The Costs and Impacts of the Winter 2013 to 2014 Floods Report

The costs and impacts of the winter 2013 to 2014 floods Report – SC140025/R1 We are the Environment Agency. We protect and improve the environment and make it a better place for people and wildlife. We operate at the place where environmental change has its greatest impact on people’s lives. We reduce the risks to people and properties from flooding; make sure there is enough water for people and wildlife; protect and improve air, land and water quality and apply the environmental standards within which industry can operate. Acting to reduce climate change and helping people and wildlife adapt to its consequences are at the heart of all that we do. We cannot do this alone. We work closely with a wide range of partners including government, business, local authorities, other agencies, civil society groups and the communities we serve. This report is the result of research commissioned by the Environment Agency’s Evidence Directorate and funded by the joint Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Research and Development Programme. Published by: Author(s): Environment Agency, Horizon House, Deanery Road, Chatterton, J; Clarke, C; Daly, E; Dawks, S; Elding, C; Bristol, BS1 9AH Fenn, T; Hick, E; Miller, J; Morris, J; Ogunyoye, F; Salado R www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment- agency Dissemination Status: Publicly available ISBN: 978-1-84911-372-4 Keywords: © Environment Agency – February 2016 Floods, Economics, Damages, Damages Avoided All rights reserved. This document may be reproduced Research Contractor: with prior permission of the Environment Agency. Risk and Policy Analysts Limited (01508 528465) The views and statements expressed in this report are Environment Agency’s Project Manager: those of the author alone. The views or statements Lydia Burgess-Gamble, Evidence Directorate expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the Environment Agency and the Theme Manager: Environment Agency cannot accept any responsibility for Jacqui Cotton such views or statements. Project Number: Email: [email protected]. SC140025/R1 Further copies of this report are available from our publications catalogue: www.gov.uk/government/publications or our National Customer Contact Centre: T: 03708 506506 Email: [email protected] ii The costs and impacts of the winter 2013 to 2014 floods Evidence at the Environment Agency Evidence underpins the work of the Environment Agency. It provides an up-to-date understanding of the world about us, helps us to develop tools and techniques to monitor and manage our environment as efficiently and effectively as possible. It also helps us to understand how the environment is changing and to identify what the future pressures may be. The work of the Environment Agency’s Evidence Directorate is a key ingredient in the partnership between research, guidance and operations that enables the Environment Agency to protect and restore our environment. This report was produced by the Scientific and Evidence Services team within Evidence. The team focuses on four main areas of activity: • Setting the agenda, by providing the evidence for decisions; • Maintaining scientific credibility, by ensuring that our programmes and projects are fit for purpose and executed according to international standards; • Carrying out research, either by contracting it out to research organisations and consultancies or by doing it ourselves; • Delivering information, advice, tools and techniques, by making appropriate products available. Miranda Kavanagh Director of Evidence The costs and impacts of the winter 2013 to 2014 floods iii Executive summary During December 2013 and March 2014, the UK experienced a sustained period of flooding caused by a continual and highly unusual pattern of winter storms. These events resulted in coastal damage and prolonged flooding. This report aims to quantify the damages caused by this flooding in England and Wales and to separate these out into categories of damages. Information was collected at the national level and local level to provide the best estimate of damages. Both approaches involved an initial internet search to identify and collect readily available information. This was supplemented by data requests sent to the most important organisations and data holders. A total of 641 individuals and organisations were contacted and over 900 emails were sent. A total of 184 individuals and organisations responded with data on the impacts of the floods. Over 500 data sources were also reviewed including reports, presentations and spreadsheets, both those that were publically available and those received from the engagement detailed above. These data sources covered a wide range of categories and varied in their level of detail and reliability. This was taken into account when including the information in the quantified estimate of the damages. The winter 2013 to 2014 flood event was unusual in that it featured a combination of flood types, including coastal and fluvial/groundwater/pluvial flooding. The proportion of damages associated with the different flood types was calculated by associating damages in coastal areas with coastal flooding and damages in inland areas with fluvial/groundwater/pluvial flooding. Efforts were also made to split the damages by country (England and Wales) where possible. The best estimate of total economic damages is £1,300 million in England and Wales for the winter 2013 to 2014 floods, with a range to take account of uncertainty of £1,000 million to £1,500 million). Damages in England accounted for 91% (£1,200 million, with a range of £930 to £1,400 million) and in Wales for 2% (£28 million with a range of £23 to £33 million). Disaggregation by country was not possible for the categories making up the remaining 7%. The greatest proportion of damages was felt by residential property holders, with 25% of total damages occurring in this sector (best estimate of £320 million incurred by up to 10,465 properties). A breakdown of the damage estimates by impact category is provided in the table below. Damages from the winter 2013 to 2014 flood event represent around a third of the £3,900 million (uprated to 2014 values) damages from the summer 2007 floods, where 38% was incurred by residential property owners and 23% by businesses. Some of the main differences between the 2013 to 2014 flood and the 2007 events relate to the location, duration, type of event (coastal, fluvial, pluvial, groundwater) and the timing. The ranges shown in the table below take into account the uncertainty associated with the data used to estimate the damages and assumptions that had to be made to fill data gaps. The ranges are lowest where the data provided were of the highest quality, such as for flood risk management infrastructure where actual cost data were available from the Environment Agency. The ranges are greatest where there is uncertainty over the reliability of the data, especially the extent to which the damages capture just the damages from flooding and not also damages associated with winter storms, such as for transport: roads. Here, grant data were available but it was not clear whether these also included damages caused by other incidents and not just flooding. iv The costs and impacts of the winter 2013 to 2014 floods Damage estimates by impact category Damage estimates Uncertainty Category Best estimate Percentage Possible range (relates to the (£ million) of total (£ million) best estimate) Residential properties £320 25% £270–370 Low–moderate Businesses £270 21% £230–310 Low–moderate Temporary £50 3.9% £42–57 Low–moderate accommodation Motor vehicles, boats, £37 2.9% £31–42 Low–moderate caravans Local authorities and local government £58 4.5% £49–66 Low–moderate infrastructure Emergency services £3.3 0.26% £3.3–8.7 Moderate–high Flood risk management infrastructure and £147 12% £145–148 Low–moderate service Utilities: energy £0.82 0.06% £0.63–1.0 Moderate–high Utilities: water £29 2.3% £25–33 Low–moderate Transport: road £180 14% £91–220 Moderate Transport: rail £110 9.0% £93–140 Moderate Transport: ports £1.8 0.14% £1.6–2.1 Moderate Transport: air £3.2 0.25% £2.6–3.9 Moderate Other communications No data available (telecom) Public health and £25 1.9% £25–67 High welfare Education £1.6 0.13% £1.2–2.0 Moderate–high Agriculture £19 1.5% £12–25 Moderate Wildlife sites £2.4 0.19% £1.9–3.0 Moderate Heritage sites £7.4 0.59% £5.6–9.3 Moderate–high Tourism and recreation £3.5 0.28% £2.6–4.4 Moderate–high Total £1,300 £1,000–1,500 Notes: Values are given to 2 significant figures, except where additional significant figures are needed to illustrate differences, for example, for the range. For future assessments, there are a number of further studies that would improve the robustness of the damage estimates and thereby reduce the uncertainty. These studies need to focus on reducing the uncertainty in the data and also improving the basis for assumptions. It is recommended that this can be done by: • developing data sharing agreements and identifying data champions to improve primary data collection and consistency • ground truthing map and geographical information system (GIS) data • carrying out studies to determine the extent to which damages are likely to be transfers, especially tourism impacts • working with others carrying out studies on the impacts of the floods, including combining the results of research studies where the timetables allow • carrying out further studies into how the damages avoided could be assessed in a robust and reliable manner The costs and impacts of the winter 2013 to 2014 floods v Acknowledgements The research team thanks the Environment Agency as sponsors of this work and the Project Board, comprising Jonathan Day, Lydia Burgess Gamble (as project manager), Emma Harding, Adrian Philpott, Nick Haigh, Jose Pancelo-Blanco, Emma Formoy, Kevin Gibbs, Graham Verrier and Simon Mann.

Load more