Why Londoners need to protect themselves with FloodSax alternative sandbags from the ever-growing risk of severe flooding … for under £150

More than half a million London homes and businesses are at high or medium risk of flooding.

The staggeringly high number from Environment Agency data also includes 56,000 basement properties deemed to be at a greatly increased risk as flooding streets will be above them.

The alarming figures have been released by City Hall which is keen to make people aware of the high flood risk they now face after severe flash flooding in July 2021 caused chaos across the capital.

Severe flooding left many Londoners temporarily homeless as thousands of properties were filled with storm water and sewage after parts of London received over a month’s rainfall in just two hours.

If the necessary action is not taken and extreme weather continues to become more common, City Hall analysis has shown that flood risk will affect nearly half of London’s hospitals, a quarter of rail stations and one in five schools.

Flash flooding happens when very heavy rain falls on hard surfaces, overwhelming drainage and sewers. This sort of flooding is difficult to predict, often happens quickly with fast flowing water that could pose a risk to life and is also more likely to happen during intense summer storms.

People think the authorities have a duty to provide sandbags but this is simply a myth and sandbags are very hard to store as well as being time-consuming and difficult to transport anywhere in an emergency.

People have to organise their own flood protection as local councils have no responsibility to provide sandbags or any other flood mitigation to homes and businesses.

The Environment Agency states: “Don’t assume the authorities will provide you with sandbags in a flood emergency. It’s the responsibility of property owners to take appropriate action to protect their property from flooding. Sandbags are relatively ineffective when compared to purpose-built flood protection products. We strongly encourage people to use these products.”

One of the most widely used are FloodSax alternative sandbags devised by Yorkshire company Environmental Defence Systems Ltd.

FloodSax are vacuum-packed and when unwrapped resemble a large pillowcase but when FloodSax are immersed in water they absorb around 20 litres and retain it, transforming them from being as light as a pillowcase to being more effective than traditional sandbags in around five minutes.

In their dry state FloodSax are super-absorbent yet thin with a large surface area so are highly effective at soaking up drips, leaks, spills and floods inside homes and businesses, especially in hard-to-reach places such as beneath pipes, radiators, sinks and boilers. They also soak up floodwater dripping in through leaky roofs and windows.

Around 3 million have now been sold worldwide – including many in London – and they usually cost under £150 for a box of 20.

London Fire Brigade’s Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said: “It’s important to have the plans in place to ensure that London is more resilient to the extreme weather we are experiencing on an increasingly regular basis. Heavy rain and urban flooding can cause significant damage to property and infrastructure. Being prepared will help minimise this threat and is vital to the wellbeing of this city and all Londoners.”

Charlie Wood, Area Director at Environment Agency, said: “Surface water flooding can happen anywhere to anyone and climate change increases the frequency of these events.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, added: “The climate emergency is no longer a distant problem but one that is increasingly reaching our doorsteps, which we saw up-close with the disastrous floods in summer 2021.”

A new City Hall toolkit to help Londoners build resilience locally is available at https://www.communitiesprepared.org.uk/london-community-resilience-toolkit

Communities can check flood risks in their local area on the Environment Agency website and apply the toolkit to build resilience against flash flooding.