Cost of flood damage could increase tenfold due to climate change

Grimsby Telegraph (UK): "Flooding can ruin lives and livelihoods – we should all be concerned." Those were the words of Dr Harry Buckland, of local group Floodwatch, in response to a government announcement that the risk of flooding in North East Lincolnshire is forecast to rise – with the cost of damage expected to increase tenfold as a result of climate change.

Increased flooding for our region is among the risks that has been highlighted in a comprehensive Government assessment of climate change. Dr Buckland founded Floodwatch in 2007 – a resident's group set up to campaign for measures that would prevent a repeat of the devastating floods which hit the area in June of that year.

As reported, our area was inundated as 120mm of rain fell in just one month, causing river waters to rise and devastating homes across the area. The flooding caused almost £5 million of damage to property across North East Lincolnshire.

Dr Buckland's daughter Patricia fell victim, when two to three feet of rainwater gushed into her family's Anderby Drive home. Almost five years on, and he is still pushing for a reduction in the flood risk to our area, saying that it still poses "a very real threat".

According to the latest study, the risk of flooding is projected to increase significantly across the UK, particularly in the Humber and Yorkshire, the East Midlands and the South West. The new analysis for England and Wales shows that if no further plans were made to adapt to changing flood risks, annual damage to buildings and property could reach into the multi-billions by 2080, compared to the current cost of £1.2 billion a year...

Flood defenses under construction in 2005 in Lincolnshire, shot by David Wright, Wikimedia Commons via Geograph UK, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license