Report on Flooding

An independent review body set up to examine the key factors leading to the flooding in Hull is expected to publish its first report at the end of this month.
The review body is made up of representatives with wide-ranging expertise from the public, private and community sectors, and includes top academics from Hull University as well as leading chartered surveyors.
Its report is expected to contain recommendations for immediate action to improve the city's ability to respond to similar situations in the future.
And a further report will be published in November following more in-depth research and analysis. Both reports will be available to the public.
The review body has already begun to hear evidence from the key agencies involved in predicting, preventing and responding to floods, including the Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water, Hull City Council and Humberside Fire and Rescue Service.
One of the key lines of enquiry is what priorities each agency has for improving its flood prevention strategy in the future, and what assistance each needs to make those improvements.
The review body will also examine factors which contributed to the flooding and look into the nature and scale of the damage caused.
"The ability to have an informed and effective public debate about these matters depends on a clear understanding of how this emergency developed so quickly," said Kim Ryley, chief executive of Hull City Council, the lead agency in coordinating the flood response, which set up the independent review body.
He added: "We need to know why it developed on such an unusually large scale, and why some of our local communities were more badly hit than others.
"Given that such extreme weather could recur in the future, this analysis will, in turn, enable planned improvements to be made to reduce the likelihood of future flooding in such a situation, and to better alleviate its impact on local people and businesses."

The independent review body's meetings are being held in public. For more information contact 300300 or visit www.hullcc.gov.uk

See pages 10 and 11 for how communities came together in the floods.