Council urges residents to prepare for flooding

Berkshire was hard hit by flooding this January

People need to do what they can to prepare for predicted flooding this winter, a council has said.

Councillors on West Berkshire District Council have warned the flooding could be worse than last year, or even as severe as it was in 2014.

According to the council this summer was the third wettest in Berkshire since 1918.

Newbury resident Angela Jordan, who was first affected by flooding in 2014 and again this year in January, she said she was "not confident" the county was ready "if the worst does come".

In January Storm Henk descended on England, quickly followed by storms Isha and Jocelyn.

By the end of March, millions of gallons of rainwater had swamped already sodden fields across West Berkshire - which led to the River Thames, Kennet, Lambourn and Pang struggling to cope.

Angela Jordan said she was still "scarred by the serious floods 10 years ago"

Ms Jordan, who lives near the River Lambourn, she said warnings of flooding "brings back memories of 2014".

She said: “We had to be rescued by the Army.

"People were evacuated from their homes and the Army brought lorry after lorry of sandbags down to build walls around our houses and front gardens to save us from being flooded.

"It was absolutely terrifying because the water came up so quickly. For weeks and weeks I had to put wellingtons on to get out of the house.”

She explained that residents like her need more practical help if and when the floods come.

“Advice does not save your house from flooding," she said.

"What we need are the those practical things, those reusable portable barriers that you see endlessly on the news whenever there’s another part of the country that gets flooded.

"There’s nothing like that being provided here, householders can’t afford to pay for that kind of thing.”

Richard Hancock said when it comes to flooding "it's all about preparedness"

The Environment Agency (EA) has five people it can send out to monitor local rivers, clear rubbish from ditches and remove other obstacles that cause blockages.

They are asking those who think they may be at risk to familiarise themselves with websites like theirs, which give people advance warning of rising water levels.

Richard Hancock, from the EA, said it "won’t take much to tip things over the edge in the coming months".

He explained that the rivers were very full already, the groundwater was high and the risk was "heightened".

"Flooding is never an easy subject to deal with," he said.

"Having that awareness of risk, knowing what you can do to help yourself, knowing who you can go to for extra help if you need it is absolutely key.

"It’s all about preparedness, knowing what you can do and where you can go for the help you need."

West Berkshire Councillor Stuart Gourley said his team "can only do so much"

The council said it would have more staff on standby over the winter than in previous years in case the worst happens.

Councillor Stuart Gourley said: "We've been working hard over the summer to keep rivers and streams free of obstacles.

“We are always out and about on our highways cleaning our drains and our gullies.

"We’ve cleaned over 16,000 so far this year and will continue to as we head into winter."