The severe flooding of last November and December, as well as recent Storms Ciara and Dennis, have brought renewed focus on whether the Government is doing enough to protect and support high flood risk communities, both before and after flood events. For some hard hit places, for example in the Doncaster area, it has been the second or third major flood event they have experienced in two decades.
The UK needs to become a climate ready nation. We know that flooding is going to get worse with climate change. This means not only that we develop foresight on physical impacts and effective adaptation policies at a technical level, but also that we understand the human impact. Supporting flood-hit communities, rather than leaving them to shoulder crippling financial impacts alone, is a clear test of whether we can respond to climate change as a decent society.
