Freuchie Flood Action Group

Nearly missed an important Scottish Government press release issued on the 2nd November 2009 following the devastating floods throughout Scotland on the 1st November 2009.

02/11/2009

Commenting on the floods that have hit parts of Scotland over the past 24 hours, Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said:

"Once again we have seen the misery and destruction flooding can cause. Our thoughts are with those whose lives and livelihoods have been affected by the overnight floods. I have asked to be kept fully informed of developments and will be keeping in touch with the councils affected. I’d like to thank all those who have again responded so quickly and effectively to minimise the impact of the floods.

24-hour Floodline
0845 988 1188

"Climate change is clearly happening on our doorsteps and flooding events such as these are likely to occur with increasing frequency. Everyone needs to be aware of the increased risks and, as we have seen in the last 24 hours, that doesn’t just apply to those living in areas where there is a history of flooding.

"Through SEPA we are continuing to invest in flood awareness and flood warning schemes to try and minimise the impact flooding has on families and businesses. I launched the latest SEPA awareness campaign only last Friday.

"We also need to take radical steps to tackle our carbon emission levels and to ensure communities get the protection they need, which is why we have recently pushed far-reaching climate change and flooding legislation through Parliament."

See it here.

Fine words and an admirable sentiment but we need to see more funds and thereafter further proactive action out on the frontline of flooding!

Technorati Tags: climate change, flood, flooding, Roseanna Cunningham, Scottish Government, SEPA

A quick reminder for all those people affected or at risk from the recent flooding events throughout the village; the next Freuchie Community Council meeting is tomorrow (Wed) evening and is open for everyone to attend. Normal community council business begins at 7:30pm. We’re expecting to have quite a chat surrounding the events of the 1st November.

Technorati Tags: flooding, Freuchie, Freuchie Community Council

SEPA has kindly sent us the rainfall data from the Newton of Falkland rain collection station for our near miss event. It makes for some interesting reading, especially when we compare and contrast with previous flood events.

Table: SEPA rainfall data from Newton of Falkland

Between 5am and 9pm we experienced 44.8mm of rainfall, but thankfully there were no extreme flash flood type rain periods. Had the rainfall been heavier or lasted longer then we would have had major flooding throughout the village.

Last year’s devastating floods were caused by heavy rainfall on the preceding Saturday and then very heavy rainfall in the early hours of the Wednesday morning. Flooding started around 5:20am after two hours of extremely heavy rainfall.

Table: SEPA rainfall data from Newton of Falkland

Based on our experience and supported by the SEPA data, it appears we need to worry when we are experiencing more than 5mm of rainfall per hour on ground that is already saturated.

We desperately need to put in place Natural Flood Management (NFM) and other control measures to hold back these surge events, re-route some of the water draining into Freuchie and improve the capacity of the watercourses. Some of this is fairly easy and quick to achieve when the funding is put in place and we have the co-operation of landowners to allow flood prevention measures to be built and deployed on their land.

Rainfall data supplied courtesy of SEPA and is subject to final quality control checks. Thank you SEPA.

Technorati Tags: flood, flooding, Freuchie, Natural Flood Management, SEPA