The heavy rain on the 5th and 6th January came as an unwelcome reminder of Storm Henk at the same time last year. A very similar sequence of events occurred this time with villages including Lowdham, Halam and Woodborough facing surface water flooding of some roads and properties and then the villages in theTrent Valley experiencing the threat of flooding a couple of days later. Fortunately, the impact this year was less than Henk but very sadly some properties were still flooded.
Southwell Flood Forum volunteers were out early during the morning of 6th January when the torrential overnight rain threatened to inundate roads and properties. Swollen watercourses across the town were monitored against ‘trigger points’ for road closures set by Nottinghamshire County Council. On this occasion, a closure was required as Station Road was submerged bythe River Greet (pictured below). Southwell Town Council activated their ‘Communications Hub’ for emergencies, from where contact was established with Newark and Sherwood District Council andNottinghamshire County Council. A volunteer fromSouthwell Flood Forum joined Town Councillor Peter Harris to coordinate communications and determine necessary actions.
The collaboration of villages along the A612 well and truly proved its worth in terms of advising motorists, especially school transport, about road closures. Volunteers manned road closure points, often in very cold and wet conditions. Sadly,once again some suffered abuse from motorists and consequently Nottinghamshire County Council, who run the scheme, will be seeking greater support from the Police in future.
The Southwell Flood Forum and Lowdham Flood Action Group would like to remind everyone that road closures are there for a reason and that is to protect people and property, particularly from waves caused by vehicles.
Lessons learnt included inconsistencies in the alerts and warnings issued by the Environment Agency and flood groups will be coming together to identify the issues and present them to the authorities.
The Southwell Flood Forum, in collaboration with Green Southwell, has produced a leaflet Included in this month’s Bramley to Southwell residents help them reduce run-off from drives and increase biodiversity. The leaflet is also online here and at greensouthwell.org.uk.
