Our national assessment of flood risk for England, published in 2009, sets out the current level of risk from rivers and the sea and what the Environment Agency is doing to manage it.
This report also supports our strategic overview role of all causes of flooding, including rivers, the sea, groundwater, reservoirs and surface water. This vital information will also underpin our future investment plans.
What does the report tell us?
This report explains how we tackle the risk of flooding in England, looking mainly at flooding from rivers and the sea. It includes:
- The main findings of the 2008 National Assessment of Flood Risk (NaFRA).
- The causes of flooding in England and the range of activities underway to manage flood risk.
- An overview of our strategy and policy framework and the key organisations that we work with to protect people and property from flooding.
Our NaFRA 2008 update on 'What's in your backyard?' took place on 25 June 2009.
Numbers of properties and infrastructure at risk
Our 2009 Flooding in England report shows that:
- One in six homes in England is at risk of flooding.
- Over 2.4 million properties at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea in England, of which nearly half a million are at significant risk.
- One million of these are also vulnerable to surface water flooding with a further 2.8 million properties susceptible to surface water flooding alone.
- 55 per cent living in flood risk areas knew they were at risk and for these three out of five of them had taken some action to prepare for flooding.
- 430,000 people had signed up for our Floodline Warnings Direct service.
As well as providing more detailed information on where the greatest risks are, the report also shows that a sizeable part of the nation's important infrastructure and public services are in flood risk areas. For example, over 55 per cent of water and sewage pumping stations/treatment works are in flood risk areas, with 34 per cent at significant risk.
Download the report
