As mentioned above, the Met Office and the Environment Agency have been closely cooperating, working together to assess the potential impact of climate change in the South East. The information provided by the Met Office to the Environment Agency will be used to consider flood risk management strategies for the Thames Estuary up to 2100. The Thames Estuary 2100 (TE2100) is a project which “aims to determine the appropriate level of flood protection needed for London and the Thames Estuary for the next 100 years.” London’s existing flood defences will only provide protection up until 2030. So for this reason, investigating, planning and developing ways in which to tackle this issue now will allow time for necessary research and the chance to use the advances in technology to develop a stronger and highly effective barrier that will protect London and the Thames estuary in the long run.
Do you think the measures taken to prevent flooding are sufficient? (5)
The Thames Barrier, as shown above, is and has been very effective in protecting London from flooding for over 30 years. However, its effectiveness came into question in 2007 when the highest tidal surge since it’s opening in 1983 led to the closure of the barrier for 3 consecutive days. This increased the frequency of closures of the Thames Flood Barrier per year to almost double its previous figure.
This shows that the Thames flood barrier may not be as efficient as it should be in protecting London and can, in cases such as the 2007 floods, be said to be insufficient in doing so, despite having already protected Londoners from 100 floods.
What else might need to be done in the future to prevent further flood risk? (5)
In the future, I think that boroughs should carry out flood risk assessments to identify key locations that are suitable for development and those which need flood risk management. Furthermore, I think that development in areas at high risk from flooding should be made illegal as this will only increase the social, environmental and economic costs to society in the case of a flood. (i.e. the death toll will be higher, more money will be needed to restore the area to its previous state etc.)
However, if this is not the case, I think that any development in flood prone areas should be designed in a flood resilient way, so as to minimise social and economic damage in floods. Environmental agencies and the mayor should work together to ensure that flood defences that are currently in place, including the Thames Flood Barrier should be protected and maintained efficiently. The establishment of effective flood warning systems is essential and should also be a part of the flood protection plan for London.
