Storm Babet in October 2023 brought flooding to over 1200 homes in Nottinghamshire, which is more than the total number flooded in the preceding nine years. Thankfully, Thorpe had few properties affected and none with flooding inside the house. Residents in East Stoke were less fortunate, with several homes infiltrated and extensive damage to some.
On 27 March, Ross Marshall, Principal Flood Risk Officer at Notts County Council, visited both villages.
After giving some advice to residents in Thorpe with Cllr Cherry-Downes present, he shared information and advice for residents in East Stoke as follows:
For those whose homes have air-bricks at risk of allowing water into the home beneath the suspended ground floor, it’s possible to fit float-activated self-closing air-bricks and also possible to obtain a flood resilience grant of up to £5,000 to cover this work. Residents wanting to apply should visit https://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/stormbabet/#d.en.2388107 or contact Cllr Spencer Davies at spencer.davies@eaststokewiththorpe-pc.gov.uk if you would like to coordinate the works collectively. Another available product useful for these properties is a waterproof coating for bricks. Again contact Spencer if you want to coordinate this work with other residents.
At a recent inspection of the drainage infrastructure, arranged by Tony Sharpe for our flooding working group, VIA Highways identified several issues with the existing underground piping. Some blockages were cleared but some problems require remedial work, for which funding has been requested and which is expected to take place in May 2024 (we have a meeting scheduled in April to coordinate this). Additionally, we now hope to be included in a wider project to introduce Natural Flood Management (NFM) practices in areas near the village.
Between the infrastructure upgrades and introduction of NFM, we hope to achieve a significant reduction in future flood risk.
Comments are closed