Flood Resilience at Individual Property Level In England, 5.2 million properties are at risk of flooding. Of these, 1.4 million are at risk from rivers or the sea alone, 2.8 million are at risk from surface water alone and 1 million are at risk from both. There are also an estimated 200 homes at risk of complete loss to coastal erosion in the next 20 years. It is possible 2,000 more could become at risk over this period. About 1.3 million ha (12%) of agricultural land in England is at risk of flooding in the event of a very extreme flood from rivers or the sea, including some of the most productive land. Presented by: Robbie Craig Date: 25 March 2015

Floods England: Policy Context Floods strategy: Pitt Review (post 2007 floods) Made a number of recommendations about improving resilience at a local level Localism: The 2011 Act gave local councils and communities greater control over local decisions like housing and planning Insurance: Water Act 2014, set out Flood Re’s role in managing the 20-25 year transition to risk reflective pricing of flood insurance. 5.2m properties at risk in England, some will benefit from future Government schemes, for others PLP and local actions could achieve risk reductions and the level of potential damages from floodwaters 2009-2011 Defra and Environment Agency property level grant schemes. Found that some projects amplified the potential impact of their PLP equipment on reducing their risk of damages through additional community actions or investment.

England Winter Floods 2013/14 The Government led a major recovery effort to help people get back on their feet. £560 million committed in recovery support funding. We made £270 million available to repair any flood defences that were impacted last winter to make sure they are ready, should they be needed again. Following these extensive repairs, all affected communities across the country now have the same or a better standard of protection as last winter. We have acted on the lessons learned from last winter and put in place numerous measures to improve response capability at all levels. With local partners at the helm of flood preparedness, coupled with the Government’s record level of investment in flood defences, we will be better equipped to deal with the risk of flooding this winter and beyond. Action has been taken at all levels of Government to improve our resilience and response capability, including infrastructure sector resilience; processes for engaging the military; and work with councils and local communities. Flood defence repairs • In England alone, over 800 flood defence assets were damaged last winter, including those managed by the Environment Agency, Local Authorities and Internal Drainage Boards. • In response, Defra made an extra £270 million available to repair and maintain flood defences. All affected communities now have at least the same standard of flood defence protection as before last winter. • By mid November, over 95% of permanent repairs had been completed, restoring protection to over 200,000 properties. • For the small number of sites where repairs are continuing, contingency measures – such as mobile pumps and temporary flood defences – have been put in place to ensure communities are protected until permanent works can be completed. • 99.7% of repairs should be completed by March 2015 [assuming no further damage this winter]. For the remaining 3 sites, permanent repairs are not expected to be completed until March 2016 (interim contingencies are in place).

What is Resilience? “Disaster Resilience is the ability of countries, communities and households to manage change, by maintaining or transforming living standards in the face of shocks or stresses - such as earthquakes, drought or violent conflict - without compromising their long-term prospects”. Defining Disaster Resilience: DfID, 2011 …in terms of relationships and processes rather than as a static characteristic of an individual, household, public service or community. In other words, resilience is not so much a response to the flood hazard itself, but is an emergent characteristic of the way in which the flood response and the subsequent recovery process are managed. After the Rain – learning the lessons from flood recovery in Hull - Whittle et al. 2010 They used a couple of key definitions. The first is this one from DfID. Context is different – but key point is about ‘managing change’ – maintaining or transforming living standards. This idea of resilience as transformation I think is what the Minister had in mind when he spoke about the ‘new normal’ – making sure we’re all better prepared.

How Do We Build Resilience? The evaluation has established a framework for measuring resilience. Resilience is the product of building capacity across five domains. Social (demographic variables, vulnerability) Economic (employment, insurance, deprivation, property tenure) Institutional (flood action group, local resilience forum) Infrastructure (type of housing, PLP) Community Capital (strength of local ‘glue’) Domains of resilience Based on Cutter et al. (2010), ‘Disaster Resilience Indicators for Benchmarking Baseline Conditions’, Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 7(1): 1-22.

Hierarchy of Flood Risk Management Where individual Property Level Resilience fits in…

Example flood risk management strategy Neighbourhood B PLP delivery as part of: Large scale flood defence schemes Wider flood risk management strategies E.g. Lower Thames strategy: covers 7,000 properties reducing flood risk to <1 in 100 year (1%) to 5,000 Includes delivering PLP to ~1,000 properties over 3 years Advantages Detailed modelling work at property level undertaken pre- and post-installation flood risk can be established Deliver PLP to meet a minimum standard of protection Includes all properties – households and businesses Neighbourhood A

Floodwater can enter a home by many routes Through brickwork Airbricks Mention the Defra PLPG and follow up scheme. Work by water companies Mention learning as we progressed Work is dry-proofing – mention limitations of approach How water can enter buildings. A range of measure is required because if one aperture or gap is left unsealed, then any other measures are invalidated. A key role is surveying the property. This is best done by an individual who is independent of the supplier of products so that the householder is confident that they are receiving products which are effective and suitable for their needs. The role requires an understanding of local flood risk and how water behaves in a flood and a knowledge about building design and materials. Defra is working with the RICS and other to fully understand these skills and hopefully map them out to help, the public, specifier’s of services, and those who wish to do this work, understand the competencies required. Defra and the ABI worked to produce a ‘Flood Risk report’, available from the Environment Agency website, to record the reduction in risk in a standard way to help insurance companies understand the reduction in level of damages that a property is likely to suffer in the event of a flood. These would be assessed and the form validated by the independent surveyor. The form could then be used by the householder when they negotiate with their insurer. Defra and EA have invested nearly £13m to protect 4000 properties using these measures in a demonstration project. A report published in 2011 captured the key learnings from this – available on the EA website. Others such as Water Companies use it to mitigate risk from sewer flooding for their customers. It is now one of the tools that people can use to protect property however it is not a replacement for a community scheme – Property Level can be used in places where engineered solutions are either not cost effective or not practical for technical reasons. Typically, this might be isolated properties, properties at risk from short duration pluvial or fluvial events or locations where the flood risk comes from a number of different sources. People are important and a key side effect is that it provides a way for local communities to be more engaged in managing their flood risk We have also ran a couple of social science projects to understand what we know already as a sector about resilience and to identify gaps for further research is necessary and to find good practice that we should share more widely. Drainage pipes Doors Underneath the property

Flood Resilience Changes in building materials DCLG produced a guide to use of materials. BS85500 new standard to promote the use of resilient materials in retrofit and new build – expected 2015 Defra project looking at ‘low cost resilience’

Barriers to Creating Resilient People & Communities Evidence for the benefits of taking action on resilience is weak. We need to develop a better understanding about what motivates communities’ and individuals’ to engage in flood risk management Confidence: many individuals lack previous experience about what to do when they receive a warning or are flooded. Whether information to help the public manage flood risk is fully understood by its intended audience The incentives provided by the current and potential future insurance market mechanisms for flood resilience Effects of other incentives on household level flood management responses Defra project – a social science synthesis looked into understanding: Project objectives: Build understanding of current evidence and practice Synthesise findings from current evidence Assess knowledge gaps in current evidence and prioritise future research needs Its specific conclusions regarding the impact of insurance are shown in the slide. However – it also found some key knowledge gaps, these include; Effects of experiencing flooding on individuals’ behaviours and attitudes Attitudes and behaviours of businesses Whether probabilistic information, which could for example help increase warning lead times, is understood by individuals Effect of current and future potential insurance market mechanisms for flood insurance Effects of different types of incentives (not just financial) on household level flood management responses Understanding of communities’ and individuals’ levels of motivation to engage in flood risk management

Active Research: Community Pathfinders Aimed at helping communities to find effective local approaches to resilience. Started in 2013, 13 projects investing £5.2m: Defra contributing £4m. Variety of audiences targeted and different scales of intervention. Rigorous evaluations at both project and scheme level. Outcomes to help develop policy about what works at the community scale. Final report due autumn 2015. in 2012 Defra launched a Flood Resilience Community Pathfinder Scheme is to enable communities to find simple, effective ways to minimize their flood risk, improve their levels of preparedness, and build confidence and increased peace of mind. Authorities in: Blackburn, Buckinghamshire, Calderdale, Cornwall, Devon, Liverpool, Northamptonshire, Rochdale, Slough, Southampton, Swindon, Warwickshire and West Sussex, are implementing projects. Many of the projects are partnerships, with the successful authority working with a range of national and local organizations to deliver the aims of their project. The National Flood Forum is involved in a number of the projects. FD2607 - Developing the Evidence Base for Flood Resistance and Resilience. The study was commissioned in 2008 to examine the effectiveness of property based resistance and resilience measures in reducing flood risk over the long term. This work has included developing a new economic model to facilitate the quantification of the benefits and costs of resilience and resistance at a property level. The model has been developed for residential and commercial properties and has been used to investigate a number of different policy scenarios. FD2688 Cost Effectiveness Project This extended work in 2607 and incorporates the latest data on the economic damage from flooding and benefits of a range of flood protection measures. The introduction of innovative, automatic (or passive) protection measures were compared to manually deployed measures. Factors such as the service life and reliability of such systems were also addressed. Financial and economic models were developed to analyse the costs relative to the benefits of six packages of flood resistance and resilience measures which were applied to a range of post 1919 property types, for various levels of social deprivation and thresholds of flooding. Manually deployed flood resistance measures, benefit cost ratios of up to 2.5% annual exceedance probability (1 in 40 year). Automatic Resistance benefit cost ratios of up to 5% annual exceedance probability (1 in 20 year). Resilience measures are a less cost effective option unless flooding of a property occurs at greater than a 20% annual exceedance probability (1 in 5 year). FD2688 Post-Installation Effectiveness of Property Level Flood Protection Where Property-level protection measures have been deployed and were required during a flood, they have performed as intended and successfully mitigated against the effects of the flooding, in the majority of properties. A range of stakeholders involved in the planning, delivery and operation of property-level protection (PLP) schemes have therefore been contacted in order to gather evidence of how these measures have performed during the 2012 floods. This report will be published later in Summer. An shorter version with advice for local authorities is available on Flownet. In general, where PLP measures have been deployed and actually required during a flood, measures have performed as intended and have successfully mitigated against the effects of the flooding in 84% of properties. The review has also identified areas for improvement, relating to the flood protection products, their installation, operation, maintenance and storage; and in some instances the expectations, awareness and understanding of the residents involved. There are case studies: in Appleby, where PLP have been successful and illustrate what can be achieved by fully engaged communities. This scheme included a comprehensive package of PLP measures. The operational details of the equipment was described in emergency response plans and there was support through regular flood group meetings and multi-agency working. in Chew Magna, despite implementation of the scheme, around half of the 69 properties suffered varying degrees of flood inundation and damage. The problems were a result of a combination of factors: particularly severe flooding; a failure to recognise the risk posed by ground water flooding rising through the floors in scheme design; the lack of provision of de-watering pumps to help mitigate this risk; leaking barrier seals at some properties; instances of poor product storage and maintenance; and poor information about the standards of protection that might be expected from the PLP measures that were installed. The study makes recommendations about what is best practice and how this can be shared. FD2664 Evaluation of the Pathfinders  To enable communities to find simple, effective ways to minimize their flood risk, improve their levels of preparedness, and build confidence and increased peace of mind. Alongside the projects we are running an evaluation to capture the learning and transferable outcomes from the projects work. Authorities in: Blackburn, Buckinghamshire, Calderdale, Cornwall, Devon, Liverpool, Northamptonshire, Rochdale, Slough, Southampton, Swindon, Warwickshire and West Sussex, are implementing projects. Many of the projects are partnerships, with the successful authority working with a range of national and local organizations to deliver the aims of their project. They are in a range of locations and dealing with different audiences. The National Flood Forum is involved in a number of the projects. The overall investment will be £5.2m of which, Defra will be providing £4m. Projects have just submitted their annual report on the work they have done in the first year. Examples: Cornwall working on validated training packages for Flood wardens – partly at behest of insurer to ensure they were competent and could be covered by council insurance policy. Calderdale promoting funding or measures to those at risk through social finance and training housing staff to advise householders on how to make their properties more resilient. First output – a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) now published on the Defra Research website, capturing what we know about community resilience

Case Study The Cornwall Community Flood Forum (CCFF). Small rain events can trigger flash flooding in steep valleys. The effectiveness of drainage systems are reduced by leaf litter blocking drains and gulleys “Community Payback” volunteers worked to remove leaves & clear blockages in 3 communities. Impact: Practical outcome in Lostwithiel– no floods Motivational outcome for 105 offenders - residents recognized hard work and personally thanked them for their efforts. More information http://climatevision.co.uk/projects-2 Case Study The Cornwall Community Flood Forum (CCFF). Maintaining Activity: Cornwall Leaf Litter Project Mention that other communities have done this too.

Property Level Resilience in Action 2013 Flooding East Peckham Kent Flood gates and flood boards slowed the water entry sufficiently to allow furniture to be raised on bricks Floors and exterior walls sealed - water did ooze through the floor but was swept into a sump containing a submersible pump. Located in the living room. A gully inside the house took water from a drain near the front door straight to the sump. Despite 18 inches of floodwater outside, the Property Level Protection measures kept most of the water away, with only an inch inside. Example - The village of East Peckham was flooded twice in two days over Christmas. Cars were left floating in other parts of the village. History 1988 Bought home - thought flood risk acceptable 2000 May minor flood. October 3 floods. November 2000 to October 2001 in temp accommodation Insurers settled £70,000 claim Brickwork hacked off as well as plaster Electrics re-laid under floor with sockets below flood water level Quarry tile floor had blown – was re-laid with non water proof grout Every day was stressful, major project management + normal life 2002/3 New Year flood Allowed to stay home and supervise work and Lived in bedroom and loft for 9 months – additional cost of resilience over like for like estimated to be around £2000 2013 Christmas eve flood Minor damage - Kept to max 2” at any time Calm and manageable experience No insurance claim and quickly back in the property However - Previous research has suggested that full resilience is expensive, has long payback for the householder and is not cost beneficial for third parties to pay for. It is however very effective at reducing damages and losses from flooding. it appears from RRG that resilience measures are not popular with Householders and where they have been given a choice, they opted for ‘resistance’ based packages. This suggests that we need to make the idea of resilience more “normal” and more cost effective for those at risk and to ensure that the results are “beautiful” so that people are happy to adapt their home.

Businesses - Resilience People have mentioned in studies conducted after flood events that seeing businesses in their area re-starting trading activity is a sign of progress or things getting back to normal. Examples of businesses that recovered quickly from a flooding suffering economically because the rest of the street/nearby businesses did not recover so quickly and public therefore assuming they would not be trading. FSB survey - says businesses un prepared!!! Cornwall - the overwhelming response was that neither town wanted to have Business Continuity training, marketing workshops or media support In summary; Most small businesses who made an insurance claim as a result of the floods in 2012 have been unable to get flood cover. Because their insurance values are relatively low (typical premiums were around £600) insurance companies are not interested in discussing providing flood insurance even if those companies have made their properties more flood resilient. According to Simon Waring, the vast majority of this business is dealt with solely by on-line based application. So if your business property is deemed to be in a high flood risk postcode, then there is no mechanism to get a quote for flood cover. Once a business has been claim free for at least three years, then some insurance company’s on-line quotation systems will provide a quote for flood risk, albeit at a high premium and excess. Having extensively liaised with their insurer and reinsurer marketplace, AJG have been unable to get a primary insurer in place to take the first loss. (this really tells the story). Without a primary carrier, AJG would be unable to get a reinsurer on board. So they have no means to provide a special scheme for the Upper Calder Valley. They commented that insurance companies were not interested in increasing their level of exposure in providing flood insurance to businesses, rather the opposite. Larger businesses with larger insurance values are of more interest to insurers and so more likely to be argue the case on a one to one basis. Having said that, we have spoken to one larger business who made a claim of around £800k after the 2012 floods (which was paid). They have not been able to get flood insurance at a premium and excess which would be even remotely affordable in relation to value being insured. So they have installed a flood barrier and hoping for the best … So many businesses have given up hope of getting flood insurance and instead are taking a practical approach to making themselves more resilient to future flooding incidents, making improvements to their properties external waterproofing, adding non return values, installing flood gates, acquiring portable pumps, moving electric meters, or in some cases deciding to abandon the use of cellars in their business property entirely.

Business – Developing a Market UK Flood Products Industry Issues Range of small and medium sized companies producing a range of innovative products; Products installed in around 10,000 properties Still “Development Push” rather than ‘Market Pull” in sector Leading to weak Industry – ‘feast or famine’ reliant on orders from Government, local authorities or Utilities. Building Public Trust The BSI Kitemark (PAS1188) verifies a product has been independently tested and proved fit for purpose. Flood Risk Report; verifies the change in the property’s level of risk following resilience work. Property Protection Advisor tool to give tailored advice about costs and benefits of installing appropriate of Property level FRM measures; Currently researching competencies and training requirements for independent advisors on installation.

Flood Resilience Local Flood Risk Management & Resilience Robbie Craig Water and Flood Risk Management, Defra Area 3C, Nobel house, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR; 020 72 38 15 47 Robbie.craig@defra.gsi.gov.uk