Guides on preparation, recovery and mitigation are now available for landowners, homeowners, businesses and communities.
The digital toolkit has been launched just one week after analysis showed that around 200,000 homes are at immediate risk of flooding in South East England alone following weeks of heavy downpours.
Oxfordshire’s new resources allow people to search the local area to ascertain how vulnerable individual properties are to extreme weather events. Users can also Report A Flood, including groundwater, surface water and small watercourse incidents, while the website also aggregates the latest news about storms and flooding in the UK.
Information for homeowners includes easy steps to protect buildings from severe damage – such as door barriers, air brick covers and pumps – while businesses are offered a 10minute Business Continuity Planning Self Assessment service so they can improve readiness. It’s also possible to apply for Flood Funding to support recovery.
According to Tokio Marine Group and Economist Impact’s Resilient Cities 2023 index, most cities on Earth are now considered to be susceptible to heatwaves and flooding events, with 1.8billion people, or one-in-four, live in a high flood risk zone. In Britain, some 6million people are considered to be directly atrisk from flooding.
In related news, the Met Office recently launched a new Local Authority Climate Service. Aimed at council staff, the resource offers vital information about how climate change is likely to impact their area, presenting them with possible challenges, projections and advice on how to effectively communicate relevant stories to their communities.
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