The LCCP and Greater London Authority hosted the surface water flooding in London event at City Hall on Thursday Dec 1st 2022 as part of London Flood Awareness Week.
The event brought together experts and stakeholders to share good practice and discuss how to make London more resilient to surface water flood risk now and in the future, taking account of the impacts of climate change. A selection of the presentations from the event can be downloaded here:
Victoria Boorman – Greater London Authority – context and good practice
Mark Rogers – Met Office – data and evidence to support decision making
Alex Nickson – Thames Water – work to develop a London surface water strategy
Dr Shona Peterson – communicating climate risk and supporting resilience
James Latham – a borough perspective on flooding impacts, responses and long term solutions
Sanjay Johal – how communities can be supported to adapt to future flooding
London was hit by two extreme storms on 12 and 25 July 2021. Parts of London received close to 100mm of rainfall, the equivalent of more than twice the average July rainfall, in just two hours. The rain caused damage and disruption to homes and infrastructure across the city, and many Londoners required rehousing as their homes were flooded with stormwater and sewage. It rendered critical infrastructure unusable with the closure or partial closure of 30 London Underground stations and the evacuation of hospital wards and schools.
This event provided an opportunity to discuss and showcase short- and long-term responses to the surface water flood events that occurred in London in summer 2021 and gave attendees the opportunity to hear about the work underway to develop a strategic plan to manage surface water flooding in London.
A video of the event can be found here. https://youtu.be/TPftqIU2G9E