The Environment
Agency currently has 2 flood alerts still in place for the local area. These
alerts have been issued due to heavy rainfall on Monday and overnight, which is
easing, although showers are expected to continue throughout Tuesday. There may
be flooding to low lying land and roads.
·
Levels
on the River Rede are expected to continue rising into Tuesday.
·
Levels
on the River Pont, particularly at Ponteland, are expected to continue rising
and to remain high.
Widespread heavy
rain and showers on Monday and Tuesday may cause river and surface water
flooding, particularly in areas that have seen heavy rain over the weekend. As
a result there could be some property flooding and disruption to travel with a
number of road closures.
Environment
Agency teams are closely monitoring river levels and are working to reduce
flood risk by checking and maintaining flood defences, clearing blockages in
watercourses, and continuously monitoring water levels. Temporary defences are
ready to be deployed where necessary.
Clare Dinnis,
National Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, has said: “Environment
Agency teams are working hard to reduce the risk of flooding, but we want to
remind people not to take unnecessary risks and avoid driving through flood
water or walking near swollen rivers. People should also take care if walking
by the coast as there is a risk of large waves caused by strong and gale force
winds.”
The Environment
Agency’s Incident Room is currently open. The organisation continues to monitor
river levels closely, and these can be viewed on the Environment Agency’s
website. They currently do not expect to escalate either of the 2 remaining alerts
in our area to “Flood Warnings”. Nevertheless, the Environment Agency are
issuing the follow advice:
Flooding is
possible; be prepared. Please stay alert and check the Environment Agency
website for the latest information, or call Floodline for advice on 0345 988
1188.
You can also use the online tool to find out if your
postcode is at risk of flooding, by visiting the following website: https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/.
>>
Latest update from
the North-East branch of the Environment Agency:
“The situation is now improving across the North East. We
have had no reports of property flooding.
Although the worst of the rain has passed, there is still
persistent rainfall passing through Northumberland. However we expect this to
ease through today.
Whilst our incident room remains open and staffed, the focus
of our efforts is shifting from incident response to recovery. However we
will continue to monitor rainfall and the corresponding impact on river levels.
We’ll be out through the day today checking screens and
defences for damage and carrying out any repairs where needed. We will also be
out checking river levels.”
