Disadvantaged communities will bear the brunt of climate-fuelled flash flooding, new study shows

Flash floods fuelled by the climate crisis will hit England’s poorest communities the hardest, with a disproportionate number of deprived households at risk, a new analysis suggests.

• More than 380,000 households in England at heightened risk of flash floods are living in severe deprivation – 75,000 more than in the least deprived areas
• Findings from the new Flash Flood Resilience Index reveal the impact of extreme rainfall events on disadvantaged areas
• Birmingham has the highest number of deprived households at risk of flash flooding, followed by Kingston upon Hull, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds
• Public sector insurer Zurich Municipal has called for a review of government flood investment to ensure it is fairly targeted at deprived communities

More than 380,000 households in the country’s most deprived neighbourhoods are in danger of flooding from torrential rain – some 75,000 more than in the least deprived areas. (1)

The figures from the Flash Flood Resilience Index, developed by public sector insurer Zurich Municipal, highlight the impact more frequent and severe rainfall could have on vulnerable communities. It has sparked calls for an urgent review of government flood investment to ensure funding is fairly targeted at council areas with larger numbers of disadvantaged households.

The index combines data on social deprivation in England’s 317 local authorities with flood risk exposure to identify the towns and cities facing the greatest disadvantage from increasing climate-driven downpours.

The analysis suggests that nearly a million people in England at heightened risk of flash flooding are living in severe deprivation. (2)

Birmingham has the highest number of deprived households at flood risk, followed by Kingston upon Hull, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds. The greatest proportion of disadvantaged, flood prone properties are found in Dover, with more than a quarter (28%) of all homes in the most deprived areas under threat.

Half (50%) of deprived households (190,137 properties) at heightened flood risk are concentrated in just 35 of the 317 local authority areas – underlining the severe impact more frequent flooding could have on some council areas.

While the government weights deprived areas more heavily in flood funding allocations, a 2021 report by the Public Accounts Committee found that the proportion of funding going to these areas has fallen since 2014.

Baroness Brown, Chair of the Adaptation Committee, at the Climate Change Committee, said: “A proactive approach to improving flood resilience is essential. Vulnerable individuals and groups often have less capacity to respond to hazards such as flooding, so the approach we take to investment must consider fairness.

“Valuing actions to ensure we are better prepared and more able to respond to flooding, now and as the climate changes in the future, will drive the effective investment decisions we need to see from both Government and the private sector. Flood risks are inherently place-based so prioritising and enabling local dialogue around the approach to adaptation is critical.”

Amy Brettell, Managing Director of Zurich Municipal, said: “Flooding is disastrous for any community, but for the most deprived, with the least resources to respond and recover, the effects can be devastating."

“Much of the responsibility for managing flooding and its impact falls on councils, which are desperately under resourced to cope with the growing climate risks their communities face.

“In deprived areas, repeated episodes of flash flooding could compound existing disadvantages. This poses a stark threat to community wellbeing as well as the government’s levelling up agenda.

“There is a powerful case for the government to review its current spending on flood risk to ensure it is fairly targeted at the most at-risk families and local authorities.”

As well as reviewing the way flood investment is targeted, Zurich Municipal urged ministers to launch a new National Adaptation Fund for local government, which would remove the current need for councils to bid for funding.

It also called for the existing £5,000 flood resilience grants to be made up front to families, instead of after a flood event, and targeted at the most vulnerable.

To help councils prepare for and effectively respond to more extreme weather, Zurich Municipal has invested in a cutting-edge, flash flood forecasting system developed by Previsico.

The service, offered free to Zurich’s local authority customers, provides precise flash flood warnings to within 25 metres of an individual property, up to 48-hours in advance.

Following its launch last summer, 35 councils have already signed up to receive the early warning alerts, helping to protect over 50,000 community assets, from social housing to schools.

Brettell added: “Councils need more support and investment to close the resilience gap and ready their communities for a changing climate. The costs of inaction are far greater, and will hit poorest neighbourhoods the hardest.”

Jonathan Jackson, CEO of Previsico, said: “Zurich has been quick to help its public sector customers with mitigating their flood risk. Providing Previsico’s actionable flood warnings showing the forecasted depths and timings of events, ensure the organisations have the tools they need to mitigate loss. Early warnings can help their customers prepare for flood events; particularly the most vulnerable to whom the service would not otherwise be accessible.”

The Z Zurich Foundation, a Swiss-based charitable foundation established by members of the Zurich Insurance Group, is further scaling up efforts to combat the negative impacts of climate change and announced in 2022 its latest initiative – the Urban Climate Resilience Program (UCRP) to support urban communities in various countries across the globe, including Greater Manchester.

The Urban Climate Resilience Program aims to help highly vulnerable communities in 10 countries around the world build greater resilience to more extreme weather. 

From around 75 communities in 2019, the Z Zurich Foundation, alongside the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance, has supported over 300 communities across more than 20 countries to become more resilient to flooding.

(1) 380,355 households in the top fifth (20%) most deprived neighbourhoods in England face a medium to high risk of flash flooding.  This compares to 305,299 properties in the 20% least deprived areas of the country.

(2) The average household size in England and Wales in 2021 was 2.4 people per household.  2.4 x 380,355 = 912,852

• Share this article by email