Opening the financial floodgates

The annual cost of damage from flooding in England and Wales is set to reach £1bn for the first time this year, leaving some homeowners unable to insure their properties.That's according to property search firm SearchFlow, which claims the cost of individual major flooding events is also rising. Figures from the Environment Agency show a major coastal flooding event in the Humber estuary could cause damage worth £266m while, as sea levels rise, this could rise to £1.4bn by 2040. The EA predicts in the next 30 years sea levels will rise by approximately 40cm. Without improvement in flood defences, this would increase the number of properties at significant risk of flooding in Eastern England by 48 per cent.