New £1 million scheme to guard exposed communities from flooding in high-risk areas of the North East of Scotland
A new £1 million scheme to guard exposed communities from flooding in high-risk areas of the North East of Scotland has been officially launched by Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead. Around 2k houses and companies will get advantages from the Scottish Government-funded flood caution scheme round the brooks Dee, Don, Deveron and North Esk.
Over the last decade there were around ninety major floods across Scotland and global warming prophecies show that Scotland will experience big changes in rainfall patterns. Full-scale live testing of SEPA’s North East Flood Caution System commenced on Fri. , Feb twenty-six, 2009 – 4 days sooner than planned because of the inclement weather conditions having an effect on parts of the north east last week. The system uses state-of-the-art technology to determine rainfall and stream levels and issue early flood cautions. Launching the scheme at a SEPA brook monitoring station in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Richard Lochhead declared : “Flooding causes havoc and trouble whenever it strikes and we must do all we can to guard ourselves from its devastating impact.
The year just gone saw some of the most dreadful floods in the North East of Scotland in current decades, destroying livelihoods and houses. “That is why the Scottish Govt has invested £1 million into this state-of-the-art alert scheme to seriously improve flooding info in these high-risk areas.
This can permit SEPA to distibute alerts and give members of the general public imperative time to prepare and protect themselves and their properties against flooding and limit the damage it may cause. “Through the Flood risk administration ( Scotland ) Act and record levels of investment in flood defences, this State is taking each possible step to boost our knowledge of flooding risk, our capacity to manage this and our capability to retort efficiently. There are presently 84 flood prevention schemes in Scotland, with another seven under assembly and 4 more in the pipeline.” Richard Brown, SEPA’s Head of Hydrology, expounded : “The purpose of the flood warning schemes is to stop loss of life and cut back the industrial damage due to floods. This is accomplished thru the power to outlook likely flood conditions and supply interpretation and cautions to those in peril. “SEPA is further developing its current flood caution provision, and in Spring 2011 we’ll be launching a new Floodline Alerts Direct service, which may permit members of the general public to register to get direct cautions to their landline or mobile phone.” Rainfall and stream level monitoring across the catchment areas will supply SEPA with improved information on conditions, which may then be used to provide advance notice of flooding to members of the general public who can access the information through SEPA’s twenty-four hour Floodline info service.
This may permit local folks vital additional time to do something to guard themselves and their property. The warning system also will be used to warn the police and local authorities to any potential flood threat so they can reply when necessary. The areas that will get advantages from the new scheme include several urban centers like Aberdeen, Inverurie and Huntly, agricultural settlements, giant areas of rural land and important transport links. SEPA now operates over forty flood alert schemes across Scotland.
Once a caution is issued, SEPA alerts local authorities and emergency services, giving them up-front warning to do something.