A county council report says more work is needed to better prevent a repeat of the impact of storms at the start of 2020.
Storms Ciara and Dennis brought the wettest February since records began in 198. Rivers in the county saw more than three times their average rainfall, resulting in flooding for some parts of the area - including Skipton and Gargrave.
Although numerous flood warnings were issued throughout February and March, the amount of water that flowed through the Lower River Aire exceeded all modelled scenarios.
The North Yorkshire County Council report recommends more work be done to prepare for flooding - including helping communities to increase their readiness and resilience, and putting better protection in around their own homes.
The local authority says it will continue to work with other risk management authorities, including the Environment Agency, to deliver the work, particularly in the Lower Aire where the capacity of washland areas was exceeded. Work to review and further assess the flows and capacity of the Aire is already under way by the Environment Agency.
Click here to read the full report
Cllr Don Mackenzie, Executive Member for Access, said: “Yet again communities in North Yorkshire have been affected by flooding caused by heavy and prolonged rainfall. I welcome the findings and recommendations of this report, which the County Council and other risk management authorities will use to work with communities to improve resilience to future such events.”
Karl Battersby, Corporate Director for Business and Environmental Services, said: “The floods in February this year were catastrophic. They caused damage and distress in many North Yorkshire communities and the impacts were devastating for those who were affected by them.
“Climate change projections do suggest that there will be an increase in rainfall and storm events in the future and the consequences of this change to our weather patterns will inevitably be a rise in the number of flood incidents that are experienced. Through effective emergency planning and by preparing for these events, communities can often deal with the impacts far more effectively and return to normal life more quickly.
“We will continue to work with communities to look at ways in which we can minimise the effect these events have on residents and businesses by focusing on resilience and strengthening the ability to recover faster should the same circumstances happen again.”
Kimberley MacPherson, flood risk manager at the Environment Agency, said: “The February floods had a devastating impact on communities across North Yorkshire, and our thoughts remain with them, especially those families who still cannot return to their homes.
“We are doing all we can to work with those affected to keep them updated with our work to repair flood defences and ensure they are ready for winter. As well as our repair programme, we are doing further assessments of the flows and flood mechanisms from the River Aire and washlands that can help inform future plans for the area so that we can better protect and prepare homes and businesses from flooding and create climate resilient places.
“Since the February flood, we have been working closely with North Yorkshire County Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the Internal Drainage Board to learn from the floods and plan for the future, with the impacts of climate change at the front of our minds. We’re also working with communities to help them become better prepared for any risk of flooding, improving our warning and informing, and recruiting community flood wardens.
“We advise everyone to check their flood risk at our Flood Warning Service website, and find out what they can do to be prepared in the event of a flood.”
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