South East Flood Campaign

15 October 2012, 06:00

People are being encouraged to be prepared for flooding as the the Environment Agency starts a four-week campaign across the South East.

Five years on from the summer floods of 2007, events will be held from flood fairs to open days - to encourage people and communities to be prepared for potential flooding.

With one in six properties across the country at risk of flooding, the campaign hopes to educate the public on how to find out if homes or businesses are in a flood risk area; how to minimise potential damage to properties and what the Environment Agency is doing to reduce the threat of inland and coastal flooding.

During the month-long campaign they will also be starting a flood alleviation scheme at Banbury in Oxfordshire and starting construction on a flood alleviation scheme at Newbury.

Each week of the campaign has a distinct theme; in the first week this is 'Damage and Safety'. This will include an Open Flood Forum in Oxford, the release of an updated version of the Environment Agency's Living on the Edge flooding guide and the launch of the Banbury flood alleviation scheme.

The Environment Agency will also be running an extensive social media campaign across the four weeks designed to get members of the public to visit the South East flood awareness pages: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/default.aspx.

Peter Quarmby, Flood and Coastal Manager at the Environment Agency, said: "The media plays a vital role when flooding is likely and when it happens, and is a crucial way of warning and informing the public, which is why we hope media organisations will get behind this campaign. 

"Raising awareness is just one of the ways of trying to bring home to people why they need to accept that flooding can happen and how they can prepare for when the worst does happen."