Last winter heavy rain, storm force winds and large waves combined with high spring tides presented England with unprecedented flooding from the sea, rivers, groundwater and surface water.
Thousands of properties were flooded, infrastructure was damaged and tragically, eight people lost their lives. The full impact of these events has not yet been calculated but we do know that 175,000 businesses in England are at risk of flooding.
In 2012 flooding cost affected businesses an average of £60,000, so it is not surprising that flooding is a national priority. In fact the National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies cites coastal flooding as the second highest priority risk after pandemic flu and ahead of catastrophic terrorist attack (taking both likelihood and impact into account) .