A new report on flooding in Rutland has highlighted the need for better future communication in terms of emergency response.

The report, which focusses on events surrounding Storms Babel and Henk, says: '…both caused considerable distress for those worst affected, with an understandable need to know what would happen next.'

Rutland County Council's strategy overview and scrutiny committee received the 'Flooding Evidence Panel Report' at its meeting on Thursday, July 11.

Travel disruptions in Rutland were the biggest problem, with the report showing 87% of those who responded experienced problems on main roads and local roads caused by flooding on the county's highways network.

Only 8% of those who responded said that the home where they live had been flooded, but that for these people the impact of the flooding had been "devastating".

Cllr Lucy Stephenson (Con) was the chairperson of the panel which produced the report. She said in summary: "There was a lack of coordinated communication before, during and after the flooding events was a common theme in the responses from the community.

Cllr Lucy Stephenson was the chairperson of the panel which produced the report (LDRS).

"Evidence suggests the coordination of multi-agency responses could be improved, while effective use of local knowledge and 'on the ground' intelligence could have been better utilised more effectively.

"Some respondents commented that the Rutland County Council website did not contain up-to-date travel information to support journey planning, particularly in the days after the storms when some routes, such as the A6003, were not open."

Two questionnaires were developed, one for parish and town council meetings, and a second for residents, businesses and visitors to the county.

Among the recommendations for future emergency events are proper warnings so that council frontline workers are informed on how to get to people and places, and if it is safe to do so.

Concerns were also raised about vulnerable people and the impact that flooding can have on them, with access to key services for the housebound or non-computer literate, putting them at additional risk.

There was also a call for proper clarity over structure and responsibility during a crisis, such as 'who is responsible for what?', and what should be expected from each organisation.

The report says: "What was very clear from the parish council responses was that 80% did not have any kind of emergency plan in place.

"The absence of an up-to-date emergency plan, and the lack of provision of flood wardens was likely to have an impact on the coordination of flood response in the future."

Storms Babel in October and Henk in January brought exceptional rainfall to parts of the country with 150-200mm rain falling in places.

Thursday, October 19, 2023 – during Storm Babel – was, by a wide margin, the wettest day on record in the United Kingdom since 1891.

Between October 1, 2023, and January 4, 2024, parts of the East Midlands received more than 150% of the 1991-2020 long-term average rainfall.

Anglian Water reported that the East of England received more rain in the last three months of 2023, than in the entire year 2022, which left the sewer system network overburdened with water which had nowhere to go.

They said the UK sewage network has never been designed to deal with that amount of water, and so resulted in the widespread and prolonged flooding.

Members of the strategy overview and scrutiny committee welcomed the report, especially its findings and recommendations.