The Environment Agency says that its priority is dealing with the emergency response to flooding, rather than commenting at this stage on the failures around putting flood defence barriers in place in Ryde.
As previously reported by Island Echo, dozens of homes and businesses experienced the worst flood in 10 years on Wednesday when the Monktonmead Brook burst its banks.
In recent years more than £5million has been spent to mitigate the flooding historically experienced in the area, but all that money seems to have gone to waste as properties in The Strand, Simeon Street, Monkton Street and West Hill Road still ended up underwater.
It has emerged that blocks used to fill the access voids in the flood defence wall at Simeon Street Recreation Ground were not put in place quickly enough. By 05:30 on Wednesday, after more than 60mm of rain had fallen, just 2 of the blocks had been inserted. It was simply too little, too late.
It’s understood that the Environment Agency are to conduct a review into what happened, but the Government organisation is not sure whether additional boards would have made a difference. This brings into question the whole viability of the multi-million-pound flood defence scheme.
An elderly couple were among those who had to evacuate their homes on The Strand as a result of the defence failure.
In a statement to Island Echo, Michael Turner, Environment Manager Environment Agency, has said:
“Our heartfelt sympathies go out to those who are experiencing the devastating impact of having their homes and businesses flooded.
Article continues below this advertisement “Our current priority is our emergency response and we are working with the emergency services to protect the community. We will review our response to this latest flood once we are out of this incident.
“We advise people to stay away from swollen rivers and urge people not to drive through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.
“People should check their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation at https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk, call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or follow @EnvAgencySE on Twitter for the latest flood updates.”
Leader of the Isle of Wight Council, Councillor Phil Jordan, has said that it is clear to him that the response was inadequate and that there were failings. He is calling for an urgent review into what happened.
This week the river levels across the Island, including at Monktonmead, are the highest they have been in 10 years. The previous highest level recorded was 3.71m on 23rd December 2013, but at 05:45 on Wednesday morning the brook level was recorded as being 3.82m.
I wonder if those illegals washing cars have blocked all the drains with mud and dogs fur
Does not surprise me, don’t say it’s to do with the climate
that’s a load of b@ll@cks.
Flood defences should be put in place!, yet the idiots on the
Island want to keep building more homes on the island.
E agency looked like a caught rabbit on meridian news lol. Wouldn’t answer question twice asked neither.
RED HANDED
Yeah I bet they are not commenting, they are to busy shredding and deleting all the information that led up to this mess. Never mind, a review will solve the problem and cost millions, so feel assured it won’t happen again. That WAS sarcasm.
Maybe the ENVIRONMENT Agency should pay up to all those affected.
EA only aren’t commenting as they know they are in the wrong and will hope later news takes over and they can sweep it under the carpet.
Looks to me like our so called multi million pound flood defense system, which failed because of lack of boards, and even if extra ones had been added, would have still allowed flooding to hundreds of homes and other areas, is not fit for purpose. Are the people with ruined carpets/furniture/properties likely to know, by any chance, who was responsible? I bet they are all dying to know!
What’s the point of having all these things and spending all that money if you don’t know how or why you’re doing it!? Why did they only do half the job!? What possessed them to leave without putting the others in place, why!!
If it won’t have made any difference why the bloody hell did we allow them to pull the wool over our eyes and build the stupid ugly wall!? Lies lies and more lies as usual from a pathetic island dumb council . Totally clueless!!!
Why are they not commenting?? Because they don’t have an answer for their incompetence?? Simple people’s lives have been ruined I myself cannot imagine how these people are feeling, their homes, personal belongings, sentimental stuff that cannot ever be replaced ruined. The environment agency has to answer to this??
£5,000,000 Watergate.
It’s not like we didn’t have any warning re the weather!!!!!
So why weren’t all the defences put in place ????….
As per usual, no comment from the council….
Total disrespect for all of those people affected by this ….
And yet they want to continue turning our little island into a concrete jungle…..
Taking our Greenfield sites adds to climate change……
You can’t help nature