We've experienced heavier than expected rainfall over the past few days in the East Midlands and sadly many areas in our community have flooded once again, causing havoc to local people, their homes and businesses.
Since heavy rainfall started on Sunday there has been over 60 flood alerts and warnings across Leicestershire, and it's welcome news that the weather is improving and 27 of these alerts - including for the River Anker and River Sence which flows through Hinckley and Bosworth - have now been removed, although the effect of these floods will still be felt by many people across our community.
I have been raising the impact of flooding in our area again this week and have written to the Flooding Minister with several questions relating to the flood resilience taskforce, funding available for farmers and internal drainage boards, flood resilience and support for local authorities.
Towards the end of last year I convened a meeting of representatives from Witherley Parish Council, Leicestershire County Council, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, the Environment Agency, Leicestershire Police and a local residents group to discuss the short- and long-term impacts of flooding in our area, and will continue to work with everyone involved.
I'd also like to pay tribute to the critical work of the emergency services (who have responded to over 380 calls and attended more than 56 flooding incidents since the weekend), local authorities, volunteers and the Environment Agency in Leicestershire - thank you for all that you have and will continue to do.
A reminder of who to contact in the event of a flood in your area:
You can report a flood to LCC by completing this online form (scroll to find link to form at the bottom of this page): https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/flooding-and-drainage/who-to-contact-for-flooding or emailing: [email protected]
If your area has been affected by river flooding you can contact the Environment Agency via the free Floodline service: 0345 988 1188
As always, you can contact my team and I via email: [email protected]
What to do after a flood: https://www.gov.uk/after-flood
You can sign up for flood warnings here: https://www.fws.environment-agency.gov.uk/app/olr/address
