Environment Agency – Barrier Deployment Plan at Bewdley
Severn Side phase 1/north deployment is now going to proceed from 9am this morning (14/03/23). Environment Agency field operatives will be mobilising the car park as a car pound earlier in the morning.
The plan for Severn Side phase 2/south and Beales Corner remains; worst case scenario is deployment of these defences Wednesday morning (15/03/23) however this is subject to forecast updates through tomorrow.
Message from the Environment Agency
You will have seen that last week we started a further phase of works critical to the main construction of the scheme, which is due to start in summer 2023. This phase of work includes utility diversions as well as tree and shrub clearance works.
Thanks to a great collaboration by BT Openreach and National Grid, the utility diversion works on Kidderminster Road has been completed early. This will enable the removal of traffic lights on Kidderminster road from Friday 24 February 2023 which will ease traffic on that section of road. We would like to thank residents and businesses for bearing with us whilst we got this work done.
The Stourport Road will remain closed until 3 March 2023 as per the original road closure notice to allow Severn Trent Water to undertake a series of trial holes. This is to allow Severn Tent Water to validate their proposed design for the required Severn Trent Water utility diversion – this utility diversion is likely to be undertaken in early summer 2023.
We will provide more details about these works in due course.
Important Message From The Environment Agency
This is a message from the Environment Agency.
Flood Warning no longer in force: River Severn at Severnside, Bewdley.
The situation is improving and no further flooding is expected in this area.
Flood Warnings and Alerts may still be in force for surrounding areas.
The Flood Warning for the area has now been removed. However, a Flood Alert remains in force for the wider area, so flooding may still affect roads and low lying land. No further rainfall is forecast.
Severnside flood barriers are scheduled to be removed by the end of Friday 20th January 2023.
We continue to monitor the situation.
Please avoid using low lying footpaths near local watercourses and plan driving routes to avoid low lying roads near rivers, which may be flooded.
What you should consider doing now
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* Flood water may still be around for several days. Take care as there may be hidden dangers in the flood water like sharp objects, raised manhole covers and pollution.
* If you have been flooded, ring your buildings and contents insurance company as soon as possible. In almost all cases they will send a loss adjuster to look at your property. They will confirm what repairs and replacements are needed and covered by your policy.
* For more advice on what to do after a flood visit the GOV.UK website: https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fafter-flood&data=05%7C01%7Ctownclerk%40bewdleytowncouncil.org%7C7da992c4f7ca4dbf899908daf963a998%7C644052cdd9534d3f90d23f4c92850b6d%7C0%7C0%7C638096504219163870%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=4QFUhgX6Tv2MLAirwZhNfYNYdNFlfO7w1udJJBf4xKo%3D&reserved=0
* Or call Floodline on 0345 988 1188.
To check the latest information for your area
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* Visit the GOV.UK website to see the current flood warnings, view river and sea levels or check the 5-day flood risk forecast: https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcheck-for-flooding.service.gov.uk%2Ftarget-area%2F031FWFSE360&data=05%7C01%7Ctownclerk%40bewdleytowncouncil.org%7C7da992c4f7ca4dbf899908daf963a998%7C644052cdd9534d3f90d23f4c92850b6d%7C0%7C0%7C638096504219320532%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=oc%2FbKMuTkZXnC%2FjusFqkeqHHGVyr7D56LPNmJbHnubs%3D&reserved=0
* Or call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 using quickdial code: 309060.
* Follow @EnvAgency and #floodaware on Twitter.
Flood Activity Update – Sunday 15 January 2023
- Weather
- Much improved position – No major rain events or expected warnings
- Colder conditions moving in from Monday and up to Thursday – Will bring frost and icy conditions
- From Thursday milder conditions and some rain over Wales – Not significant 5-10mm
- Rivers – Severn
- 17 warnings / 4 alerts
- Bewdley peaked at 4.8m 02:00hrs on Sunday morning – This will maintain into this evening – A steady prolonged retreat predicted
- EA team will be meeting to review plans for scheduled barrier removals – Nothing agreed at present
- Operational Deployment
- No change to previously noted updates – B194 (Switchback) still closed
- Tactical Command
- No SCG forum stood up – Changes to Herefordshire & Shropshire TCG’s
- SB noted concerns on social media at Bewdley around: Water egress behind Beales Corner / EA contact / EA messaging around barrier being compromised
- Some issues created following water being pumped from properties into drains creating secondary surface flooding
- Some issue with EA and comms evident – Will need to get picked up at event de-brief stage
- EA – CIO’s deployed – queried at Bewdley
- Comms – Can we focus on freezing temperatures / retreating river conditions
- Data collection for flooded properties to focus on: Domestic Properties (internal flooding over external flooding) Business Properties (internal flooding over external flooding)
- Bronze Cells – Still operational
- TCG planned for 11:00am Monday
- Major Incident – Not met
- Recovery Phase to be established next week – Normally led by Districts but will be chaired by WCC – Districts to feed in attendees
