Surface water flooding can happen anywhere at anytime
FloodSax alternative sandbags are brilliant at holding back filthy floodwater
FloodSax can also be used to soak up internal floods in their dry state
Environment Agency gives out almost 5,000 flood warnings in just 121 days … but that could only be the tip of the flooding ‘iceberg’
The Environment Agency issued almost 5,000 flood warnings in the first four months of 2024 … but the flooding was even worse than that.
They gave out a record-breaking 4,858 warnings and alerts across the UK between January and the end of April which works out at 40 a day but, crucially, the figures are only for flooding from rivers and the sea.
They do not include surface water flooding when the sheer amount of rain coming down overwhelms the drains or cannot soak into the ground and accounts for a massive amount of flood damage to homes and businesses. Surface water is particularly bad in summer when the rain can be incredibly intense and this led to two terrible floods in London in July 2021 which caused millions of pounds of flood damage when intense rainfall overwhelmed the capital’s drainage systems flooding roads, Tube stations, hospitals and more than 1,000 homes.
The previous four-month record for flood alerts from the Environment Agency was in 2020 when they issued 4,373 so there has been a leap of almost 500 alerts.
The figures came from a Freedom of Information request made by Round Our Way, a not-for-profit organisation which supports people affected by climate change.
Round Our Way director Roger Harding said: “These figures back up what many of us are thinking that as climate change sets in more floods are happening.
“Climate change and the floods that come with it are leaving families more and more exposed.”
The stark figures mean people need to be prepared for flooding all the time … and they need to organise their own flood defences which could range from FloodSax alternative sandbags to specially fitted flood prevention gates and barriers.
Many people still think local councils will provide sandbags if a flood is imminent but councils have no responsibility to do that and floods happen so quickly there is usually very little time to react.
Several councils have now ditched traditional sandbags anyway as they are deemed to be poor at keep floodwater at bay, often quickly deteriorate and fall apart and the sand is washed down drains, blocking them and leading to more flooding.
Many councils now use FloodSax sandless sandbags instead as they are the original alternative sandbag that are space-saving to store, quick and easy to deploy and are far more environmentally friendly than old-style sandbags. They were devised by British company Environmental Defence Systems and around 3 million have now been sold worldwide.
Lucy Bailey from Environmental Defence Systems said: “Flooding happens incredibly quickly, especially if it’s caused by a heavy summer downpour, so it’s always best to have some anti-flooding measures ready in your home or business.
“Just a couple of inches of floodwater can cause tens of thousands of pounds damage to floors, electrics, walls, furniture, fixtures and fittings, yet a row of FloodSax can keep this at bay, preventing all that trauma, misery and cost.”
Unlike sandbags, FloodSax are multi-purpose which means that in their dry state they are very flat with a large surface area so the gelling polymer inside them can soak up leaks along with internal floods and escapes of water.
To find out who stocks FloodSax go to https://www.floodsax.co.uk/buy/uk-suppliers/