Residents to get flood advice home visits

ENVIRONMENT Agency staff and council emergency planning officers are visiting homes across Knaresborough tomorrow to help draw up a scheme to protect hundreds of the town’s properties that are most at risk of flooding.

The Environment Agency and Harrogate Borough Council’s emergency planning unit will be encouraging people to think about the actions they can take if flooding is likely, and to draw up their own personal flood preparation plan.

Residents will also be urged to sign up to the free Floodline warnings direct service, which sends an automatic message to the landlines and mobile telephones telling people that flooding is imminent and that they must take urgent action to protect their homes or businesses.

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Environment Agency flood incident officer Danielle Wheatley, said: “Around 200 properties in Knaresborough are at risk of flooding, in particular from the River Nidd.

“We expect flooding to become more common as our climate changes, so it is important to have a plan for households.

“There are a number of simple steps that people can take to prepare, including registering for the Environment Agency’s free flood warning service, and keeping a list of useful contact numbers and an emergency flood kit.

“Experience shows that being prepared can really help to reduce the financial damage caused by floods, not to mention the distress caused.”

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Ian Speirs, emergency planner at Harrogate Borough Council, said: “We’ve been working closely with the Environment Agency and other partners to develop our multi agency response plans for flooding in Knaresborough.

“Developing resilience in communities is one of our key priorities and this initiative will give residents in flood risk areas an understanding of what additional steps they may be able to take in order to protect themselves and their property”.