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Flood Risk in Hull

In News by Ambiental Environmental Assessment


Modelling the June 25th 2007 surface water flooding in Hull, UK.


On June 24th 2007, a weather warning was issued by the Met Office and the Environmental Agency detailing likely flooding on low lying land the next day. Little did they know the heavy rain reported would result in a catastrophic flood event that would shake the county for years to come.

The next day, June 25th 2007, Hull was inundated with approximately 400 million tonnes of water, flooding the county at an unprecedented level.

At this incredible rate, the sewer system couldn’t cope. The resulting flood water devastated over 17,000 properties and made over 30,000 people effectively homeless overnight in what became the worst flood disaster in the UK since 1947.

Certain parts of Hull were worst hit than others so for the purposes of this article, we’ll be focusing on just the 4 worst hit areas as identified by the Guardian’s interactive map; Kingswood, Bransholme, Hedon, and Burstwick.

So, how do these areas fare now in terms of their risk of flooding?

Kingswood, Hull

First, we looked at Kesteven Way in Kingswood. Our initial report highlighted the Kesteven Nursing Home as having a very “high risk” of flooding. After checking the fluvial and tidal flood maps further, it showed that almost all of Kesteven Way fell under the 1 in 100 year flood zone for river and coastal flooding. In terms of flood risk, that’s considered high risk.

Kingswood Hull River and Tidal Flood Mapping

Brandsholm, Hull

Next, we looked at Brandsholm. This area lies south east of Kingswood and the initial search showed that in particular the Wawne Road area, and therefore the Wawne Ferry pub was considered the highest risk of flooding. A closer look showed that the fluivial and tidal flood risks were high, with surface water also posing a risk nearby.

Brandsholm Hull River and Tidal Flood Mapping

Below, you can see a short clip of our state-of-the-art Flowroute™ surface water flood modelling software to show how extensive the flooding was in Brandsholm, Hull.

Hedon, Hull

Also badly affected in 2007 was the village of Hedon. Hedon is just outside of Hull but given the extent of the flooding we chose to model the area. In particular, we focused on New Road.

The maps from our reports show a resolutely blanket “high risk” of fluvial and tidal flooding across the area.

Burstwick Hull River and Tidal Flood Mapping

Burstwick, Hull

Finally, we took a look at Burstwick. Our initial screening report showed a “high risk” status for Main Street, a further look showed that different stretches of the road were at a much higher risk than others.

Hedon Hull River and Tidal Flood Mapping

About Flowroute™

Flowroute™ is a 2D+ hydraulic multisource modelling tool with a range of features that can be used to asses most flood risks. It can take data from pluvial (surface), fluvial (river), and tidal sources and accurately map them to high-density urban environments.

It also accounts for drainage and flood defences, predicting flood risk to an individual property level.

You can read more about Flowroute™ here: https://www.ambiental.co.uk/about/our-technologies/

For individuals, businesses, and home owners concerned about their flood risk, you can speak to a member of our flood risk assessment team by calling 0203 857 8540 or email us at [email protected]


Steven Brown Ambiental Associate

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