Flood resilience is an urgent challenge for the public sector
09/28/2021
The summer of 2021 saw a series of devastating floods worldwide – with more than 900 people estimated to have died in floods, landslides and other rain-related incidents in July alone.
In the UK, flooding led to London Underground stations being closed and hospitals being forced to turn away non-emergency patients.
Extreme flood events are enormously destructive and unfortunately are becoming more frequent.
We’re seeing evidence today that flood events that may have been expected to occur every 50 years are now happening every few years. Our recommendation is that we urgently need to reset the way we view flood risk today. Does your organisation have the visibility and appropriate risk appetite in place to manage these risks?
Understanding flood risk at a property level
For organisations in the public and voluntary sectors, a critical challenge is having access to detailed and timely information about flood risk. While the Environment Agency provides information about flood risk in every area of England, this doesn’t help organisations to understand the risk at an individual property level, e.g. how the property will be impacted, what depth of flood can be expected or how long the repairs may take.
Taking a strategic approach to flood risk across a portfolio
In order to prepare, organisations must first establish where to focus their resources. This should involve a deep dive into their property portfolio to understand which locations are critical from an organisational perspective, e.g. is protection of vulnerable individuals from flooding the main priority, is the site business critical, or are there high-value contents?
The next stage is to build a more detailed understanding of the specific flood risk at each critical location – e.g. how deep flood waters could reach from a variety of different flood events (coastal, river, surface water), and the impact of a range of scenarios, in order to design cost-effective flood plans. Drilling down into a portfolio in this way can help organisations to establish if there is a need to gather more detailed information about the risk in a particular location – for example through a property-level flood risk survey.
It is important to note that the approach outlined above can only succeed if flood risk is firmly on the organisation’s strategic risk radar.
Improving flood resilience
Understanding and assessing flood risk at key locations can help organisations to utilise their resources more effectively, however no site can ever be considered completely safe from flooding. As we have discussed, climate change is challenging assumptions about both the scale and severity of flooding – even in locations previously considered lower-risk.
This means it is increasingly important to ensure buildings have a basic level of resilience to flooding. At a property level, this can mean practical measures such as:
- Floors that can easily be cleaned post flood, e.g. flood-proof tiled floors
- Non-return valves or sump pumps
- Horizontally-oriented plasterboard (so only the lower level boarding needs to be removed in a flood) or flood-resistant wall materials at low level
- Raised electrical sockets
- Flood-resistant insulation materials
- High-value and critical equipment on upper floors
At a strategic level, organisations should consider how their policies and procedures can help instil greater flood resilience across their property portfolio – for example, by ensuring that procurement policies require architects and builders to incorporate minimum flood resilience standards in new builds.
How Zurich is supporting customers to address flood risk
Zurich is developing products and services that can help customers to better understand and manage climate-related risks, including flooding. One example is our pilot partnership with Previsico, a company which provides hyperlocal real-time forecasts of surface water flooding, which we can use to alert customers.
We are also working with policymakers and other stakeholders to try to ensure that both new and existing properties are better protected against the effects of climate change.
Making mental health a priority after flood events
It is important to remember that flooding affects people, not just properties. The loss of precious belongings, or the feelings of uncertainty and insecurity that can arise in the aftermath of significant flood damage, can have a profound impact on mental health and wellbeing. As we have reported, research from Public Health England has found that the risk of depression, anxiety or PTSD can be up to six times higher among those who have experienced flooding.
Last year, Zurich became the first UK insurer to provide a free counselling service for customers when making a flood claim. The service includes up to five, hour-long counselling sessions for families affected by flooding – as well as certain other types of property claim such as break-ins and house fires.
To find out more about how organisations can balance the need for greater building resilience with broader sustainability goals, download or listen to our sustainable construction whitepaper.
For more information about our Climate Change Resilience Services visit our website.
