Counting the cost of the summer 2007 UK floods

The devastating floods of summer 2007 cost the UK a total of £3.2bn, including more than £2bn to homeowners and businesses, a new report from the Environment Agency has revealed.

The average cost incurred per flooded business was between £75,000 and £112,000, with 95 percent of companies covered by insurance.

The floods also caused about £660m in damage to critical infrastructure and essential services. Water supplies and treatment plants were the most affected, followed by roads, electricity supplies, agriculture and disruption to schools.

Utility companies and their customers incurred most (£330m) of these costs, including £186m by water companies and £139m by electricity and gas suppliers, mainly due to disrupted supplies. The flooding of Mythe water treatment works in Tewkesbury created one of the UK’s worst post-World War II emergencies, leading to the loss of piped water supply to 350,000 customers in over 138,000 properties in the Gloucester area from 22 July 2007 for over two weeks.

Other costs included:
* Communications and transport: including damage caused to roads: £230m (seven percent of the total cost)
* Local government: £140m (four percent)
* Agriculture: £50m (two percent). Farmers lost an average of £1,150 per flooded hectare
* Emergency services: including response by the Environment Agency: £27m (about one percent)
* Education: the loss of 400,000 pupil days due to school closures.

The importance of investment
The Environment Agency’s analysis of the cost of the 2007 floods underlines the importance of continued investment in managing flood risk. The government’s environmental watchdog has said that investment in the building and maintaining of flood defences will need to almost double to £1bn a year by 2035 to keep pace with the effects of climate change.

The Environment Agency estimates the average annual cost of flood damage to residential and commercial property across England, as well as the cost of further disruption, damage to infrastructure and loss of business, could rise by 60 percent by 2035 unless funding for flood defences is increased. The organization has calculated that the damage avoided through its investment proposals could save England some £180bn over the next 100 years.

The report can be downloaded here as a PDF.

•Date: 19th Jan 2010 • Region: UK •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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