Thames Ditton - Know Your Flood Risk
Saturday 28th October, 11.00-4:00pm
St. Nicholas Church Hall, Summer Road, Thames Ditton
With talks from experts at 12pm, repeated at 2 pm.
The Thames Ditton Residents' Association Flood Group is hosting a special Property Flood Resilience community event and exhibition and is inviting residents who may be worried about future flooding, their flood risk and house insurance implications to attend.
Nationally, around 1 in 6 homes are at risk of flooding with climate change set to increase future risk. In Thames Ditton and on Thames Ditton Island, approximately 300 properties are located in the ‘high risk’ flood zone, meaning that every year there is a 1:33 chance of them being flooded. Many more properties in the vicinity are located in a lower flood risk zone. The last flood was in 2014 (a 1:12 year chance event where the Thames rose 2.2m above the normal level and would have been higher if the Thames Barrier had not been used 35 times) and there was a narrow escape in 2020.
The Flood Group has gathered experts from across the flood risk industry to join the event. Residents can hear from experts and learn more about flood preparedness and property-based resilience measures, flood insurance, the ‘build back better’ initiative and associated funding, and receive general advice on what steps they can proactively take at their own homes or business premises to reduce the impact flooding can have.
One of the country’s prominent flood resilience and recovery champions – and a victim of multiple floods – Mary Long-Dhonau OBE, will be speaking at the event at midday and again at 2pm. Also speaking will be Harriet Boughton, one of the Executive Team at FloodRe, who work with the insurance industry to reduce the cost of property insurance in high risk areas.
Who Can you Meet?
Mary Long-Dhonau OBE (aka ‘Flood Mary’) www.floodmary.com
Mary Long-Dhonau OBE says: “Having been flooded myself, I know just what an appalling experience it truly is. As such, I have since dedicated more than two decades of my working life to support communities with preparing, planning and becoming more resilient to flood risk.
“While traditional approaches to flood resistance remain hugely important, such as a permanent or temporary community barriers, we all have a role to play in making ourselves and our homes and businesses more resilient to the current and growing threat from flooding.
“I therefore look forward to visiting Thames Ditton as part of this special event, where myself and many experts from across the flood risk industry will listen to people’s concerns, offer helpful advice regarding resilience and insurance, and engage with people on the important matter of being flood prepared.”
Harriet Boughton from Flood Re www.floodre.co.uk
Harriet will be explaining the role of FloodRe and how that will develop into the future. She will also answer any questions relating to household flood insurance. Flood Re is a joint initiative between the Government and the insurance industry, established in 2016, to ensure that flood insurance remains available and affordable in areas of high flood risk. It puts a cap on the price consumers pay for insurance premiums. There will also be a representative of BIBA, the British Insurance Brokers Association to provide more specific advice on property insurance.
Watertight International www.watertightint.com
As Environment Agency PFR Framework providers and the Build Back Better delivery partner for a leading British insurer, Watertight designs, sources, installs and maintains bespoke and innovative PFR solutions to individual homeowners, communities and businesses. Watertight will demonstrate a wide range of property flood resilience measures, enabling visitors to learn more about the options available and to see the measures and products first-hand. It is also offering a free, no obligation initial property survey to advise residents what steps they might take to improve their flood resilience.
Resilico www.resilico.com
The Resilico “flood compliance platform” is an online risk management tool that allows property owners to take ownership and responsibility for climate risk and property adaptation. The Resilico Connect mobile app is designed specifically to allow homeowners to be prepared for flooding, providing access to bespoke flood warnings, including surface water, and allowing users to set up a personal flood plan.
Other event participants will include the Environment Agency and members of the Thames Ditton Residents Association Flood Group www.residents-association.com/flooding. Both will be able to provide more specific local information on flood risk and what else is being done to reduce it.
The free event is a drop-in session and so no appointments are necessary.
If you cannot attend the event itself, but are interested in finding out more, please email the Residents' Association Flood Group at thamesdittonfloodgroup@gmail.com giving your address and contact details and we will provide some more information.
Click here to read the Flood-Risk article in the Autumn issue of the Residents' Association magazine, Thames Ditton Today.