How the council handles floods

There’s a flood warning – what does the council do?

The council receives regular weather updates from the Met Office, which tell us if there is a risk of flooding and how severe it may be.

If a risk is identified, specialist teams will go out across the borough to assess the risk and take necessary action. If conditions deteriorate further, the level of action will be escalated with additional resources.

Particular attention will be paid to areas that have flooded before and the teams will decide how best to deal with any situation.

The council will not provide sand bags to residents to use themselves.

We will carry out extra drain and gully clearing in at-risk areas to help rainwater drain away as a preamble to such weather events.

During flooding events, the council can receive a very high volume of calls from residents who are worried about their properties. We use this information to help our specialist teams know where to go, but we will prioritise vulnerable people – for example those in ill health and living alone – to make sure they have the help they need to stay safe.

In the event of a flood anywhere in the borough, the council will focus its resources on areas most at risk and will work with emergency services to keep people safe. We also make sure that the road networks can be easily accessed by the emergency services to make sure that help gets to where it is needed.

In this kind of situation our resources will be at full stretch, so residents and communities should be prepared to do what they can to help themselves and their neighbours.

The council website’s home page will always carry the latest updates, as will our Twitter feed and Facebook page.

Flood Wardens

The council and its partners are supporting communities to be more resilient to extreme weather conditions.  We are expanding our network of community flood wardens and are looking for volunteers who we can work with in an emergency.

Find out how to volunteer as a Flood Warden

After a flood

In the initial emergency, the council can help anyone who is at immediate risk - council tenants, home owners and those in private rented property.

After the flood, the council can:

  • Help people who have been evacuated from their home find alternative temporary accommodation.
  • In some circumstances, help you find alternative accommodation if your home has been so badly damaged by flooding that you can no longer live there. If you are insured it is your insurance company's responsibility in most cases to provide alternative accommodation.
  • Remove flood damaged items free of charge, call Envirolink 0345 2000 103. (Check with your insurer before getting rid of items, they may need to see them.)
  • Offer advice if you are living in a flood-damaged home and you become concerned that it is no longer safe to stay in.

The council cannot help dry out your home. You need to speak to your insurance company and they will arrange this as part of your claim. The council can assist if you live in a council property.

How the council manages flood risk

North Tyneside Surface Water and Drainage Partnership was formed in 2013 following a number of severe storm events, including ‘Thunder Thursday’ on June 28 2012, which caused the flooding of hundreds of homes.

Bringing together North Tyneside Council, Capita, Northumbrian Water, the Environment Agency, Nexus and the emergency services – its legacy is eight major flood risk reduction schemes and around 30 smaller projects.

The council contributed £4.75million in flood risk management which, combined with investment by partners, resulted in an overall investment in the borough of over £20million.

The Partnership ended in 2020 following completion of the final phase of a £1.5million project to benefit residents in the Monkseaton and Wellfield areas.

However, major rainfall events are likely to continue to happen from time to time. That’s why the council is not complacent - the management of local surface water issues is ongoing using a business-as-usual approach through established regional networks. 

Surface water schemes and improvements continue to be developed albeit on a smaller scale than the previous capital programme and funding applications are made to the Environment Agency.

Meanwhile, developers are required to carry out a flood risk assessment to ensure that run-off from new developments is no greater than from green field. 

For more information about how North Tyneside Council manages flood risk, please view the North Tyneside Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.

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