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Being able to receive flood warnings will alert residents to prepare, act and survive if the River Mardle or Dean Burn rises in the Devon town.
The new flood warning area covers 312 properties – 40% of which are at high risk of flooding.
Ben Johnstone of the Environment Agency said:
A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to add a new location to our flood warning network by installing sensors in the most appropriate locations and then monitoring them against incoming weather patterns.
But flood warning networks still need people who are at risk of flooding to be resilient. Create a flood plan so that when you receive a flood warning, you know what to do.
Buckfastley has a history of bad flooding. A flood in 1979 damaged 74 properties. Then there were two separate floods in 2012, with water rising to 1.2 meters in places. In 1988, a flood prevention plan was created. Later in 2016 improvements were made to erect walls in two places by the River Mardle. However, the risk of flooding cannot be eliminated which is why the town engages in a flood warning service.
Editor’s Notes
Buckfastli joined the flood warning system on 7 December 2022.
Dean Burn and the River Mardle are also part of the Dartmoor Headwaters Pilot Project which includes tree planting, mire/peatland restoration, floodplain reconnect and flow attenuation measures. This watercourse will be a key part of a larger headwater natural flood management project moving forward.
The Environment Agency encourages people to take three simple steps to become flood resilient:
The Environment Agency’s flood warning service reaches around 50,000 new properties at risk of flooding and hopes to exceed the target of providing new warning capability for 62,000 properties at risk of flooding by this winter. That brings the number of properties registered with the service to 1.6 million.
Flood warnings inform people of the imminent threat of flooding to their home or business and help people make informed decisions about how to respond. There are three types of warning – flood warning, flash flood warning and severe flood warning. Each warning type is triggered by weather, river or sea conditions that cause flooding.
Householders are encouraged to prepare in case of a flood warning, which could mean having medications, insurance documents and anything else they don’t want to lose if a flood occurs. A flood warning tells people to act now, which means turning off gas, water and electricity and moving family and pets to safety. A severe flood warning means you are in immediate danger and follow the advice of emergency services.
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