The are still no flood warnings in place for York. Visit https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/map for updates
click to update
Flooding – York still escaping worst of the overnight rain
No immediate flooding fears in York despite heavy rain
York river level guages remain within normal limits despite recent heavy rain.
You can check river levels at the following web site http://www.gaugemap.co.uk/#!Map
Click to access river level guages
Meanwhile the Environment Agency have confirmed details of the flood prevention project exhibitions that they plan for the City.
The exhibitions will take place on Friday and Saturday
Blocked gulleys blamed for recent flooding in east York
We warned about false economies 4 years ago. click to access
A report into flash flooding in York has blamed it partly on lack of gulley cleaning.
This will come as little surprise to readers of these pages.
We said in 2012, when the then Labour controlled Council decided to end routine gully cleaning, that it was a false economy.
Credit the present Council who have acted to increase the cleaning regime but not quickly enough to prevent flooding in some areas in June.
The Council report reveals that as many as 50% of drains that have been inspected have been found to be blocked. A number of Yorkshire Water maintained drainage and sewer pipes are also blocked.
£125k in capital funding, for “drainage hotspots”, has been made available by the Council.
Community centre in Chapelfields organises post flood clean out
The incredible generosity of residents immediately after the Boxing Day floods in the City has left a storage headache for some voluntary groups.
More material was donated than could be used by victims and much of it has remained in storage for the last 6 months.
The materials issue parallels a similar situation with financial donations. The York (Floods) Disaster Fund has still to allocate to victims over half of the funds that have been donated to it.
Most organisation are now trying to move on although for some – such as the still closed Jorvik centre – recovery may still take many more months
Space is needed at the Sanderson Community House in Chapelfields where officials say the time has come for a final clear out and an attempt to return the centre to its normal day to day use.
They have set a date for the clear out as tomorrow MONDAY 18 JULY from 8am until 4pm.
A message says, “We are Inviting community groups and charities to pop along and collect any of the following items:
- Cleaning materials (Bleach, clothes, mop buckets, mops etc.)
Sanderson House community centre
- Bedding
- Tinned foods and cooking sauces
- Drinks
- Cereals and biscuits
- Pasta, pot noodles
- Baby products (Baby food, Nappies, wipes)
- Toys and books
- Toiletries
We are also looking for volunteers to help on the day, whether you are available for a couple of hours or the whole day your time will be appreciated. Tasks will include; moving items, transporting boxes to venues across York and cleaning up the centre.
If you want to collect some of the items listed above or volunteer on 18 July, please contact Charlotte on charlotte.hadden@york.gov.uk or for further information call 07850 001 002.
For all those volunteers you will be plenty of refreshments and snacks to keep you going“.
An inquiry team is currently looking at all aspects of the flooding crisis which hit the City over the Christmas period.
Several organisations, including the Council and some charities, were criticised at the time for being slow to respond, leaving the gap to be filled by willing – but largely uncoordinated – volunteers. It is this state of preparedness that should be one of the major issues under the Inquiries spotlight.
We hope that the materials donated and money collected will all now be put to good use.
Four months after the big York floods
Independent chair and flood panel announced
City of York Council has today announced the independent chair and panel members who will lead on the inquiry into the recent flooding in York.
The Inquiry was called by the council’s leadership in January and subsequently agreed at the Executive in March to look at how the city coped with the recent floods and issues such as the information given to residents, the response of key organisations and the failure of the Foss Barrier on Boxing Day.
A budget of £50k has been set aside for the costs of the inquiry.
It is expected that representatives from key organisations will be asked to give their account of the floods to the inquiry team but that there will be a wider call for evidence from those who were affected and others who can assist the inquiry reaching its conclusion.
The lengthy delay in setting up the Inquiry means that some evidence may have been lost. Memories can fade quickly.
While the team selected do appear to have the necessary technical expertise to challenge the activities of the Environment Agency and other organisations most of the criticism on 26th and 27 December was directed at the Council’s leadership and various voluntary organisations who seemed to react slowly to the emerging crisis. Having an Inquiry team apparently selected by the four group Leaders – who themselves were noticeable by their absence on 26th December – may lead to some scepticism about the likely outcomes.
The Leaders of all four political groups at City of York Council have said: “It’s important that as a local council we do everything we can to answer residents’ questions and ensure lessons can be learned for the future. This review will help us to get a much clearer picture of what happened and what steps need to be taken to try to prevent flooding like this in the future. We thank Ms Davies, Mr Waterhouse and Mr Toole for applying to lead on the inquiry and we look forward to working with them on this independent review.”
The independent chair and panel members include:
£1.3 million flood relief fund – payment details emerging
Four months after the devastating flooding which hit the City on 26th and 27th December 2015, details are only now emerging of how the £1.3 million York Disaster (Flood) Fund is being spent.
Click to access
Although most affected residents and businesses have now moved back into their flood hit properties, it appears that only £160,000 has been paid out to victims.
Most of the money – which includes matching funding from the government – has come from charitable trusts with the rest coming from corporate donations, individual gifts and fund raising.
The Fund’s administrators – the Two Ridings Community Foundation – have now published a FAQ summary on their web site.
The posting (right) explains who can apply, for what, and also reveals that making vulnerable buildings watertight (more resilient) could qualify for grant aid (on top of the £5000 already announced by the Council) while damage to vehicles and outbuildings won’t be funded.
Application forms can be downloaded via this link http://www.trcf.org.uk/
Meanwhile the Council has still not revealed details of when its Inquiry into the flooding will start (or even who the members of the Inquiry team will be).
Clearly a report – and most importantly action arising from its conclusions – is still several months away.
The one piece of good news is that the Environment Agency have announced details of additional flood prevention work that they intend to do in the City over the next few years.
A meeting earlier in the week heard that extra investment would include:
- £45m additional funding for work in York which will see around 15 schemes at different locations throughout York to upgrade raised defences and provide a consistent standard of protection for the City. This will better protect over 2,000 properties.
- This is in addition to the £10m that has already been committed for repairs and upgrades to the Foss Barrier where work is planned to start in early April and be complete by December 2017.
£1/2 million floods bill to refurbish damaged York Council properties
The York Council is spending over £400,000 refurbishing Council houses, flats and amenity blocks.
The works included stripping out of damaged fittings, skirting’s, doors, kitchen units, baths, flooring, non-licensed asbestos; preparatory works in advance of drying; installation of kitchens, bathrooms and flooring following drying.
The amenity blocks serve the James Street traveller site. The contractor, appointed in January, was Gentoo Tolent Ltd. The decision was marked as “key” but was kept secret by the Council for over 2 months.
Only around half of the expenditure will be covered by insurance
Separately a Leeds company – Trustheat Ltd – was appointed to undertake an accelerated programme of “drying works” to Council properties.
A Council report, written in February but only published last week, said, “an accelerated programme of drying to flooded council properties to facilitate the earliest return of residents to their homes, as after 6 weeks of using traditional methods of drying (dehumidifiers and fan heaters) flooded properties were still saturated, with implications for residents and future maintenance of the affected buildings. This process allowed for a 4-5-day drying period”.
Meanwhile residents, and those who donated to the York Flood (Disaster) Fund, are still waiting for an update on how their money has been spent. The last report was published in January. The Fund has £1.3 million available to help victims
More financial support available for people affected by floods
York residents and businesses are being reminded that they could receive up to £5,000 to support the resistance and resilience of their property as part of a national package of financial support available.
The Government is providing the funding to enable local authorities to provide grants of up to £5,000 to homeowners and businesses that have been flooded as a result of Storm Desmond and Storm Eva to help fund additional flood resilience or resistance measures for their properties.
The resilience grant will enable those who have been flooded to better prepare their homes for future flood events, both to prevent flood water from entering the property and to speed the recovery if it does.
People who think they may be eligible for a grant needs to register their interest by emailing: floodresiliencegrant@york.gov.uk or calling 01904 552300.
They will then be sent:
- information on steps needed to access funds
- flood resilience grant application form
- flood resilience grant application guidance notes
- frequently asked questions
More information about the grants is available at www.york.gov.uk/FloodResilienceGrants
The update from the Two Ridings foundation, which is allocating the grants from the York Flood Appeal, has still not appeared on their web site .
The organisation promised that it would be published earlier in the week.
York Floods Update – Disaster Fund says 100 grants handed over
Appeal now paying out £200 per victim
The administrators of the £500,000 York (flood) Disaster Fund have moved to clarify how their funding is being used.
They are right to do so.
A couple of days ago the York Council claimed that only £18,000, of the £500,000 already raised, had actually found its way to victims.
The average pay-out was only £300.
Now the Two Ridings Community Foundation says that 100 grants have been issued.
416 homes together with 157 businesses were flooded in December.
According to the Foundation, the initial immediate support awards available for household’s subject to flooding, are:
- All households affected by flooding will receive a £200 award
- Any household in hardship can apply for a further award of £500 to cover replacement of essential items, excess fuel bills and other costs associated with their homes being flooded
- After that, any household can apply for further needs but it will be assessed on a case by case basis
A second phase of grants is planned.
The Foundation says, “We will make available individual grants for households whose income has been affected over a long term period and households who have continued to experience increased household expense due to relocation resulting from the flood”.
Who can apply?
- Individuals or families whose properties and contents have been damaged by flooding or who are suffering other hardship as a result of the flooding.
- “We would not normally fund businesses but we may consider small business owners or employees facing hardship due to lost work or income because of storm or flood. The fund is not designed to replace income but we may be able to consider cases of hardship”.
- Voluntary and community groups, charities and other not for profit organisations that may have experienced loss due to flooding or may be experiencing an increase in demand for services as a result of providing support to individuals affected.
Applications can be made online via www.trcf.org.uk or www.yorkdisasterfund.org.uk
The Foundation is promising to provide an update report early next week on how the Fund is being used.
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Floods update – last minute report considered by Council’s Executive
“You’r on your own!”
It appears that the Council’s senior Councillors were finally shamed into receiving a report on the recent flooding at their meeting today.
The report (which can be read by clicking here) was delayed to the point where it would be virtually impossible for any resident to know about it before the meeting started.
Much less chance that anyone would have the opportunity to register to speak on the item.
The report seeks only to approve the terms of reference of the promised “Inquiry”.
The Inquiry could take over 6 months to complete so the hope and expectation had been that the Councils own responsibilities – including communications and recovery operations – would by now have been subject to an internal review.
It appears not.