They used spotters on the coastline to determine where the most vulnerable places
would be and dispatched the sandbags in these locations at the last minute. Even
though this strategy worked well, the public became concerned at the time because
they were unsure of what was happening and wanted to know why the local authorities
were not giving them sandbags to protect their homes.
Waveney’s Cost: ~ £15,000
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Waste Collections
The prediction for the surge to hit and flood parts of Suffolk was for 0745hrs, so the
service waited to see what happened before making decisions for the daily collection.
In the end the flood defences were not topped, so the waste collections did not stop or
change. The only problem experienced was with transporting rubbish from Suffolk
Coastal District Council to the Foxhall landfill site, because the A12 was closed. The
refuse trucks had to be rerouted until the A12 was reopened. If the water had topped
the sea defences movement problems would have been more severe.
Summary
Even though Suffolk escaped the devastating floods by a 3cm, local authorities still
spent a lot of time and money in preparing for the impact. These varied from the
setting up of call centres and rest centres to filling sandbags and moving high volume
pumps.
Flooding was still seen at various breached points, such as Walberswick, Olton Broad
at Lowestoft and the A12 at Blythburgh. This flooding had significant impact on
Highways and Public Rights of Way where areas had to be closed, cleared and
repaired before they could be reopened.
This event should be seen as a trial run for future extreme tidal surges, as it enabled
local authorities to learn valuable lessons for the future. Emergency plans and action
cards have now been modified, so that both county and district councils are better
prepared for similar events.
Suffolk was very lucky for this event but think how much more devastating the situation
could have been if the surge were a mere 3cm higher?
TOTAL COSTS FOR THE TIDAL SURGE = £83,332
Page 23
GALES (18/01/2007)
Widespread gusts of 70-80mph were seen throughout England and Wales (illustrated
by the narrow black contour lines on the surface pressure chart). Heathrow Airport
experienced gusts of 77mph, 2mph higher than recorded in the Great Storm of 1987
(Met Office, 2007). In Suffolk the maximum wind speed recorded was 72mph (East
Anglian Daily Times, 2007).
The Met Offices surface pressure chart at 1200 GMT for the 18 January 2007
(Source: Met Office).
By the end of the day, thousands of homes, across England, have been left without
power and nine people had died. Travel was severely disrupted, with 192 flights
cancelled at Heathrow, the Dartford crossing was closed and trains were limited to
50mph to reduce damage to overhead cables (BBC, 2007)
In the west of Suffolk nearly 17,000 houses had electricity cut off. Hotel guests at the
Swan Inn, in Lavenham, spent the weekend under candle lights and by log fires. High
winds blew Bury's Sainsbury store frontage off, forcing customers to use the
secondary entrance. One lady was lucky to escape with head injuries after a tree fell
on her car as she drove along Beyton Road in Bury St Edmunds. During the day, the
Suffolk Police dealt with over 400 weather related calls concerning fallen trees,
branches, cables and other debris on roads and in public areas.
Suffolk County Council Services
Adult Community Services (ACS)
Power failure resulting in loss of heating is the most dangerous problem experienced
by vulnerable people. Older people can find it harder to stay warm especially if they
cannot get extra clothes or blankets when needed. In extreme cases this can lead to
death. ACS care homes are having generator hook up points so they can be
connected to an electricity generator, therefore stopping the problems just mentioned.
Vulnerable people can also feel more isolated due to the loss of ‘companionship’ from
the sound of their television and/or radio.
Page 24
Trees fallen across the road made it harder for care home and domiciliary staff to get
to work. Finding alternate routes made the day longer for the domiciliary staff and
delayed their appointments, this sometimes made the elderly panic because they
become use to a set routine. This became even more problematic as there was little
mobile signal in rural areas, so staff could not call their clients warning them that they
are going to be late.
Children and Young Person Services (CYP)
Children centres, homes and schools primarily suffered from a loss of power. Head
Teachers decide whether or not to close their school in the event of loss of power as
heating, lighting and food could not be provided for the pupils. This had a knock on
effect on local authorities and businesses as staff needed to stay at home to look after
their children. Trees fallen across the road also delayed staff getting to work, so some
lessons had to be covered by other teachers.
School Damages Costs
Chantry High Wind blew off tank room doors on G block roof.
School Repair doors including glazing. £510
All Saints
Primary 24 metres of fence blown down. £1,775
Claydon PE shed door was ripped off and damage to low
Primary level nursery wall £607
Year 8 double doors in cloakroom blew into
St Felix Middle door stopper smashing top and bottom of the
School frame and glass. £1,856
This event caused varying damages to four schools across the county, ranging from
blown over fences to doors being pulled off their hinges. This resulted in property
insurance claims paying out £4,750.
Cost: £4,750
Countryside
Signs were put up on access routes for each of the 25 county parks, where Bramford,
Barham and Nacton gates and car parks were physically closed, for the public’s
safety. This decision was influenced by the closing of surrounding Forestry
Commission Sites.
The trees are regularly inspected under the Tree Safety Procedure, where staff
visually inspected individual trees deciding whether they are potentially dangerous to
the public. This has helped to reduce the number of falling trees in gales, nevertheless
there are still some that have internal diseases or look healthy to the inspector but still
fall under the added wind pressure.
Cost: ~ £350/day for a contracted tree surgeon.
Page 25
Fire and Rescue Service
The Fire and Rescue service is only called out when they are needed to secure
hazardous structures or remove trees to save a life, e.g. when an injured person is
trapped in a car under a fallen tree. There was no noticeable increase in calls for this
event but a crew did have to respond when a man in Sibton was pinned to the ground
by a tree whilst he was unloading the boot of his car.
The Spate Condition System was used in the windy conditions, whereby an officer was
sent to the incident to determine whether an engine was needed or whether they could
deal with the situation themselves. This was only done if the controller deemed the
incident was not urgent or life threatening.
Highways
In making the roads safe after the gale, maintenance workers were taken away from
their daily work and contractors brought in to remove hanging and fallen trees from the
roads. More council work appeared to be carried out in urban areas as most rural trees
fell from neighbouring land not owned by Highways. The landowner, from where the
tree fell, was then asked to make the tree safe. If the owner could not be contacted,
Highways removed the tree to reopen the road as quickly as possible.
On the 18th and 19th January 2007, Eastern Highways received 67 reports of trees
fallen across roads at the Saxmundham Office. They employed 3 gangs plus support
from private tree surgeons contractors to clear debris, for 3 days. The average cost for
each call out is £75, resulting in the approximate total costs of £5,025 for Eastern
Highways. As a rough guide this figure was tripled to account for the whole county.
There would also be additional costs for staff to stop their daily work to answer public
calls and record fallen tree locations.
Cost: £15,075
ICT
High winds knocked the schools networking wireless that are mounted on old water
towers out of alignment. Contractors could not realign the satellite dishes until the high
winds had subsided for health and safety reasons.
For this event power supply to Endeavour House was not affected by the high winds
which would have resulted in a loss of the council’s main database. However, if this
was to occur in the future a generator has been installed to support the main data
system for a week, costing approx. £17,000 to refuel from empty.
Property
No recorded impacts for this event. This could be partly due to the proactive approach
in using various surveys, such as ground maintenance health checks and risk
assessing trees, and changing building plans and materials, such as new roof tiles that
are more secure than the old pan tiles or better designs in light weight structures.
Public Rights of Way (Part of Highways Service)
Officers checked on fallen trees reported by the public and cordoned off the area
considered to be a safety hazard. Tree surgeons were then contracted to remove
these hazards within 24 hours. If the tree was non-hazardous and had fallen from
adjacent land, then the landowner was contacted and asked to remove the tree.
Page 26
However, if the owner could not be contacted or the tree lived on the public right of
way land, a tree surgeon was contracted to remove the obstacle by the council.
For this event 25 incidents of fallen trees were recorded with 9 dealt with by the
Council and the rest by the relevant landowner.
Cost: £997
Transport
Operation Stack (brought into action due to rough seas) at Felixstowe Port had a
knock on affect for the rest of the county, making strategic management difficult and
commuter movement slow around Felixstowe. When Operation Stack was enforced,
the haulage companies were asked to not send lorries to the port of Felixstowe.
Double decker buses were at risk of being blown over in the high winds, so more
single decker buses were sent out to ensured the safety of the passenger’s, which
included school 20,000 children. Bus drivers also used alternative routes when trees
blocked the roads, adding delays onto journeys.
Waste
All household waste recycling centres (HWRC) were closed for part or all of the day
and covers were put over the large waste containers, for public safety. In the future
more indoor centres like Lowestoft will need to be built if Suffolk County Council
wishes to keep HWRC open during the predicted more frequent high winds.
The Lowestoft HWRC and Waste Transfer Station was converted from a waste
transfer station during 2007/2008 at a cost of £568,000, a new build would be
considerably higher.
HWRCs were also in high demand after the gale because people were throwing away
bulky debris, such as branches and fence panel.
There were also some problems for hazardous waste contractors in reaching pick up
points due to road closures. Clients were advised of any cancellation and visits were
rearranged.
Page 27
Local Borough and District Council Services
Environmental Health
Due to the high winds, Felixstowe Port was closed for the day and Operation Stack
was implemented, so Suffolk Coastal’s Environmental Health team became
responsible for the lorry driver’s welfare. As there are only 250 spaces for lorries, on
the old A145, haulage operators were informed not to send more lorries to Felixstowe
port until the high winds had passed.
Ground Maintenance and Open Spaces
When the Met Office warned of gale conditions, the local districts and borough
councils closed their gated parks, e.g. Belle Vue Park in Sudbury and Christchurch
Park in Ipswich. However, this was not possible for smaller open spaces, as there are
no fences or gates to close.
After the gale there were numerous fallen trees around the county. These were
cleared from the parks after contractors, such as Suffolk Coastal Services, pooled their
resources to help remove trees from areas that were affecting priority services, e.g.
ACS, Highways and Fire and Rescue.
Overall, the number of fallen trees was less than the 1987 hurricane, which was
remembered by staff. This was due to the trees not being in leaf in January, so the
wind had less leverage to uproot them, and the Tree Management Policy. This policy
identifies and cuts down visually diseased and weak trees to stop them falling down in
high winds or without warning.
Tree Surgeon Costs
Contractors could only work 10 hour shifts due to the physical nature of the work, so
jobs were spread over a few weeks. Incidents included removing trees from highways,
cemeteries and parks to public trees that have fallen on private property or on council
tenant’s property. St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s contractor was still removing
trees up until the 7/2/2007 costing them a total of £41,142. It also cost Ipswich
Borough Council £5,768, where an additional £100 is needed to replace each
uprooted tree.
Total Costs: £46,910
Housing, Property and Facilities
Most of the damage reports raised by tenants or employees were for tiles that have
been blown off their roof or damaged fences. Like building control, contractors, who
are on call 24/7, made the damaged area secure if the conditions were safe to do so. It
was also noted that workers had problems reaching some of the sites due to fallen
trees in the roads.
After the event, roofs were checked first because they could potentially leak with future
rain, therefore causing more property damage. Fences were usually removed from
tenant’s gardens as there was a limited repair budget. Mid-Suffolk District Council paid
out £28,784 in insurance claims for two properties; one had roof damage, the other
wall damage. Ipswich Borough Council paid out £26,589.
Total Cost: £55,373
Page 28
Leisure and Tourism
For leisure the main problem occurred with outside equipment. Staff needed to make
sure covers (e.g. for cricket pitches and long jump sand pits etc.) were properly pinned
down and the hammer cage, at Northgate Sport Centre in Ipswich, was netted and
weighed with concrete. The All Weather Pitches were closed to the public; however
other grounds could not because they don’t have gates to close.
Even though there are fewer tourists in January, a loss in the expected daily revenue
was still seen. This was due to people being told to stay indoors and transport
throughout and/or into the county was either cancelled or delayed.
Waste Collections
Ipswich Borough Council’s waste collectors and street cleansers experienced delays
around Ipswich due to higher volumes of traffic across the town because the Orwell
Bridge was closed. Further delays were added from rerouting around fallen trees.
Another issue was seen with loose recyclable waste that scattered across the streets
after the wind lifted the lids off householders recycle bins. This produced extra work as
the recyclable litter then had to be picked up either by the refuge collectors or by street
cleansers.
After the gale, Waste Collection Authorities experienced high numbers of requests to
collect bulky debris, such as branches and fence panel.
Summary
This event caused more devastation because it occurred in the middle of the
afternoon, when most people were working or travelling around the county.
Consequently, there were more disturbances to the public and a greater risk of death,
reflected in the nine seen across Britain.
The most noticeable difference when comparing this event with the 1987 hurricane
was the reduction in the number of fallen trees, which bought much of the county to a
standstill in 1987. This positive change was helped by the Tree Management Policy,
which demonstrated that proactive work helped to reduce service disruptions and
costs for this event.
TOTAL COSTS FOR THE GALE = £123,455
Page 29
HEATWAVE (July 2006)
The Met Office declared that July 2006 was the warmest on record, with the months
UK mean daily temperature of 17.8°C. This broke the previous record of 17.3°C set
jointly in July 1983 and August 1995 (Met Office, 2006). In Suffolk, July’s average
temperature was 21.4oC and Newmarket recorded its highest temperature of 34.5 oC,
on 19th July.
East Anglia had near-average rainfall throughout most of the summer unlike the rest of
England, who only received 82% of the average rainfall (Met Office, 2006). However,
we still experienced drought conditions due to our over-abstracting water regime and
previous month’s low rainfall levels, as shown in Appendix 6 and 7.
The July 2006 heatwave had an impact on many businesses ranging from staff being
uncomfortable at work to the NHS recording an additional 1,926 calls during the 15 th
July-28th July 2006. A peak of 115 heat/sun stroke calls was recorded across the UK
on 19th July (Health Protection Agency, 2006)3. It was expected there will be an
increase in deaths resultant from heat related problems, such as heat exhaustion, heat
stroke and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The Office for National Statistics
reported a 4% increase over baseline mortality (680 excess deaths) in England and
Wales between 16th July and 28th July 2006 (NHS Heatwave Plan for England, 2008)4.
Suffolk County Council Services
Adult and Community Services
With ACS looking after some of the most vulnerable people in the county, additional
care is required in heatwaves. This meant employees who usually work early in the
morning and late at night, were asked to carry out additional visits during the day, to
check that clients were comfortable and had everything they required. During these
visits staff had to encourage people to drink and prepare food that will not go off in the
heat. This is especially crucial for those home visits where people are bed bound and
therefore cannot adjust their own body temperature easily or get food and drink when
they want it.
The heat also took its toll on the staff when driving between appointments and
physically moving people and/or equipment. Annual refresher training was used to
remind staff of problems patients and workers could face. There was also additional
information from the Department of Health publication, “Supporting vulnerable people
before and during a heatwave - advice for health and social care professionals”. The
Suffolk Resilience website also has a web link to the Met Office Heat wave warning,
which allowed care providers to plan more effectively for the adverse impact caused
for vulnerable people.
Children and Young Person Services
Fortunately the hottest temperatures in July 2006 were experienced around the 19th
July, after schools had broken up for the summer holidays. However at the beginning
of July, teachers had complained that conditions in some classrooms were too hot,
especially in old portacabins. This made teaching and learning difficult as both
teachers and pupils found it harder to concentrate.
3
http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1219130165676
4
http://www.londonprepared.gov.uk/downloads/heatwaveplanforengland.pdf
Page 30
Countryside
The dry weather and vegetation meant there was an increase of potential fires, either
started directly by the heat or indirectly by exacerbating sparks from human sources.
There were no records of fires in the parks for July 2006 because barbeques were
banned and public notices were put up to remained people to be careful with their
cigarettes and cigars.
Emergency Planning
Usually Emergency Planning have little problem with heatwaves, but on the 26/07/06 a
road accident on the A14 caused standstill tail backs that lasted for several hours.
Emergency Planning was called by a fireman on site telling them that people were
stuck in their cars with no water and they needed help. The Salvation Army was
contacted and they bought all the 500ml water bottles from a local supermarket and
started to hand them to commuters. This process was repeated by the Red Cross from
the opposite end of the queue.
Three days later another traffic accident occurred and again people were stuck in their
cars without water, so the water distribution was repeated.
Fire and Rescue Service
In prolonged periods of hot, dry weather, the county sees a general rise in outdoor
fires either directly started or exacerbating deliberate arson. During July 2006, the fire
and rescue service mobilised appliances 1077 times, a 396% increase on the 272 call
outs in July 2005. This caused extra pressure not only put upon permanent staff but
also with the retainer crews.
Many retained fire fighters (people who work another job as well as being employed by
the Fire Service) began to have problems with getting time off from their day job,
causing issues with rotas and crew availability. As the heatwave continued, land
became drier and more susceptible to fire. Therefore the number of vehicles that
attended each crop fire had to increase from 1 or 2 engines per fire at the beginning of
July, to 6 engines per fire, by the end. This concentration of vehicles meant crews had
to be called from other stations and counties, so distances travelled per incident
became longer, allowing time for fires to spread, which then made it harder for them to
be extinguished. This also reduced the number of engines that can attend basic
events and emergencies.
As the heatwave progressed, the land became drier and more susceptible to fire
spreading quickly. Therefore, the number of vehicles that attend each crop fire had to
increase, from 1 or 2 engines per fire, at the beginning of the July, up to 6 engines per
fire, by the end of the July. This concentration of vehicle meant crews had to be called
from other station and counties, so distance travelled per incident became longer.
Consequently, fires had more time to spread, making it harder for them to be
extinguished. It also reduced the number of engines that could attend basic,
reoccurring events.
Refilling the water in the engines was a logistical challenge, because Suffolk was
experiencing drought conditions. As a result, big distances to open water sites were
either covered by using bowsers (mobile tanks that carry water) to deliver water to the
fire site or by shuttling engines.
Page 31
Health and safety was also a key issue. Crews had problems with heat exhaustion,
injuries and equipment breaking in the field. Food was provided by the Salvation
Army, who would attend the incident sites when needed.
Cost: ~£485,000
Highways
The extreme temperatures caused problems with some road surfaces melting. As a
guide, it is believed that tarmac starts to melt at a road temperature5 of around 35oC,
with roads being expected to be closed at a road temperature of 40oC. This caused
problems for staff as they were pulled away from their daily work to check melting
roads that has been reported by the public. Diversion signs then had to be set up and
roads dusted (when sand and/or grit is sprinkled on the roads surface) if they were
melting. Motorists also had to divert from their normal route, adding time and fuel costs
to their journey.
At road temperatures of 40oC+, the asphalt roads started to soften so they became
susceptible to deformation under traffic loadings, which made the road slippery. Once
deformed the change was permanent and could only be corrected by resurfacing the
road. If summer temperatures continue to rise, stiffer binders will have to be used on
newly constructed roads to stop the problems of rutting and deformation. However, the
vast majority of the county’s roads will not have these new stiffer binders, so repairs
and resurfacing will occur more often than the usual 7-10 year cycle.
Cost: unknown, absorbed in general maintenance.
ICT
Staff suffered due to the extra heat produced from their IT systems, yet opening the
windows providing little relief due to the outside air temperature. Air conditioning
therefore became essential in the computer equipment room, adding to Suffolk County
Council’s electricity bills.
By 2016 the Building Regulations will restrict energy usage in buildings.
Consequently, if air conditioning is going to be used in the future then it will need to
be offset by reducing CO2 in other ways or alternative methods to cool both IT
equipment and employees will need to be found.
5
Please note that these road temperatures are likely to be experienced when air temperatures are considerably
lower, especially when roads are sheltered for any breezes and in full daytime sun.
Page 32
Waste
Household Waste Recycling Centres residual waste containers may require more
frequent emptying, even if the container is not full, consequently costs of movement
will increase.
Local Borough and District Council Services
Environmental Health
The 2006 heatwave caused a general increase in public complaints, which ranged
from odorous smells from drains and dust bins to staff complaining of the working
conditions in some offices.
Ground Maintenance and Open Spaces
In the extremely dry weather of July, the grass stops growing so fuel costs were
reduced as the mowers were not in use. It also allowed the ground maintenance staff
to carry out other work.
Wet mild winters have led to increased costs to pay for the longer grass cutting
periods. In the last 5 years, the cutting season has shifted from March-October to all
year round in 2007/2008.
The heatwave caused the big problem to trees. This is most noticeable for Beech trees
as they are more susceptible to new diseases that thrive in the warmer climate
because of their thin bark. They also suffered quickly in the drought conditions
because their root spread in the upper layers of the soil, where much needed water,
for their survival, was easily evaporated away.
Needham Market Lake lost revenue when it had to be closed to public anglers and
model boat users, in July 2006, because high levels of blue-green algae
(cyanobacteria) were found. This build up of algae in the warm enclosed lake could
have caused irritation to the skin, eyes, nose, throat and inflammation of the
respiratory tract, if it had remained open.
Like the beech trees other plants and trees could not reach water in the ground,
especially young saplings that were trying to establish. So, in helping the fauna
different authorities came up with different ways of dealing with this problem.
Forest Heath left trees to fight for survival and if they died, they were replaced
the following year. (Forest Heath has a £65,000 budget to replace trees).
Mid Suffolk used tree irrigation where tubes are used to transport water to the
tree’s roots, placing water where it was needed the most.
St Edmundsbury used mulching, which kept the top layer cooler and helped
reduce the amount of water evaporation. This also stopped weed growth, so
herbicides were not need and plants did not have to compete against them for
water.
Babergh used a swell gel for new plants that need regular watering. The gel
expanded when the plants were watered and then released the water back
slowly into the ground allowing plants more time to absorb it. Usually a plant
root grew into the gel and absorbed the water that way. (The get lasts about 1-2
years).
Page 33
Ipswich Borough bought some bowsers, for the 2006 heatwave, to help with the
watering. When the drought occurred they started to use untreated water and
placed signs up to inform the public. However, the problem associated with
watering at the surface was the plants became unstable, because the tree roots
grow to the surface for the fresh water, making it easier for them to be uprooted
in the gale.
Forest Heath spent £61,000 on replacing dead trees over 2007/2008 period.
Because the heat dried out the ground, harder machinery was needed to dig the
graves. However, this was not possible at the older cemeteries in St Edmundsbury
Borough Council because the machinery was too big, so grave diggers were still being
used. Consequently, workers were put under greater strain with the added heat and
harder ground.
When the midday sun was reaching temperature highs of 30 oC+, health and safety for
staff became very important. All of the local authority employees who work outside
were given a hat, sun tan lotion and flask to keep cool drinks in. They were also given
the option to start work earlier in the day, yet where they worked was limited, because
grass cutting could not take place in residential areas before 7am, otherwise public
complaints rose.
Recently, Ipswich Borough has started to replace their enclosed triple mowers with
modern air conditioning versions, so workers have the option of working all day and
into the evening, without stopping every half hour because of heat exhaustion.
If other district councils also opt for air conditioning machinery they should expect to
pay £400-£600 when fitting it to original equipment and between £1000 and £2000
(before discount) on a tractor. It also needs to be remembered that the fuel
consumption will increase by 5-10%, which in turn would increase CO2 emissions.
Housing, Property and Facilities
In July 2006 Forest Heath District Council officer workers became very uncomfortable
due to high temperatures inside some buildings. Little relief was found when opening
windows as the air outside were just as warm as it was inside. The decision has been
made that air conditioning will not be installed in the future, so should a maximum
working temperature limit comes into force, officer workers across all sectors in Suffolk
may be prevented from working during peak temperatures unless more natural
methods are employed to lower room temperatures (i.e. increased shading outside).
Page 34
Leisure and Tourism
For tourism the July 2006 heatwave was an opportunity as revenue increased as more
people took day trips to key tourist stops around the county. This was clearly reflected
during the 2006 Lowestoft Air Show, when 420,000 people attended but only 250,000
in 2007. Because of the increasing trend in holidaying in the UK, Pontins Holiday Park
in Pakefield, Lowestoft, is applying for planning permission to double the size of their
site.
For leisure services the heatwave caused several problems. The number of general
complaints rose from both staff and the public about the heat both on the pool side and
in the leisure centres. Outdoor pitches were also affected where the ground became
too hard for players’ studs to grip, making it too slippery to play.
Concerts at the Regent Theatre, Ipswich also became very hot and uncomfortable for
customers, artists and workers. Dehydration was also an issue as the bar was only
opened in the intervals.
School holiday activities were not greatly affected by the heatwave because they have
flexibility in their daily activities. For example when the weather was really hot in the
middle of the day they either went swimming or moved to indoor activities. However
should this level of heat becomes more frequent in the summer then they will have to
consider holding activities in more shaded area or hire marquees.
Waste Collections
People started to complain about the bi-weekly waste collections because the bins
were starting to smell and more pests (e.g. maggots and rats) were being seen in and
around the bins. Advice is now being given out before each summer to remind people
to double wrap smelly food/ nappies and wash out their bins. Again health and safety
of the refuse collectors are important, therefore suntan lotion and hats were provided.
Summary
The key difference between heatwaves and other extreme weather events is that the
hot weather is likely to last for several weeks. This heatwave had both negative and
positive impacts on our local authority services. The tourism sector benefited from
increased revenue, yet the fire service and highways had to spend more on retainer
staff and roads resurfacing.
Disruptions at work became more common as employees in hot offices could not work
to their best capabilities due to the negative effect of the heat. Outside workers either
had to take shelter in the hottest part of the day (especially when they were working
with children) or start their shifts earlier in the day.
TOTAL COSTS FOR THE 2006 HEATWAVE = £485,000
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SNOW (29/01/2004)
Snow events have regularly occurred in Suffolk during the past 5 years. However their
severity has on the whole reduced (with the notable exception of the event in February
2009). It is predicted by The United Kingdom Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP),
that snow storms will occur less often in the future.
Whilst interviewing the services, it soon became apparent little information was known
about the impacts the snow event in 2004, even though it lasted for a couple of days.
This was because:
Employees could not remember the event
Employees did not work in Suffolk at the time
Employees were not working in their current position
Recording systems for weather impacts had not been setup.
Therefore, accurate information could not be obtained and a brief overview on how
snow generally impacts local authority services is discussed in the table below.
Suffolk County Council Services
Service Impacts from Snow
Adult and - Slip, trips and falls were more common as vulnerable people
Community become more determined to keep their normal daily routine,
Services because they did not want the weather to get the better of them.
This leads to added pressure on service as there was an increase
of people who need to be cared for.
- Workers found it hard or were unable to visit all their clients’
everyday. So, some people were confined to bed until they could
be visited. This made them feel uncomfortable and isolated.
- The service became more reliant on family, friends and
neighbours to visit and help people that staff cannot reach.
- Staff had to adapt their usual routine as they were not able to re-
visit later in the day.
- Employees needed to constantly remind clients to wrap up warm
and keep the heating up (especially when fuel poverty starts to
play a part).
- Community Meals (Meals on Wheels) may not be delivered. It
has been known for farmers to help with deliveries in bad snow
drifts.
- Staff could have had a car accident because of the icy conditions.
This means they could be off work with personal injuries and could
potentially loose their own car, which then also affects their family
life.
Page 36
Countryside - Fewer people made visits to countryside parks and nature
reserves.
- The park rangers had to grit three small flat areas in the county
and around the public toilets.
Children and - Head teachers were responsible for making decisions about
Young Person whether schools should close. If schools closed it was usually
Services because of concerns for staff and pupils travelling to and from
school and for pupils’ health and safety whilst in school. Some
Head teachers opened their school later in the day or sent pupils
home early, depending on the weather forecast.
- Children centres opened if staff could get to work.
- Children’s residential homes remained open and operated with
minimal staff. Because they had to remain open, staff were
allowed to work in children’s homes closer to their own homes
Emergency - Had had little additional work as the Suffolk Resilience Forum
Planning Adverse Weather Response Plan was not activated.
Fire and - Were called to less major car accidents because people drove
Rescue slowly and cautiously.
- Time taken to travel to reported incidents took longer due to icy
conditions.
- Thatch roof fires increased as sparks and or heat from chimneys
ignited the straw.
Highways - There are 4200 miles of county roads in Suffolk. When the road
temperature drops to 0oC, just to grit priority 1 roads (all A and B
class roads, and the busiest bus and commuter routes on other
roads = 1200 miles) takes 2.5 hours and costs £10,000.
- Snow fences have been erected on the A140 to keep the road
clear.
- Snow blowers were used to remove snow drifts.
- More road maintenance was needed due to the ‘freeze thaw
process’ when frozen water expands causing cracks or holes to
increase in size. Large pot holes can form if thawing and
refreezing continues over long periods.
Transport - Rural locations became inaccessible.
- Public transport ran on a reduced service as children were not at
school and people tended to stay indoors till the snow had passed.
- It has also been known that lorries had problems getting over the
Orwell Bridge.
Waste - Waste could not be transferred from HWRC to landfill sites
causing a backlog in work that resulted in necessary overtime.
Page 37
- Hazardous waste could not be collected from the public.
- Health and safety for both staff and visitors to council buildings
needed to be considered because of the possibility of slips on the
ice.
Local Borough and District Council Services
Service Impacts from Snow
Building - Accumulation of snow on building caused weak roofs to collapse.
Control - Walls have been known to collapse in poorly maintained
buildings. (Water seeped into the walls from the roof and then the
water froze in the cracks, which in turn expand the holes. This
process continues until the wall cannot support itself).
- Called to more thatch roof homes to make safe after a fire.
Economic - Reduction in retail sales as customers could not get to the shops.
Development - New business building works had to be suspended, delaying start
dates.
Environmental - Had to look after lorry drivers, who were waiting in operation
Health stack for the port of Felixstowe to re-open.
Ground - Ground work was suspended as carrying on the maintenance
Maintenance would cause more damage.
and Open - Snow loads on branches made trees fall or branches snap, so
Spaces the debris needed to be removed after the snow has thawed.
- Workers were asked to clear the snow from around the office and
gritting the paths.
- Additional costs were seen to heat up chapels for funerals.
- Pitches became frozen and matches had to be cancelled.
Housing, - Problems, such as burst pipe or broken heating, occurred in
Property and rented accommodation, so some tenants had to be moved to other
Facilities accommodation until the problem was fixed.
- Interest in governmental home insulation schemes increased.
Leisure and - Tourism was at its lowest over the winter, but if there were people
Tourism around, they would usually stay indoors or walk to indoor
attraction, reducing potential revenue.
- Outdoor activities had to be cancelled or moved indoors.
- Sport centre car parks needed to be gritted and centres were
closed early if there were no booking. It was also made sure that
staff could get home after their shift, especially in the evening.
- Reagent theatre had problems with artists, food and drink getting
to the premise.
Page 38
Waste - Waste could not be collected from people’s homes and outside
Collections public bins, where the backlog had to be caught up with over-time.
- Workers may not be sent out even if there was no snow on the
roads because they could still slip and fall on the icy pavements.
- Suffolk Radio was notified when the household waste was not
going to be collected.
- Brown bin content froze making it harder for them to be emptied.
Summary
The biggest impact snow caused for all the services was when workers were unable to
commute to their place of work, either due to the treacherous roads, being snowed in
or having to look after their children because their school was closed. Local Authority
services started to work under minimal staff, and work began to backlog. This would
become a major challenge if snow persists for 4+ days as the authorities reputation
would start to be affected, the public would complain more and small problems that
could have been easily dealt with, if the snow had not fallen, turn into larger problems.
LCLIP CONCLUSION
Looking at these specific events it can be seen that the local authority services are not
all affected by every weather event and that impacts vary enormously. This is because
services with employees that work outside or have to react to human and/or natural
landscape changes, e.g. property damage or dying trees are going to be affected more
by weather changes.
It also became clear that the extreme weather events have led to changes in our heath
and safety procedures. For example, heatwaves summers have lead to employers
handing out advice on how to stay safe in the sun, where employees are now asked to
wear t-shirts, hats and sun tan lotion whilst working outside.
The total costs mentioned at the end of each specific event is an under estimate and is
believed to be much higher. Notably these costs exclude staff time, which to local
authorities can be the most expensive component of dealing with an extreme weather
event. During the interview, it was hard to gain accurate information and costing for
the chosen extreme weather events as many of the services did not record detailed
information on how they were impacted. If they did have records, it took a while to
compile the relevant information once they knew which dates to look for, as the
records did not link the impacts to a weather event. In the future it would be easier to
determine how much the local authority services are affected by extreme weather
events if a monitoring database specialised for extreme weather events was setup
centrally.
Page 39
THE FUTURE
The LCLIP has showed that every aspect of human life could potentially be affected by
different extreme weather events, either directly (when a tree falls on your house) or
indirectly (employees not going to work because they have child care duties when
schools are closed).
In 2002 the United Kingdom Climate Impacts Programme published climate change
scenarios that are derived from a series of climate modelling experiments
commissioned and funded by Defra, undertaken by the Hadley Centre and analysed
by the Tyndall Centre. These scenarios predict that:
The number of very hot summer days is expected to increase, and high
temperatures similar to those experienced in August 2003 or July 2006 (>3°C
above average to approximately 34°C) are expected to become common by the
end of this century, even under the Low Emissions scenario.
The number of very cold winter days is expected to decrease, and low
temperatures similar to those experienced in February 1947 or
January/February 1963 (>3 °C below average) are expected to become highly
uncommon by the end of this century, even under the Low Emissions scenario.
Heavier winter precipitation is expected to become more frequent.
Winter storms and mild, wet and windy winter weather are expected to become
more frequent.
Future Temperature Projections
The UK is expected to become warmer. By 2040, the average annual temperature for
the UK is expected to rise by between 0.5 and 1°C, where greater warming is
expected in the south and east compared to the north and west. This pattern is seen in
previous temperature changes. As winter months become milder, there will be a
decline in cold frosty days, which will allow the thermal growing season to lengthen.
However, the greater temperature rise will be seen in the summer and autumn
months, when heatwaves like those in 2003 and 2006 (when peak temperatures of
34°C were recorded) will become common.
Page 40
This diagram illustrates the 2020, 2050 and 2080 mean annual temperature
predictions for the UK.
Therefore, in Suffolk annual temperature is likely to rise quicker than other north and
west regions and as mentioned earlier these warmer temperatures could:
Reduce outdoor productivity because of potential health risks, such as heat
stress and skin cancer from extreme temperatures and greater UV exposure.
Daily jobs will take longer to complete or working shifts are likely to need to
change to that of the current Mediterranean lifestyle, with a break in the middle
of the day when temperatures are at their hottest.
Increase public complaints about odours and pests associated with awaiting
waste collections and lead to greater calls for weekly collections of residual
waste or better segregation of organic waste.
Affect farmer’s income because agriculture are likely to suffer from drought
and/or crop fires, which will in turn stretch the fire and rescue service, so they
could take longer to respond to call.
Destabilise and melt road surfaces, resulting in costly damage and traffic
disruption adding time and money onto people’s journeys.
Increase food poisoning due to increased survival of microorganisms in the
warmer conditions, which is likely to be associated with eating outdoors or
storage in warmer conditions.
Reduce highway gritting and winter maintenance costs because there are likely
to be fewer frosty nights.
Page 41
Future Rainfall Projections
Rainfall across the UK will alter (as illustrated below). By 2100, there could be up to
50% less precipitation in the summer for some parts of the UK, leading to more
drought conditions and lower soil moisture levels. Yet in the winter, there could be up
to 30% more precipitation, by 2100, where intensive rainfall will lead to more flash
flooding in our towns and villages.
This diagram illustrates the 2020, 2050 and 2080 mean annual Rainfall predictions for
the UK.
Even by 2020 Suffolk will have 10% less annual rainfall, leading to a greater demand
on the already over stretched water resources. As mentioned earlier, other Suffolk
impacts from these rainfall changes will be:
An increase in the risks of ground instability, by alternate wetting and drying of
soils, leading to undermining of carriageways, bridges and buildings, damage to
path and roads and potential landslips.
Difficulties maintaining traditional and heritage parks and garden planting
schemes, leading to the loss of summer bedding, rose beds and some native
and ornamental trees species.
A potentially increase in contamination of drinking water, water borne infections,
and exposure to toxic pollutants leading to psychological affects, injuries and
even death.
Increased risk of disruption for people getting to work and school.
Page 42
Future Wind Projections
By 2050, the annual wind speed will change very little throughout the UK, only west
Ireland and Scotland will have 3% decrease, while south east England will have a 3%
increase. However, by looking at the seasons we can see that Suffolk’s wind force will
potentially increase up to 5% through the winter but decrease up to 3% through the
autumn.
As a result, we can expect more winter storms. This will lead to higher insurance
claims for property damages, wide spread power loss and more commuting disruption
because trees have fallen into the road.
This diagram illustrates the 2050 annual and seasonal wind predictions for the UK.
Page 43
Future Sea Level Projections
Global sea level is expected to continue to rise, where sea levels will rise higher in the
south of England compared to western Scotland due to the rising water and the
variations in natural land movements.
This diagram shows the net sea-level changes for the UK relative to 1961-1990 levels,
(estimated by the IPCC).
This will mean Suffolk is likely to experience extreme sea levels more frequently and
by 2100 storm surge events could even occur up to 20 times more often. So, by 2050
we could be seeing the 2007 tidal surge every 5 years, instead of the historical 10-15
years, where the surge, wind, and high tide could all combine to force water over
existing flood defences.
In addition to the council’s financial costs, wider problems are likely to be experienced
by society, when parts of the county may grind to a standstill because roads are
impassable and homes/businesses are flooded. Businesses can also suffer from a
loss in continuity that may ultimately cause them to go insolvent. Worse still, the public
may even die from such events (e.g. drowning with the initial flooding, hyperthermia or
starvation whilst waiting to be rescued or through stress of loosing your house).
Page 44
SO, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
This Local Climate Impact Profile, part of NI 188 Level 1, discusses how Suffolk has
been affected by historic extreme weather events and shows the likelihood and
magnitude of future climate change, as predicted by leading scientists at Oxford
University’s UKCIP and other international organisations. This allows people to see
that Suffolk’s vulnerability is likely to increase if people and businesses do not adapt to
the changing climate. Therefore, Suffolk urgently needs to start planning as to how it
can both limit the causes of climate change and be able to adapt to the situation to
gain new opportunities.
To meet the next target of NI 188, by March 2010, the local authority needs to:-
Write a comprehensive risk based assessment of vulnerabilities to weather and
climate, both now and in the future, and identify priority risks for each council
service.
Identify the most effective adaptive responses and start incorporating these into
local authority strategies, plans, partnerships and operations.
Begin implementing the appropriate adaptive strategies working with the
highest priorities first (to complete for all services by March 2011).
NI 188 also recommends setting up a central systematic monitoring system, within the
local authorities, to record detailed evidence of weather impacts, costs and
implications of extreme weather events that we will sustain in the future. This will
allow services within the authority to accurately assess the serious consequences of
extreme weather events and make future climate change impact analysis easier and
more accurate to report on.
Local authorities have both a legal and moral responsibility to be community leaders in
this area and the ability to influence wider stakeholders if we demonstrate good
practice ourselves. This will be achieved in Suffolk by local authorities continuing to
work in Partnership towards delivering the targets identified within National Indicator
188.
FINAL NOTE
Our climate is continually changing and we need to adapt with it. This LCLIP needs to
be used as a platform to gather more extensive information and has to be linked to
future local authority decisions. The final goal is to increase our resilience to extreme
weather events and reduce its impacts by improving our preparedness and adaption
throughout Suffolk.
Page 45
Useful Weblinks
Central Government
Defra Adapting to Climate Change Website http://www.defra.gov.uk/adaptation
Defra NI 188 web page: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localgovindicators/ni188.htm
CLG web pages on the National Indicators:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/performanceframeworkpartnerships/nationali
ndicators/
The Data Hub: https://www.hub.info4local.gov.uk
Adaptation guidance
Be aware, be prepared, take action; how to integrate climate change adaptation strategies into
local government; Environment Agency, UKCIP, LGA 2008
Nottingham Declaration www.nottinghamdeclaration.org.uk for advice on:
• Developing a climate change action plan
• How to prepare council services for the impacts of climate change
UKCIP
UKCIP local government pages
http://www.ukcip.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=285&Itemid=383
UKCIP Climate Change and Local Communities – how prepared are you?
http://www.ukcip.org.uk/images/stories/Pub_pdfs/Local_authority.pdf
UKCIP Adaptation Wizard
http://www.ukcip.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=147&Itemid=273
Natural England
http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/
Other Local Authority Guidance
Two tier working
Changing Places; Local Area Agreements and two tier government
http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/publications/publication-display.do?id=1032701
Emergency Planning and Civil Contingencies
UK Resilience – Cabinet Office website on emergency planning and preparedness
Guidance Notes for NI 188 Version 1.6: 19 December 2008 12
http://www.ukresilience.gov.uk/
Planning to adapt to climate change (NI 188): Prioritised risk‐ based assessments and the
CivilContingencies Act 2004 (South West Climate Change Impacts Partnership)
http://www.oursouthwest.com/climate/registry/CCA-and-188.pdf
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Environment Agency
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/
The EA are currently working on guidance to complement this document. Links to this and
several case studies will be added when available.
Surface Water Management Plans
(SWMPs) can help with climate change adaptation by bring multiple benefits to flood risk,
water quality and amenity/biodiversity. SWMPs have links with managing the risks identified in
an authorities strategic flood risk assessments and showing that a Local Development
Framework is addressing drainage issues. SWMPs will also assist with local authorities
sustainable communities and green infrastructure objectives.
Sustainable Drainage Systems - These systems helps adapt the area to more extreme
weather events. Resources:
• CIRIA’s SUDS website www.ciria.org.uk/suds which includes the SUDS manual,
guidancefor developers etc, all free to download.
• Information about SUDS and guidance from EA
• Training from EA
• PPS25 Guidance
Flood Awareness and Flood Warming to improve people’s understanding of flood risk, their
preparedness and response to flood events e.g. Floodline
Improving the resistance or resilience of new and existing buildings to flood risk, resources:
- Preparing for emergencies:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Dealingwithemergencies/Preparingfo
remergencies/index.htm
- CIRIA
- Association of British Insurers (ABI): fact sheet on Flood Resilient Homes
- Department of Communities and Local Government: ‘Preparing for Floods’ document
- Large number of EA flood resistance documents
- Your Home in a Changing Climate Report
- Code for Sustainable Homes
(Source: Adaption to Climate Change Guidance Notes for NI 188 version 1.6: 19/12/2008)
Page 47
Appendix 1 defines good practice and guidance from the National Indicators for Local
Authorities and Local Authority Partnerships: Handbook of Definitions.
NI 188: Planning to Adapt to Climate Change
Is data provided by the LA or a local Y Is this an existing indicator? N
partner?
Rationale To ensure local authority preparedness to manage risks to service delivery, the
public, local communities, local infrastructure, businesses and the natural
environment from a changing climate, and to make the most of new opportunities.
The indicator measures progress on assessing and managing climate risks and
opportunities, and incorporating appropriate action into local authority and
partners’ strategic planning.
The impacts might include increases in flooding, temperature, drought and
extreme weather events. These could create risks and opportunities such as:
impacts to transport infrastructure from melting roads or buckling rails, increases
in tourism, increased damage to buildings from storms, impacts on local
ecosystems and biodiversity, scope to grow new crops, changing patterns of
disease, impacts on planning and the local economy and public health.
Examples of the processes, tools and evidence that could be used to reach the
various levels have been included. However, this list is not exhaustive and any
appropriate methodology can be used.
Definition Local authorities should report the level of preparedness they have reached
against the 5 levels of performance, graded 0 to 4. The higher the number, the
better the performance.
The criteria for achievement of each of the levels is detailed below.
Level 0: Baseline:
The Authority has begun the process of assessing the potential threats and
opportunities across its estate and services (for example, flood and coastal
resilience plans, emergency planning, community risk registers/strategies etc) and
has identified and agreed the next steps to build on that assessment in a
systematic and coordinated way.
Examples of evidence:
The Authority has identified a lead official to identify and provide advice to
service/department heads on potential impacts of future climate change on its
functions
The Authority has undertaken an audit of existing relevant risk registers and
action plans in place (eg community risk register)
The Authority has established a process for actions it needs to take to meet
higher levels
Page 48
NI 188: Planning to Adapt to Climate Change (continued)
Definition Level 1: Public commitment and prioritised risk-based assessment:
(continued) The Authority has made a public commitment to identify and manage
climate related risk. It has undertaken a local risk-based assessment of
significant vulnerabilities and opportunities to weather and climate, both
now and in the future. It can demonstrate a sound understanding of those
not yet addressed in existing strategies and actions (e.g. in land use
planning documents, service delivery plans, flood and coastal resilience
plans, emergency planning, community risk registers/strategies etc ). It has
communicated these potential vulnerabilities and opportunities to
department/service heads and other local partners and has set out the next
steps in addressing them.
Examples of evidence:
The authority and partners have made a public commitment to manage
climate risks e.g. signed up to the Nottingham Declaration or an
equivalent
A Local Climate Impacts Profile or equivalent process is ongoing
Initial assessment produced using the UKCIP scenarios
Department/service heads facing significant vulnerabilities and
opportunities have an understanding of the issues, with evidence of
actions already in place to address these
Evidence of working in partnership and pooling of resources and
expertise across sectors, areas and council tiers where applicable
Level 2: Comprehensive risk-based assessment and prioritised action
in some areas:
The Authority has undertaken a comprehensive risk based assessment of
vulnerabilities to weather and climate, both now and in the future, and has
identified priority risks for its services. It has identified the most effective adaptive
responses and has started incorporating these in council strategies, plans,
partnerships and operations (such as planning, flood management, economic
development, social care, services for children, transport etc). It has begun
implementing appropriate adaptive responses in some priority areas. In its role
as a community leader the council has started working with its LSP encouraging
identification of major weather and climate vulnerabilities and opportunities that
affect the delivery of the LSP’s objectives.
Examples of evidence:
Comprehensive risk assessment produced (for example using the UKCIP
method)
Nottingham Declaration accreditation
Council Members and department and service heads have a detailed
understanding of weather and climate risk in all vulnerable areas
identified in risk assessment and actions taken in priority areas.
Documents like Local Development Frameworks include climate change
adaptation
Local adaptation partnership established
LSP partners are aware of actions being taken by the council, feel
engaged in the process and confirm they have started to identify
weather and climate risk that affect the delivery of their own objectives.
Page 49
NI 188: Planning to Adapt to Climate Change (continued)
Definition Level 3: Comprehensive action plan and prioritised action in all
(continued) priority areas:
The Authority has embedded climate impacts and risks across council
decision making. It has developed a comprehensive adaptation action plan
to deliver the necessary steps to achieve the existing objectives set out in
council strategies, plans, investment decisions and partnership
arrangements in light of projected climate change and is implementing
appropriate adaptive responses in all priority areas. This includes
leadership and support for LSPs in taking a risk based approach to
managing major weather and climate vulnerabilities/opportunities across
the wider local authority area.
Examples of evidence
Action plan developed and published
Nottingham Declaration accreditation at a higher level
Detailed understanding of risk and action taken to embed relevant
adaptation response in council strategies, plans, partnerships and
operations by all department/service heads where weather and climate
risks have been identified.
Initial cost analysis undertaken and potential sources of funding
identified for major vulnerabilities
LSPs feel fully engaged and action plan includes commitment from
authority and LSP
Pooling of skills, knowledge and resource across LSP
Consulted with authorities responsible for climate change management
and others who can provide advice on good practice e.g. Environment
Agency, Natural England, Defra.
Level 4: Implementation, monitoring and continuous review: The
Authority and LSP are implementing the comprehensive adaptation action
plan across the local authority area, and there is a robust process for
regular and continual monitoring and review to ensure progress with each
measure and updating of objectives. The Authority and LSP are taking
appropriate adaptive responses.
Examples of evidence:
Clear and robust continuous monitoring and review system in place
Outputs from the review and monitoring process are ploughed back into
the action plan and other relevant council and LSP strategies
Formula N/A
Worked example LA rates performance Good Year on year improvement
against the 5 levels of performance
performance
Collection interval Annual (Apr – Mar) Data Source Local authority assessment
against the criteria
Page 50
NI 188: Planning to Adapt to Climate Change (continued)
Return Format Number (0-4) Decimal Places Zero
Reporting Local authority.
organisation
Spatial level Single tier, county council and district
Further Good quality performance can be typified by assessments and plans which seek
Guidance to include local authority strategic partners throughout the stages.
Sources of guidance, tools and resources which can assist with undertaking the
assessments required for levels 0-4 are outlined below. Each contains several
useful processes and tools which can be used to achieve each of the stages.
However, any appropriate methodology can be used to achieve the stages of this
indicator.
Guidance on how to undertake climate risk assessments and action plan
processes is available in the Nottingham Declaration Action Pack. The pack uses
an overall 5 step process as a guide to developing an adaptation action plan.
Much of this guidance will relate directly to the tasks in levels 0-4 of the indicator
www.nottinghamdeclaration.org.uk
In addition to the information provided here, other resources are available to
support local authority work in this area:
The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) www.ukcip.org.uk has a range of
tools and resources that will assist in achieving the level 0-4 tasks.
The production of a Local Climate Impacts Profile (LCLIP) could assist with
defining the local climate vulnerabilities and risks and increasing awareness
amongst officers and members.
Local Authorities should seek additional guidance from statutory authorities, such
as the Environment Agency and Natural England, on issues such as flooding,
water resources, coastal management, waste, biodiversity, landscape and the
natural environment.
Page 51
Appendix 2 highlights the printed story date, the type, location and service area
affected and details of the specific impacts for weather impacts experienced across
Suffolk between 01/01/2004 to 31/12/2008. It has been coloured to make it easier to
identify the scale of the event and group events that have been reported over several
days.
Story Date Event Location Affected Notes and Comments
Service
Wherstead & Services cleared up a three vehicles collision on the
24/11/2008 Snow Tattingstone Fire Service A137, at 10am.
Bildeston Transport Three people hurt in a collision on the B1115.
Bury St
Edmunds Transport Car spun in road causing delays on the A14.
30 minor road accidents throughout Suffolk occurred
Suffolk Transport from 7am to late afternoon.
Leiston High School had a window blown out, bins flying
across the car park whilst schools children were in
11/11/2008 Tornado Leiston School class.
Wind ripped off Ray and Sandy Haines Chimney and
uprooted a tree, which landed on an overhead cable
causing it to hang dangerously at car height whilst
Knodishall cutting off their power supply.
Eriswell Road and Roebuck Road were left
unrecognisable because tiles, bins and fences went
09/08/2008 Tornado Lakenheath flying and trees were uprooted.
Mark Brown's windows were blown in causing havoc in
Lakenheath the living room.
Wentworth A lightning Bolt made a 6 foot wide hole in the roof
Drive, above their sleeping 5 year old son bedroom. Fire
08/08/2008 Lightning Ipswich Fire Service services were called to secure the roof.
27/05/2008 Storm Levington Fire Service Tree fell across A1156 Bridge St.
Ipswich Fire Service Uprooted tree in Shetland Close.
Stratford St Single carriage way was closed on A12 when a fallen
Mary Fire Service tree had to be removed.
Gazeley,
Herringwell &
Lowestoft Fire Service Fallen tree in road.
Several Thousand lost electricity, EDF were particularly
Suffolk busy around Bury St Edmunds.
Fire Service
Bury St and A 10 car collision was caused after the first car skidded
24/03/2008 Snow Edmunds Transport and over turned on A14.
Fire Service
Thornham and
Magna Transport Car collided with tree on the A140.
Cockfield Fire service Car stuck in ditch at 9.24am on A134.
Suffolk Transport 50 vehicles involved in accidents across Suffolk.
Bruisyard, Twelve fire fighters from Ipswich and Lowestoft pulled a
near family of 5 out of their car after it broke down in deep
17/03/2008 Floods Framlingham Fire Service water.
Tommy Bird and his neighbour smashed a back window
Stowmarket to rescue a trapped man from a water engulfed car.
Suffolk Transport Few road closures causing problems for traffic.
Orwell Bridge was closed from 8am-noon causing
11/03/2008 Storms Orwell bridge Transport tailbacks in rush hour.
Pupils were sent home after a power cut which caused
Clare School the loss of heating and kitchen facilities.
Suffolk School St Mary's CEVCP in Benhall, Mendham Primary School
Page 52
Story Date Event Location Affected Notes and Comments
Service
in Harleston, Henly Primary School in Ipswich,
Witnesham Primary School, Clare Primary School and
Otley College all closed to power failure through strong
winds.
Electrical fire ignited at workshop after storm caused
Swilland Fire Service over head line failures.
High winds caused a large tree to fall on parked car and
Lowestoft Fire Service blew a portable toilet across the road.
Ipswich
Borough
Ipswich Council Closed all the cemeteries.
Felixstowe
Port Transport Port closed which lead to Operation Stack.
Suffolk 1,250 homes left without power at 5pm.
Police received 80 calls, 25 were about trees blocking
Suffolk roads.
Fire Service
and Fallen trees caused delays on many minor roads with
Suffolk Transport traffic being slow on major roads.
High winds caused the Zhen Hula 23 ship to break its
moorings, allowing it moved towards the quay to make
Felixstowe the onboard crane smashed with shore-side crane,
03/03/2008 Gales Port Transport which pulled a second crane down.
Stanningfield 40 feet tree landed on an anonymous couple’s house.
Fire service dealt with over 12 calls about fallen trees
Suffolk Fire Service and arcing electricity cables.
Police recorded 100 weather related calls in 2 hour
Suffolk period.
Sophie Braybrooke saw a stranded Land Rover in her
local ford and pulled two men to safety when she saw
24/01/2008 Flooding Semer water was rising inside.
21/01/2008 Ipswich Transport Huge hole opened in Woodbridge Road
Easton and A motorist became stranded on a rural road and waited
Letheringham for recovery vehicle to pull him out.
Rail line between Lowestoft and Norwich closed as
Lowestoft to flood water washed away ballasts. Coach services were
16/11/2007 Flooding Norwich Transport laid on for the 3 days closure.
Southwold Some beach huts were destroyed or damaged.
Southwold Harbour Inn became flooded, the lower bar
Southwold to waist height.
Highways Bascule Bridge Closed overnight from 8pm on 14
Lowestoft Agency November for emergency checks.
Lowestoft,
Southwold, Temporary rest centres opened for 100s of evacuees at
Aldeburgh & Local Lowestoft, Leiston and Beccles, helping to provide
09/11/2007 Tidal Surge Woodbridge Government information.
Fire fighters moved large rescue boats from Bury St
Edmunds to Lowestoft in preparation of floods and
evacuated Aldeburgh, Southwold, Wrentham and Clifton
Suffolk Fire Service Road and Lowestoft Stations.
Suffolk School 25 Suffolk schools were closed due to the flood alert.
Five families fled their home after river Blyth Banks
Southwald were breached.
More than 30 cattle herds been affected in East Anglia,
2 sheep flocks been confirmed but movement
Blue restrictions have been loosened to aid struggling
14/10/2007 Tongue Suffolk farmers.
Page 53
Story Date Event Location Affected Notes and Comments
Service
26 cases in East Anglia been confirmed. The biggest
clust of 10 around Needham Market and the 11th case
06/10/107 Suffolk was at Lound, near Lowestoft
First case of blue tongue discovered in a Highland cow
Needham at the Baylham House Rare Breeds Farm, Needham
23/09/2007 Market Market.
20 acres and 1/4 mile fencing caught alight on
Bury St Symounds Road causing poor driving conditions for
19/07/2007 Heatwave Edmunds Fire Service passing traffic on the A14.
Clare fire crew were called to a 5*10 meter fire at 3
Bridwell Fire Service Chimney Lane.
Hadleigh and Nayland crews were called to a 4 acre
Nayland Fire Service stubble and undergrowth fire on Thorrington Street.
Fire crews from Brandon, Thetford and Methwold were
Brandon Fire Service called to 2 hectare standing crop fire.
Two Ipswich High School children were struck by
lightning through their umbrella, whilst catching the bus
04/07/2007 Lightning Woolverstone School home.
Mother and daughter were admitted to Bury St Edmund
West Suffolk Hospital after being struck by lightning
Thetford whilst walking their dog.
Ipswich,
Leiston and Four Ipswich, Two Leiston and a Felixstowe homes all
Felixstowe Fire Service had roof fires caused by lightning.
Lightning struck Darsham railway crossing, this caused
Police and the lights to remain on red and over a mile delays for
Darsham Transport motorists.
3:26pm Ipswich to Felixstowe service had to return to
Ipswich to the platform after lightning caused brief problems with
Felixstowe signals and track circuits.
Little
Glemhasm &
Flash Campsea Fire Service Police closed roads, whilst fire service pumped water
Flooding Ashe and transport from the roads and clear the drains.
Grimwade Street, Princes Street, Whethstead Road and
Ipswich Transport town centre all flooded.
Copdock,
Wickham
Market &
Felixstowe All reported flooding.
Ipswich Regent Theatre basement was flooded; an
Ipswich expert team was used to pump water out.
Holland and Barrett, in the Buttermarket, also reported
Ipswich basement flooding.
Storm Suffolk Fire service 200 calls to the incident room.
Suffolk 2000 homes lost their power throughout Suffolk.
Cleaning companies were called to Bushey Lane to
29/06/2007 Flooding Hollesley clear mud and dry flooded homes.
Peasenhall Primary School closed for a day due to the
26/06/2007 Peasenhall School bad weather.
Flooding caused hazardous conditions for drivers on
Halesworth Transport B1123, between Halesworth and Harleston.
Flooding caused hazardous conditions for drivers on
Saxundham Transport Rendham Road.
4*4 was submerged by a wave of water, owner swam to
Peasenhall safety after waiting 10min.
Walpole Leisure Walpole's pavilion was submerged in water.
Saxmundham Local Saxmundham cemetery was flooded for 2nd time this
Page 54
Story Date Event Location Affected Notes and Comments
Service
Government? year, whilst the surgery was surrounded by water.
Wickhambrook and Bury fire crew were called to a
house fire after lightning had struck causing the roof to
21/06/2007 Lightning Thurston Fire service collapse.
Lightning triggered a garage fire, which was noticed by
a neighbour who alerted the elderly owner and Ipswich
09/06/2007 Lightning Bently Fire Service fire service.
The Gulliver wind turbine at Ness Point was struck,
Lowestoft stopping it for 4 hours.
B1069 in Friston; Landseer Road, Ipswich; Martlesham
Road, Little Bealings; Playford Road, near Ipswich;
Penzance Road, Kesgrave and A146 at Barnby Bends,
29/05/2007 Flooding Suffolk Transport Beccles were all flooded.
Wet The building of a new school at Pytches Road was
24/04/2007 weather Woodbridge School delayed further after wet weather earlier in 2007.
A14 at Whitehouse was closed when a lorry jack-knifed
21/03/2007 Snow Ipswich Transport causing major traffic chaos.
Capel St Essex paramedics were called to a rolled 4*4 because
20/03/2007 Mary Transport local crews were busy.
Stratford St Two people were injured in a London bound crash near
Mary Transport Stratford St Mary
Lorries blocked both lanes around the closed Felixstowe
Felixstowe Transport Port causing long tail backs.
Highways
Agency & 38 Suffolk County Council gritters on road last night and
Local 11 Highway Agency gritters were on the road from
Suffolk Government midnight
Nacton Road had a four vehicle pile up on the
roundabout at 4pm, where fire service and police closed
Ipswich Fire Service the road.
Two vehicle collision on the Colchester Road, just after
Ipswich Transport 8pm.
09/02/2007 Snow Suffolk School More than 70 schools were closed due to the snow.
A12 to Snow caused traffic congestion heading towards
08/02/2007 London Transport Colchester.
Nacton Transport Car skidded into a ditch on A14 at Nacton.
Capel St
Mary Transport Transit van rolled onto its side.
Hadleigh Transport BMW skidded into a field on the B1071, at 8am.
Car skidded into the central reservation near Ipswich
Ipswich Transport Docks.
Large branch fell in the play ground of Westgate
Bury St Primary School causing parents to pick their children
26/01/2007 Gales Edmunds School from the front, instead usual back door.
Elvedon, Lawshall, Botesdadale, Bildeston and
Stowmarket schools were all closed due to power line
Suffolk School failures from the high winds.
Thurston Community College was evacuated when a
section of the roof canopy was ripped off by gust of
Thurston School wind.
Bury St A lady was luck to escape with head injuries after a tree
Edmunds Transport fell on her car as she drove along Beyton Road.
Thetford,
Brandon & Roads were closed when trees were toppled by high
Mildenhall Transport winds.
Bury St High winds blew off Bury's Sainsbury store frontage,
Edmunds forcing customers to use the secondary entrance.
West Suffolk Lost electricity as power lines were bought down.
Page 55
Story Date Event Location Affected Notes and Comments
Service
Swan Inn lost electricity, so customers spend the
25/01/2007 Lavenham weekend with candle light and by log fires.
Lavenham Primary School also had to close due to the
Lavenham School loss of power.
60 feet tree crashed on a house after high winds up
Clare rooted it.
30 trees became badly damaged in Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Hospital staff car park. It was closed while the trees
Edmunds Hospital were cleared.
Huge lime tree in a neighbouring garden fell on cars in
Sudbury the dental practice car park.
Suffolk police dealt with 400 weather related calls
concerning fallen trees, branches, cables and other
20/01/2007 Suffolk debris on roads and in public areas.
Orwell Bridge closed at Copdock Junction and
19/01/2007 Ipswich Transport Sevenhills, causing gridlock in parts of Ipswich.
Rail services were reduced to one per hour and delayed
Suffolk by 60 minutes due to train speeds being reduced.
Man was pinned to the ground by a fallen tree whilst
Sibton Fire Service unloading the boot of his car.
Suffolk Nearly 17,000 properties in Suffolk were without power.
Cornhill was cordoned off, forcing some town centre
stores to close early, when a piece of 20ft roofing hung
Ipswich from Debenhams.
Museum Street and Westgate Street were closed to
Ipswich avoid risk of injury to pedestrians.
Ipswich
Borough Ipswich Borough Closed all parks for health and safety,
Ipswich Council due to the weather conditions.
St
Edmundsbury
Bury St Borough St Edmundary Borough Council also closed a number of
Edmunds Council parks.
Port of Felixstowe stopped their container operations
but continued the roll-on roll-off operations, leaving
containers dangerously stacked, operation stack was
Felixstowe also enforced.
A134 near Lavenham exit became flooded; works
alleviated the floodwaters by digging ditches in the
Lavenham Transport grass verge.
Beyton Road became flooded when the adjacent stream
Thurston Transport broke its banks at 2pm.
25 feet tree collapsed onto road near railway bridge
Thurston Transport forcing it to be closed.
A14 was closed between Stowmarket and A140 after
lorry was blown on its side spilling fuel across the
Stowmarket Transport carriageway and causing 5 hour tailbacks.
A140 at Stoke Ash was closed after power lines were
Stoke Ash Transport bought down, causing 2 mile tailbacks.
School and Fallen tree lead to problems for parents picking up their
Lowestoft Transport children at Gisleham School.
Ipswich A tree toppled onto two cars at Briarhayes.
Drivers faced long diversions when a tree fell on the
Southwold Transport Mights Road (main road into Southwold).
First Eastern Counties did not withdrawal service but
experienced holdups of about 15 minutes due to road
Suffolk debris, closures and congestion.
Ipswich to Part of the railway track closed, when tree fell on the
Page 56
Story Date Event Location Affected Notes and Comments
Service
Felixstowe line at Derby Road Station.
Suffolk County Council closed 18 of its household waste
18/01/2007 Suffolk Waste and recycling centres for health and safety reasons.
Tornado &
12/01/2007 Storms Suffolk 21 reported fallen trees.
5 mile tailbacks were caused by an overturned lorry on
A14 before Stowmarket turning. It had a knock on
effects on Ipswich road works because lorries
Stowmarket Transport containing asphalt and other materials were delayed.
Tornado ripped off a massive aluminium roofing strips
from Days Inn, throwing them over the road and car
11/01/2007 Haverhill Fire Service park.
Glemsford Tornado flattened trees and damaged homes.
More than 100 weather related incidents were reported
Suffolk to the police on fallen trees blocking roads.
600 customers in the Eye area had a power cut when
Eye the wind cause a fault in the overhead power lines.
Stoke Ash and Wetheringsett Primary Schools were
Stoke Ash School both closed due to the lack of power.
Felixstowe port was closed for the day; operation stack
was running with warnings and speed restrictions for all
Felixstowe Transport drivers.
Prom damaged, beach huts smashed together and
02/11/2006 Tidal Surge Felixstowe gardens flooded as waves reached the flood gates.
Reydon and
Dunwich Transport Roads closed due to floods.
40 meter long pool of water settled in the road along the
A12 at Blythburgh, causing 4 vehicles to be stranded
Blythburgh Transport and long tailbacks across Lowestoft.
Country Dingle Marshes flooded after water topped the shingle
Dunwich Side? bank.
Southwold Harbour Inn owners woke to 2ft of water in their bar.
Freshwater reed beds from Walberswick to Minsmere
Country were affected by saltwater flooding, which caused
Suffolk Side? havoc in nature reserves.
Rain water running down the road and flowing up to
02/10/2006 Flooding Woodbridge Transport peoples doorsteps.
Lightning struck the aerial triggering an electricity surge,
which set alight decorations in the attic causing a roof
Lightning Stradishall Fire Service fire. Wickhambrook and Clare fire crew were called out.
Dykes burst their banks which meant roads were
Flash cordoned off, homes were flooded and pets were
29/09/2006 Flooding Lowestoft Fire service rescued causing £1,000 worth of damage.
Foxborough Middle School sent pupils home, after
sewage filled up two classrooms ruining carpets and
floor coverings. Anglian water did admit that the volume
Lowestoft School of water overwhelmed their networks.
Lowestoft Fire Service 25 complaints were made to the service during the day.
Lightning struck a two-storey detached house in
Hopton, fire spread to out house igniting central heating
oil tanks. Seven crews were called from Suffolk and
27/07/2006 Lightning Hopton Fire Service Norwich.
July call outs to crop and field fires rose by 425% (more
than 325 calls in July 2006 compared to 67 calls in July
05/08/2006 Heatwave Suffolk Fire Services 05).
Heathland blaze came inches from residential property
29/07/2006 Martlesham Fire Service where some fences were scorched. Six crews from
Page 57
Story Date Event Location Affected Notes and Comments
Service
Ipswich, Woodbridge, Felixstowe and Orford attended
the incident.
River Deben was classed to be in a critical condition, so
Anglian Water pumped water further upstream after fish
River Deben were seen to be in distress.
Five crews from Ipswich and a crew from Holbrook
attended 55 acres of standing crop fire just before 12:40
27/07/2006 Tattingstone Fire Service in Cocks Hall Lane.
10 acres of standing crop had caught alight at Mill Lane,
Halesworth Fire Service Wissett.
5 acres of grassland caught fire at Orwell County Park,
Orwell Fire Service four crews attended from Ipswich.
10 other weather related fires between 11am- 7pm were
attended to, these included Rendlesham Forest,
Bramford, Cavenham and B1113 at Darmsden, near
Suffolk Fire Service Needham Market.
Landseer Park was involved in a 300*200 meter grass
25/07/2006 Ipswich Fire Service fire were two engines attended.
40 acres of barley were destroyed before six appliances
Tuddenham Fire Service extinguish the flames.
Three appliances attended a 300*100 meter stubble fire
Kesgrave Fire Service in Bell lane.
Fire crews from Ipswich and Orford tackled a 2 acre
Whitton Fire Service undergrowth fire.
5 acres of grassland and hedgerow were on fire near
RAF Mildenhall. Mildenhall and Newmarket fire crews
24/07/2006 Mildenhall Fire Service joined forces with the RAF to extinguish the fire.
A Bury St Edmunds appliance attended a fire involving
22/07/2006 Whepstead Fire Service three half-ton bales of straw off the A143.
Wickham Eye and Debenham crews attended 15 ton bale straw
Skeith Fire Service fire in Wickham
Martlesham Five crews from Ipswich and one from Woodbridge
Heath Fire Service attended a large grassland fire.
Two appliances from Bury St Edmunds were called to a
200 yards grass verge fire, along A143, and 10 acre
Ixworth Fire Service crop fire.
Capel St
Mary Fire Service Crews were called to two separate crop fires incidents.
19/07/2006 Brandon Fire Service 5 square meters were alight at Church Road.
Haverhill Fire Service Crews were called to two separate grass fires incidents.
12 tonnes of saw dust waste and wood caught alight at
Stanton Fire Service Grove Lane.
Four acre crop fire, near Thurston Community College,
spread to nearby gardens and took 5 crews 2 hours to
18/07/2006 Thurston Fire Service extinguish
Eight crews were needed to bring a 100 acre stubble
17/07/2006 Long Melford Fire Service fire under control.
Two serious blazes, 1st involved 500 tonnes of straw,
open sided barn and cattle shed, whilst the 2nd involved
Ixworth Fire Service three trailers with baled hay.
Norfolk and Suffolk crews were called to High Lodge
Thetford Forest centre where 400 square meters of undergrowth
12/06/2006 Forest Fire Service was alight.
Mildenhall crew extinguished a 50 tonne straw bale fire
at Maids Cross Hill; extra water was need from
Lakenheath Fire Service Sudbury.
Crews were called out to three grassland fires at
05/05/2006 Suffolk Fire Service Stowmarket and two in Ipswich.
Page 58
Story Date Event Location Affected Notes and Comments
Service
Fire Service At 2:15pm, a van driver died after a collision with a lorry
and causing congestion for 7 hours, on the A14 at
31/12/2005 Snow Sproughton Transport Sproughton.
A giant chestnut tree fell onto house and flattened the
owner’s car, just minutes after washing it. Police and fire
28/11/2005 Storm Long Melford Fire Service officers were called from Sudbury.
Office of National Statistics estimated 3,400 more
deaths in the east between December 04 and March 05
than the average during non-winter months. The region
Cold Adult has reached a five year high of winter related deaths,
28/10/2005 Winter East Anglian services rising from 2,280 excess deaths in 2003-04.
Heavy rain caused drain covers to over flow and lead to
three feet of road flooding, where dozens of motorists
Capel St were forced to stop their cars at the A12 slip road
01/07/2005 Hail Storm Mary Transport stopping traffic in and out of the village.
60 holes were smashed into a conservatory roof on
Ipswich Chatworth Crescent.
Several gallons of water were found in a conservatory
on Dales Road after hail burst 140 holes through a
Ipswich triple-layered roof.
Ipswich Westbourne High School was closed after
classrooms and laboratories were flooded and toilets
Ipswich School were blocked.
Crews were called from Princes Street and Colchester
Road to tackle an attic fire after lightning hit the overflow
Ipswich Fire Service pipe.
Television aerial struck by lightning blowing the booster
30/06/2005 Stowupland box.
2,000 homes were cut off at the height of the storm but
Debenham power was quickly restored.
200 homes also had power cuts which were quickly
Hadleigh restored.
Traffic ground to a halt as hailstones made the road and
A12 Transport driving conditions dangerous.
Norwich Road, Dales Road and Coltsfoot Road were
Ipswich Transport flooded.
Lorries on their way from Felixstowe Port had to wait at
24/02/2005 Snow Orwell Bridge Transport Orwell Bridge until it was safe to continue.
An articulate lorry skidded and collided with a tree,
Barnham Transport taking fire officers 3 hours to free the driver.
A lorry carrying bricks skidded on A1120 ice causing
Pettaugh Transport delays for 3 hours.
An army vehicle ended up on its side on the westbound
Claydon Transport carriageway of A14.
Ipswich Buses had numerous delayed services in rural
Ipswich Transport areas
London to Rail One reduced services to one per hour in the middle
Norwich of the day to reduce delays.
Several lorries jack-knife along the A14 forcing police to
close the bridge during morning rush hour; this caused
Orwell Bridge Transport two hour traffic jams in the town centre.
A lorry jack-knifed and collided with another lorry,
causing it to hit the central reservation. Spilled fuel also
Levington Transport had to be cleared up.
A lorry collided with a central reservation, jack-knifed
Sproughton Transport and then struck a car, on A14 at Sproughton.
Suffolk School 51 schools across Suffolk were forced to close after
Page 59
Story Date Event Location Affected Notes and Comments
Service
heavy snow fall.
Many households in the Suffolk Coastal area did not
Suffolk have their rubbish emptied due to the bad weather and
Coastal Area Waste untreated roads.
Emergency services were caught up in traffic; one
ambulance took one and half hours to get to Ipswich
Hospital from Levington, whilst a second ambulance
23/02/2005 Snow Ipswich was escorted the wrong way along the A14.
Stowupland Transport A red Golf skidded into a ditch.
Swefling Transport Vehicle struggling to get up the Low Road hill.
Burgh Transport One car accident on B1079.
Stanton Transport Car skidded into ditch on Barningham Road.
Wenhaston Transport Vehicle skidded into ditch on the A144.
Stonham
Aspel Transport Van skidded into a hedge.
Creeting St Six cars stuck in snow were recovered by police, using
Mary Transport shovels, on the A140.
Five vehicles were involved in a collision at 5:45am. The
road was closed for two hours to remove the cars from
22/02/2005 Snow Worlingham Transport the scene.
Traffic on the A1065 suffered tailbacks after a two car
Mildenhall Transport accident at 7am.
25 accidents had been reported to Suffolk police in 12
25/01/2005 Snow Suffolk Transport hours.
Ipswich Transport A car skidded into a ditch on Foxhall Road.
Wherstead Transport Vehicle ended up in the field after leaving the A137.
Two vehicles were involved in a collision on Angel
Hadleigh Transport Street.
A car and cyclist were involved in an accident in Princes
Ipswich Transport Street.
Emergency Two people were left dead after their Rover 25
Services and Hatchback was struck by a falling 30 tonne tree when
23/03/2004 Gales Lowestoft Transport they travelled down Yarmouth Road.
7,000 EDF customers were left without power after gust
Suffolk reach 67mph.
260 calls were made to the police in four hours to report
Suffolk fallen trees, power lines and property damage.
Police evacuated surrounding houses on Bridge Road
Lowestoft after a neighbouring roof collapsed.
Fire fighters were called to Rectory Road when a tree
Wortham Fire Service snapped in two and fell on a 17th century house.
28/02/2004 Snow Suffolk Schools 55 schools closed for health and safety reasons.
Suffolk police said there were a few road problems, only
Suffolk Transport some cars spun off the road.
Postal works found it hard to deliver mail due to the
North Suffolk treacherous conditions in rural areas.
Last week Haverhill Hotel became a refuge when
05/02/2004 Snow Haverhill Transport motorist were stranded on Witherfield Road.
10 ton lorry over turned on the A1088 slip road. The
30/01/2004 Woolpit Transport male driver was taken to West Suffolk Hospital.
Suffolk Schools 236 schools were closed, up from 80 the previous day.
Hundreds of drivers were stranded in a 3km queue, for
more than three hours, when two lorries jack-knifed,
Hauleghley Transport closing both westbound carriages on the A14.
Bury St Non-emergency transport services were reduced to take
Edmunds dialysis and radiotherapy patients only.
Page 60
Story Date Event Location Affected Notes and Comments
Service
All 19 household waste and recycling centres were
closed and there were no refuse collections in Babergh,
Suffolk Waste Waveney and St Edmunds areas.
Hadleigh Swimming Pool had to close as staff could not
Hadleigh Leisure get to work.
Ipswich Leisure Ipswich mobile libraries did not venture out.
A1071 was blocked by drifting snow until cleared by
Polstead Transport snow blower.
Ipswich Hospital treated more school children for slips
and falls, but general treatment did not seem to be more
Ipswich Hospital than normal.
Ipswich to Points were frozen at Dullingham causing trains to run
29/01/2004 Cambridge Transport 50 minutes late.
Ipswich to Buses were used to replace cancelled trains, between
Saxmundham Transport Ipswich and Saxmunham.
London to 35 minute delays were experienced due to a frozen
Norwich Transport horn.
Bury to Some bus services between Bury St Edmunds and
Haverhill Transport Haverhill were affected by snow.
Page 61
Appendix 3, analysis from the Environment Agency determining whether the flash
flooding in the papers were extreme events (classed as a 5 year return period).
17/3/08
Great Finborough
duration rainfall total duration return period
(mm) 56.2mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 1.4 15min commonplace
1 hour 4.8 1 hour commonplace
2 hour 7 2 hour commonplace
3 hour 9.4 3 hour 1
4 hour 11.8 4 hour 1.02
5 hour 13.8 5 hour 1.06
6 hour 15 6 hour 1.08
12 hour 22.4 12 hour 1.39
24 hour 24.2 24 hour 1.15
Needham Market
duration rainfall total duration return period
(mm) 56.2mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 1.4 15min commonplace
1 hour 5.4 1 hour commonplace
2 hour 8.2 2 hour 1
3 hour 10.2 3 hour 1
4 hour 12.8 4 hour 1.04
5 hour 14.6 5 hour 1.07
6 hour 16 6 hour 1.1
12 hour 22 12 hour 1.24
24 hour 24.2 24 hour 1.11
Not considered a rainfall event
21/1/08
Chantry raingauge
duration rainfall total duration return period
(mm) 56.2mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 1.6 15min commonplace
1 hour 4 1 hour commonplace
2 hour 6 2 hour commonplace
3 hour 6.4 3 hour commonplace
4 hour 7.4 4 hour commonplace
5 hour 7.6 5 hour commonplace
6 hour 8.2 6 hour commonplace
12 hour 15.6 12 hour 1
24 hour 17.4 24 hour commonplace
Page 62
Levington raingauge
duration rainfall total duration return period
(mm) 56.2mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 1.6 15min commonplace
1 hour 3.8 1 hour commonplace
2 hour 5.6 2 hour commonplace
3 hour 6 3 hour commonplace
4 hour 6.8 4 hour commonplace
5 hour 6.8 5 hour commonplace
6 hour 7.6 6 hour commonplace
12 hour 13.8 12 hour commonplace
24 hour 14.6 24 hour commonplace
Not considered a rainfall event
21-1-08
Bildeston
total in 72
duration rainfall hrs duration return period
(mm) 22.2 mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 0.8 15min commonplace
1 hour 2.4 1 hour commonplace
2 hour 4.2 2 hour commonplace
3 hour 4.8 3 hour commonplace
4 hour 5.4 4 hour commonplace
5 hour 6 5 hour commonplace
6 hour 7.2 6 hour commonplace
12 hour 12.6 12 hour commonplace
24 hour 17.4 24 hour commonplace
Not considered a rainfall event
04/07/07
Chantry
duration rainfall 72 hr total duration return period
(mm) 56.2mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 11 15min 3.1
1 hour 14.8 1 hour 2.33
2 hour 14.8 2 hour 1.49
3 hour 15.2 3 hour 1.26
4 hour 17.6 4 hour 1.37
5 hour 17.8 5 hour 1.25
6 hour 21.6 6 hour 1.59
12 hour 22.6 12 hour 1.17
24 hour 25 24 hour 1.11
The most intense rainfall was at the 15 minute interval, a brief but intense shower
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Woodbridge
72 hr
duration rainfall total duration return period
(mm) 56.2mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 4.4 15min commonplace
1 hour 5.2 1 hour commonplace
2 hour 7.6 2 hour commonplace
3 hour 7.8 3 hour commonplace
4 hour 7.8 4 hour commonplace
5 hour 7.8 5 hour commonplace
6 hour 8.8 6 hour commonplace
12 hour 11.6 12 hour commonplace
24 hour 14.4 24 hour commonplace
Woodbridge
72 hr
duration rainfall total duration return period
(mm) 56.2mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 4.4 15min commonplace
1 hour 5.2 1 hour commonplace
2 hour 7.6 2 hour commonplace
3 hour 7.8 3 hour commonplace
4 hour 7.8 4 hour commonplace
5 hour 7.8 5 hour commonplace
6 hour 8.8 6 hour commonplace
12 hour 11.6 12 hour commonplace
24 hour 14.4 24 hour commonplace
Not considered a rainfall event
26/06/07
Benhall
72 hr
duration rainfall total duration return period
(mm) 31.8mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 6.4 15min 1.13
1 hour 9.8 1 hour 1.14
2 hour 10 2 hour 1.02
3 hour 11.2 3 hour 1.02
4 hour 11.4 4 hour 1
5 hour 11.4 5 hour 1
6 hour 11.6 6 hour commonplace
12 hour 13 12 hour commonplace
24 hour 15 24 hour commonplace
Not considered a rainfall event
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29/05/07
Chantry
duration rainfall 72 hr total duration return period
(mm) 55.4 (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 4.2 15min 1
1 hour 10 1 hour 1.17
2 hour 14.8 2 hour 1.49
3 hour 18.2 3 hour 1.74
4 hour 19.6 4 hour 1.69
5 hour 20.8 5 hour 1.65
6 hour 21.8 6 hour 1.62
12 hour 33.8 12 hour 3
24 hour 47.6 24 hour 6.2
The rainfall was significant over the 24 hour period*
Woodbridge
72 hr
duration rainfall total duration return period
(mm) 60.4 (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 3.2 15min commonplace
1 hour 9.2 1 hour 1.06
2 hour 15.6 2 hour 1.58
3 hour 19.8 3 hour 2.05
4 hour 22.2 4 hour 2.23
5 hour 24.4 5 hour 2.42
6 hour 27.4 6 hour 2.9
12 hour 41.8 12 hour 6.2
24 hour 55.2 24 hour 10.5
*Nb: 12 and 24 hour returns:
The returns above show longer duration rainfall. In urban areas surface water flooding,
the rainfall would be more significant in shorter periods, as a sub-2 hourly event.
Although the 24 hour return period is significant it shouldn’t give problems to urban
drainage.
The Critical Event period for storm sewer design is to a 1:30 year return period for 15
to 30 minute intensity. Ie: the highest rainfall intensity occurring in a 30 minute period
for both summer and winter is looked at and the design should be based on that. (see
PPS 25 scanned)
Whilst the Agency look to use the 1:100 year return for residential, the County
Councils design to 1:30 and the Highways Agency design to a lower 1:10 year return.
Also, it had been particularly dry with high temperatures in April/ May 2007
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(2/10/06)
Woodbridge
duration rainfall 72 hr total duration return period
(mm) 21.8mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 9.6 15min 2.02
1 hour 13.4 1 hour 1.75
2 hour 13.6 2 hour 1.25
3 hour 14.6 3 hour 1.17
4 hour 14.6 4 hour 1.08
5 hour 14.6 5 hour 1.03
6 hour 14.6 6 hour 1.02
12 hour 15 12 hour commonplace
24 hour 15.4 24 hour commonplace
Levington
72 hr
duration rainfall total duration return period
(mm) 7.8 mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 1.2 15min commonplace
1 hour 2.4 1 hour commonplace
2 hour 2.6 2 hour commonplace
3 hour 2.8 3 hour commonplace
4 hour 2.8 4 hour commonplace
5 hour 2.8 5 hour commonplace
6 hour 2.8 6 hour commonplace
12 hour 3 12 hour commonplace
24 hour 4.4 24 hour commonplace
Not considered a rainfall event
29/9/06 (actual event 25/9/06)
Lowestoft
duration rainfall 72 hr total duration return period
(mm) 65.4mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 7.4 15min 1.55
1 hour 19 1 hour 5.2
2 hour 26.4 2 hour 7.9
3 hour 43.4 3 hour 29
4 hour 47.8 4 hour 32
5 hour 48 5 hour 27
6 hour 52.2 6 hour 31
12 hour 57.6 12 hour 24.1
24 hour 61.8 24 hour 14.1
Whilst this seems like an intense rainfall event over the long durations, the actual hourly rain
rate was 11.13 mm/ hr at 7.30am on 25-9-06.
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Worlingham
72 hr
duration rainfall total duration return period
(mm) 42mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 4.4 15min 1.01
1 hour 13 1 hour 1.92
2 hour 19.6 2 hour 3.1
3 hour 25 3 hour 4.4
4 hour 28 4 hour 4.9
5 hour 28.2 5 hour 4.1
6 hour 29 6 hour 3.8
12 hour 36.8 12 hour 4.3
24 hour 38.4 24 hour 2.18
(30/6/05)
Chantry
duration rainfall 72 hr total duration return period
(mm) 8.8mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 3.4 15min commonplace
1 hour 3.8 1 hour commonplace
2 hour 4.8 2 hour commonplace
3 hour 5 3 hour commonplace
4 hour 5 4 hour commonplace
5 hour 5 5 hour commonplace
6 hour 5 6 hour commonplace
12 hour 5 12 hour commonplace
24 hour 8.8 24 hour commonplace
Woodbridge
72 hr
duration rainfall total duration return period
(mm) 2.4 mm (years/ annual maxima scale)
15min 0.4 15min commonplace
1 hour 0.8 1 hour commonplace
2 hour 1 2 hour commonplace
3 hour 1 3 hour commonplace
4 hour 1.2 4 hour commonplace
5 hour 1.2 5 hour commonplace
6 hour 1.2 6 hour commonplace
12 hour 1.2 12 hour commonplace
24 hour 1.4 24 hour commonplace
Not considered a rainfall event
Page 67
Appendix 4, the questionnaire that was sent to all local authority departments to gain
an overview of their service and how they were impacted by different weather events.
Name of interviewee:
Details of service provided
How sensitive is this service to extreme weather Very/moderate/low
events. sensitivity
What sort of impact does each of the following weather events have on your
service.
Heavy rain/flooding Low/medium/high
Provide details:
Snow/Ice/Freezing conditions Low/medium/high
Provide details:
High Temperatures/heatwave Low/medium/high
Provide details:
Storms/high winds Low/medium/high
Provide details:
Other (e.g. Lightning, Tornadoes, Tidal Surges)
Provide details:
Are details of severe weather events or incident and
responses/associated costs recorded or reported on.
If so where/how?
Is it possible to access/view records relating to
service responses relating to incidents of severe
weather?
Systems used/access to records?
Typically, what are the direct impacts of the various
weather events on this service?
E.g. gritting/school closed as a result of weather.
Are there any indirect impacts on the service
following extreme weather events?
E.g. once a school is closed then there are
indirect impacts on parents/children or
congestion as a result of road closures.
Specific people to talk to in relation to particular
weather events?
List of contacts?
Additional Notes
Page 68
Appendix 5, the questionnaire that was used in the service interviews to gain detailed
information for the identified specific events.
Name of interviewee: Department:
Details of service provided
Event Type Heavy rain/flooding/snow/ice/high temperatures/winds/
Date of events
Typical occurrence of this event
How would you rate the impact of this 1 = insignificant, 2= fairly insignificant, 3= averagely
incident on your service? significant, 4= fairly significant, 5= highly significant
Would you say that this event has a
high/medium/low operational impact on your
service?
Provide details:
Immediate Impact of event on this service:
Any damages recorded?
Was there any media communication
relating to this event?
Was council reputation affected by this
event?
Was there a change to man-hours?
E.g. More employed/ change in a person’s
job
Costs relating to this event, Direct or Direct =
Indirect?
Indirect =
What immediate management, if any, was
needed?
Looking to the future:
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Is your service preparing for climate
change?
Have there been any long-term impacts for
this type of event?
Has the response to this event changed the
way future events are dealt with
Has there been a policy change in relation to
this event?
How can the council be better prepared for
future incidents? This will help inform the
council on how to reduce its vulnerability to
future events.
Page 70
Appendix 6 categorises for the months of June, July and August 2006 for the Suffolk
Hydrometric Bulletin reporting sites, from the Environment Agency.
June 06
Average Rainfall: Suffolk
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
DEC
JUN
OCT
FEB
SEP
JUL
NOV
MAR
APR
JAN
AUG
MAY
Monthly Rainfall M o nt
Mean h Max Min
Suffolk:
Base flow contributions have significantly reduced with groundwater levels now
showing a steady decline. This has resulted in the lowest flows observed in the Suffolk
rivers so far in 2006, which are set to reach a minimum in the hot dry conditions
remain over the coming weeks. Prospects for the Suffolk rivers are slightly better than
Essex due to healthier levels in the major Chalk aquifer. Prospects for the coastal
Suffolk crag rivers are less favourable due to continuing poor recharge. At least 6
weeks of above average rain is required to achieve more ‘normal’ conditions.
Bramford (nr Ipswich)
FQ [m3/s]
***010.FQ.DayMean.P
1.0
0.5
0.0
01/06/2006 15/06/2006 29/06/2006 13/07/2006 27/07/2006 10/08/2006 24/08/2006Time t
June
categorisation – below normal
July categorisation - notably low
August categorisation – normal
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Beversham (nr Wickham Market)
FQ [m3/s]
***004.FQ.DayMean.P
0.10
0.05
01/06/2006 15/06/2006 29/06/2006 13/07/2006 27/07/2006 10/08/2006 24/08/2006Time t
June - below normal
July - exceptionally low
August – normal
Farnham (nr Saxmundham)
FQ [m3/s]
0.10
***003.FQ.DayMean.P
0.08
0.06
0.04
01/06/2006 15/06/2006 29/06/2006 13/07/2006 27/07/2006 10/08/2006 24/08/2006Time t
June – below normal
July – notably low
August – normal
Polstead Cunnane distribution of Surface water data in 2006 compared to the long
term record Jan 1970 – Dec 2006 (inclusive of drought year)
April – below normal return period 1:4.9
May – notably high return period 1:10
June – normal return period 1:1.7
July – below normal return period 1:5.6
August – above normal return period 1:4.1
Page 72
Appendix 7 maps the areas where water is over-abstracted and over-licensed in
Suffolk.
To explain the key further:
No water available = the water resources are fully committed and any additional
licensing will potentially damage the environment.
Over-abstracted = current abstraction rate is already damaging the environment.
Over-licensed = too many licences have been given out to companies for the water
available, if they all abstract water at the same time the environment will be
damaged.
Water available = the water resources are not fully committed and additional
licensing would still not stretch the water resource.
By looking at the map we can see that our counties water resources are already
stretched. With the scientists predicting less rainfall, due to climate change, these
water resources may not fully refill every year. Consequently, over-abstraction will
occur more often because there is less water available, hence there is likely to be
more damage to our environment and people may be on standpipe and hose pipe
restrictions more often.
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