British Report Recommends Measures for Growing Flood Risk

A new report says the British government should introduce mandatory BC planning for critical infrastructures to tackle the growing risk of flood in the country. In the wake of flooding in the Midwest, should the US government do the same?

In an article on the Business Insurance website, Stuart Collins says the report, titled “The Pitt Review: Learning the Lessons of the 2007 Floods,” is an independent report commissioned by the government into the 2007 summer floods. The report found that some 55,000 properties were flooded, approximately 7,000 people were rescued from the flood waters by the emergency services and 13 people died.

“We also saw the largest loss of essential services since World War II, with almost half a million people without mains water or electricity. Transport networks failed, a dam breach was narrowly averted and emergency facilities were put out of action,” the report added.

The report also found that the number of insurance claims as a consequence of the floods — including 130,000 home, 30,000 business and 20,000 auto — were the equivalent of four years’ normal claims, the report said. Damage caused by flooding in June and July 2007 is expected to cost insurers $5.92 billion.

“The report recommended that the government should urgently begin a program to reduce the disruption of essential services resulting from natural hazards,” Collins adds. “It called for the government and infrastructure operators—water, power and transport—to work together to build a level of resilience into critical infrastructure assets that ensures continuity during a worst-case flood event.”

The report added that the approach taken by the government to mitigate the risks to critical infrastructure from flooding and other natural hazards has been uncoordinated and reactive. “There is no central understanding of the level of risk to which critical infrastructure is exposed,” the report said.