Homes flooded before warning issued, says report

Simon O'Brien, from Debenham, pulled people to safety in his homemade paddleboat during Storm Babet

Villagers whose homes suffered severe flooding during Storm Babet were hit before a trigger warning could be issued, according to a new report.

Suffolk County Council has released its second report into how the county was hit by the storm in October.

It left 800 homes and businesses flooded - with some residents still not back in their premises.

A report into Debenham, which saw over 70 properties flooded, said a warning system on one watercourse was not activated before water from other sources overwhelmed parts of the village.

Some 70 properties were flooded in Debenham after the heavy rain on 20 October

It following a first report into how the floods affected nearby Framlingham.

The latest report detailed that Debenham was "significantly impacted" with most of the flooding coming from both overflowing rivers and surface run-off water on 20 October.

A key issue focused on the Aspall watercourse that had its own water level gauge, monitored by the Environment Agency.

The gauge has a flood warning trigger level that is used to send out flood warnings to residents.

However due to flooding coming from elsewhere, away from the Aspall watercourse, residents were not given a flood warning before they were hit.

A flood warning was issued but the report said this was in response to "incoming information" instead.

Reasons as to why the incident happened were cited as "the intensity of rainfall and significant overland flood flows, separate to the Aspall watercourse".

"This caused a rapid rise in flood waters within Debenham before the trigger level was reached on the Aspall Watercourse," it added.

Debenham's High Street was under water during Storm Babet with cars stranded

Actions to ensure the area is not hit significantly again and to improve flood management in the area have already begun, according to the report.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said it had reviewed its early warning flood system for the water level on the River Deben and its main tributaries.

It had "assessed the river level data and flood impacts" as well as refined the flood warning and flood alert trigger threshold levels.

"The new thresholds are now active and will ensure that flood alerts and warnings for Debenham are now more accurate and timelier," they added.

The report said the public can view river levels on the internet.

The spokesperson added: "We are continuing to investigate further improvements that could be made to our ability to warn and inform of flooding in Debenham and will keep the community informed of any proposed work."

Other recommendations have been made which will be reviewed and updated every six months until they are marked as complete.

Some of the recommended actions include establishing or revising a community emergency plan, removing observed blockages in the river and tributaries, and investigating potential new or additional highway drainage assets to manage surface water flows.