Flood Investigation Report Can Vey Island

Essex County Council
Flood Investigation Report

Canvey Island
Castle Point Borough
Rev Date Details Author
01 August 2014 Draft Report for Internal Flood and Water Management Team
Consultation
02 September 2014 Draft Report for Flood and Water Management Team
Consultation
03 October 2014 Final Draft Report Flood and Water Management Team
04 October 2014 Final Revision Following Flood and Water Management Team
Consultation Response
Executive Summary
This report on the flooding that occurred on 20th July 2014 in Canvey Island, Essex
has been prepared in consultation with the Environment Agency, Anglian Water,
Essex Highways and Castle Point Borough Council.
The report assesses the causes of the event and details the responses of the various
authorities involved to the flooding, in order to identify potential shortcomings and
recommends actions to reduce the impact of flooding in the future. These authorities
included Risk Management Authorities detailed in Section 6 of the Flood and Water
Management Act 2010 and Category 1 Responders designated in the Civil
Contingencies Act 2004 as follows:
• Anglian Water
• Castle Point Borough Council
• Environment Agency
• Essex Civil Protection and Emergency Management
• Essex County Council (Lead Local Flood Authority)
• Essex Fire and Rescue
• Essex Highways
• Essex Police.
The conclusion of this report is that the primary cause of the widespread flooding
experienced on 20th July 2014 was the exceptional intensity and volume of the
rainfall. The magnitude of rainfall experienced was unprecedented and well beyond
the national standards for design capacity of sewers and surface water drainage
systems, causing the system to be overwhelmed in multiple locations. The evidence
provided suggests that this occurred in the early stages of the drainage system, and
the operation of the pumps did not contribute to the flooding. The pumps form the
final stage of a long and incredibly complex system, and rainfall on the island may
flow a substantial distance before reaching them. Additionally, whilst there have been
reports by residents that blockages in highway drains may have caused localised
flooding, there is no evidence to suggest that any widespread failure of the drainage
system occurred due to insufficient maintenance or poor condition of these or any
other publicly or privately owned infrastructure. Even with a completely clear
drainage system, and substantial and widespread improvements to the capacity it is
likely that severe flooding would have occurred during this event and will do in similar
events in the future.
The flat topography of the island, combined with the densely developed urban areas
and covering of open watercourses has created an exceptional reliance on the
designed drainage system. In addition, a large amount of Canvey’s drainage system
was designed prior to the introduction of national design standards and is therefore
likely to be of lesser capacity than new infrastructure. Older drainage systems may
have been sufficient at the time of construction, but increased development and
subsequent pressure on the already strained drainage system has meant that in
some locations the capacity is not sufficient to provide effective drainage and mitigate
flood risk. As a result of this, some areas of the island have suffered from a history of
surface water flooding in more moderate events than those of 20th July 2014 and
24th August 2013, and flood alleviation options should be investigated.
Based on the evidence provided, the report also identifies that during the event
misleading and in some cases incorrect messages were given to the public, and that
avenues of communication between Category 1 responders were insufficient to
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Photo on cover page: Essex Police, 2014
ensure that accurate, effective and coordinated communication took place with local
residents.
The report highlights a number of positive steps being taken by authorities before
and since the event. In particular, the work being undertaken by the Canvey Island
Integrated Urban Drainage (IUD) study is an important step towards increasing the
understanding and integrated management of the drainage system on Canvey
Island. The outcome of this work will improve understanding of flood risk on the
island and encourage partnership working by the infrastructure “asset owners”. The
IUD will also help speed up the identification and delivery of flood mitigation
schemes.
Importantly the report also makes a number of recommendations regarding future

actions by all authorities, including recognising that there is a need to bid for national
support to fund capital schemes to mitigate flood risk. The report also recognises that
this S19 investigation is the start of a process with the next step being the need to
establish a multi-agency “task and finish” group to develop an action plan of
initiatives to manage and reduce flood risk on Canvey Island.
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Introduction
In response to the widespread flooding on Canvey Island on 20th July 2014 Castle
Point Borough Council hosted a multi-agency meeting on Monday 28th July. This
meeting was attended by the MP, County and Borough Councillors, and officers from
the authorities involved in the response and management of the event.
The meeting reviewed the action taken by all agencies in response to the emergency
and discussed the next steps to be taken in light of the impending investigation by
the Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor into the flooding on Canvey Island and the
visit by the Secretary of State for the Environment on Friday 25th July. At this
meeting it was agreed that a formal Flood Investigation Report would be undertaken
in cooperation with all authorities to evaluate the response of those involved.
A number of Risk Management Authorities (RMAs) and other agencies have initiated
reviews following the flood event. It is understood that Castle Point Borough Council
Scrutiny Committee is looking at the impact on local residents and businesses and
has compiled a significant body of interview-based evidence that should be viewed
as complementary to the content of this report. This report will provide a starting point
to enable a multi-agency “task and finish” group to be established and led by Essex
County Council as Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA).
This report identifies the Risk Management Authorities involved in the flood event,
the relevant flood risk management functions of those authorities and considers
which functions were exercised. Further to this, and to the requirements of a S19
Investigation, the report looks at the involvement of Category 1 Responders and
formally documents the response of each authority to questions which were the topic
of discussion following the event. The report has been prepared in consultation with
key partners including the Environment Agency, Castle Point Borough Council,
Essex Highways and Anglian Water.
Drainage on Canvey Island

Canvey has been developed on an extremely flat and low lying estuarine island in the
mouth of the River Thames with a land height of approximately 1m below the mean
high water level, its current form being the result of nearly 500 years of land
reclamation and drainage. The island has been historically susceptible to all sources
of flooding, and is protected from tidal flooding by a sea wall on all sides. As a
consequence the water level on the other side of the sea wall is regularly higher than
the land, meaning that the drainage of surface water is wholly reliant on pumps to
discharge water into the estuary at these times. These pumps are the final element
of a long, incredibly complex and interlinked surface water drainage system
comprising of drains, culverts, sewers, open watercourses, main rivers, pumps and
storage areas all with varying capacity, which need to be operating efficiently in order
to drain the island. Rainfall on the island may flow a substantial distance before
reaching the pumps, through infrastructure owned or managed by a large number of
different organisations and individuals and in some cases without a clear
understanding of ownership. Any constriction on flow either due to blockage or
insufficient capacity for the rainfall event can affect the effective operation of the
entire drainage system.
The island has a history of surface water flooding, with several locations experiencing
flooding issues on more than one occasion outside of the large magnitude events of
20th July 2014 and 24th August 2013. As a result of the relatively densely populated
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urban areas and large areas of impermeable surfaces the island is especially
susceptible to intense rainfall events which result in flash flooding. In combination
with the flat topography of the island this means that Canvey is particularly
dependent on the designed drainage infrastructure to mitigate flood risk.
Historical Investment in Drainage Infrastructure

The drainage infrastructure on Canvey Island has undergone a number of
improvements over the last two decades by the authorities involved. The details of
the works and investment undertaken by the relevant authorities are shown below.
• Anglian Water
o Various improvement works including the upgrade of Long Road pumping
station, installation of enhanced storm screens at Canvey Island Water
Recycling Centre, totalling approximately £1m, ongoing cleansing of
sewers as part of the Planned Preventative Maintenance scheme, of
which £50,000 is spent on the AW pumping stations and a further £76,000
on AW sewers over a rolling 18-month period.
o Between 2005 and 2006 all Canvey pumping stations were refurbished
and upgraded to increase their pumping capacity to a 1:200 year standard
of protection (SoP) based on a long duration steady rainfall event. This
SoP assumes that water can get to the pumps through surface water
drainage systems. The Environment Agency (EA) invested £5.205m in
this project. This work was informed by a 2004 Hydrological and Hydraulic
Modelling study of Canvey Island, which used information from the 1993
Posford Duvivier Canvey Island Surface Water Drainage Appraisal.
o In 2007 consultants Atkins produced a summary report for the EA of the
2004 Hydrological and Hydraulic Modelling study of Canvey Island. This
was provided upon completion of the 2005-2006 pumping station upgrade
project.
o Between 2008 and 2011 the EA invested £1.1m in refurbishing the Gravity
Outfall Sluices on Canvey Island.
o Between 2010 and 2012 the EA invested £90,000 in a programme of
CCTV inspections of all of the culverted main rivers on Canvey Island.
This work also included silt clearance and debris removal. The findings
were shared with Anglian Water, for lengths of culvert that form public
sewer, to help them with their asset investment programme.
o Since 2011/12 the EA have invested £4.3m undertaking an extensive
programme of mid-life refurbishment works to the Fobbing, Easthaven
and Benfleet barriers that protect Canvey Island from tidal inundation.
These works are now almost complete – the final expenditure will be
£4.4m.
o EA maintenance for 2013/14 included 655m of grass control on the dykes
on Canvey including Hillhall Dyke and Charfleet Dyke and 44km of hand-
cutting of weeds in various dykes around Canvey. The EA also de-silted
Winter Gardens Outfall into Canvey Long Lake plus cleared a 2m wide
strip from Winter gardens Outfall to Hilton Weir. This investment totalled
£300,000.
o Finally, the EA have also spent approximately £130,000 on seawall
repairs to the south of the island, following the damage to the Canvey sea
walls sustained during the December 2013 tidal surge.
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• Essex Highways
o Following the longest sustained period of wet weather on record over the
winter months, Essex County Council released an additional £1m of
emergency revenue funding to deal with highway related flooding.
o In mid-February 2014 Castle Point Borough Council put forward its Top 5
flooding sites to Essex County Council, 4 of which were on Canvey Island:
 Canvey Seafront area
 Lottem Road area
 North Avenue area
 Town Centre area.
o Extensive cleansing, CCTV surveys and jetting of the highways assets
was undertaken at all of these locations and where necessary repair
works were programmed.
o Arising from these works in the Canvey Seafront Area a larger Surface
Water Alleviation Scheme (SWAS) has been identified and put forward for
funding (circa £100,000). Generally, the drainage system at this location
is very flat and prone to heavy silting.
o Gullies, catch pits and associated pipework on Canvey Island are
cleansed annually as part of the cyclical annual gulley cleanse. There are
a total of 5,767 highway and footway gullies in Canvey. In 2013/14 5,672
gullies were attended and of these 5,298 (91.8%) were cleansed.
o The 2013/14 annual cyclical cleanse was brought forward from March
2014 to September 2013 following the flooding on 24th August 2013.
o In addition to the work undertaken as part of the cyclical routine cleanse,
200 ad hoc gulley cleansing operations have been carried out since
February 2014. Of these, 114 gullies have been cleansed and repairs
undertaken. Further works are planned at the remaining sites.
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Summary of the Event
On 20th July 2014 Canvey Island experienced one of the most extreme rainfall events
ever witnessed in Essex County. In the period of time between 13:40 and 18:00 one
million cubic metres of water fell on the island[1], which equates to almost the full
capacity of Wembley Stadium. This event was unprecedented, and the return period
for this rainfall event is estimated at 1 in 316 years or 0.3% chance of it occurring in
any given year[1].
The bulk of the rainfall on the 20th July fell between 14:30 and 15:30, causing most of
the documented impacts. The highest accumulation on any local rain gauge was
56mm/hour[1], although the EA have stated that this can be considered conservative
for Canvey Island as this was recorded in Hanningfield and there are no EA rain
gauges on the island itself. The radar recorded an hourly accumulation of 80mm/hr
and a total 4 hour accumulation of 100mm[1]. When compared with the average
rainfall for the entire of July of 60-80mm[2] it becomes clear how exceptional the event
was, with a month’s worth of rainfall falling in just one hour. The hourly accumulation
map and 4 hour accumulation map are shown in Figures 1 and 2 respectively.
Figure 1 – Hyrad Radar Hourly Accumulation data (Environment Agency, 2014)
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[1] All recorded rainfall data obtained from Environment Agency (2014).
[2] Met Office Average Rainfall Data (2014).
Figure 2 – 4hr Radar Rainfall Accumulation data (Environment Agency, 2014).
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The intense rainfall caused widespread flooding and substantial disruption to infrastructure. Many properties where internal flooding has
subsequently been reported were also affected during the flood event of 24th August 2013, which affected large areas of South Essex. Figure
3 shows the records compiled by Castle Point Borough Council of flooding affecting property and roads on Canvey Island on 20th July.
th
Figure 3 – Indicative location of properties and roads affected by flooding on 20 July 2014 (CPBC, 2014).
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Risk Management Authorities and Flood Risk Management Functions

The Risk Management Authorities involved in the flooding on 20th July 2014, as identified by Section 6 of the FWMA 2010, are displayed in
Table 1, together with their responsibilities surrounding the management of flood risk. The Flood Risk Management Functions from each
relevant Act, as identified in Section 4 of the FWMA 2010, are shown in Table 2.
Table 1: Risk Management Authorities and Responsibilities (from Gov.uk, 2014)*

Anglian Water Water and Sewerage Companies are responsible for managing the risks of flooding from surface water and foul or
combined sewer systems providing drainage from buildings and yards.
Castle Point Borough Councils are key partners in planning local flood risk management and can carry out flood risk
Borough Council management works on minor watercourses, working with Lead Local Flood Authorities and others, including
through taking decisions on development in their area which ensure that risks are effectively managed.
Essex County Lead Local Flood Authorities (unitary authorities or county councils) are responsible for developing, maintaining
Council (LLFA) and applying a strategy for local flood risk management in their area, investigating certain incidents and for
maintaining a register of flood risk assets. They also have lead responsibility for managing the risk of flooding from
surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses.
Essex Highways Highway Authorities are responsible for providing and managing highway drainage and other assets constructed by
the authority unless stated otherwise, they must ensure that road projects do not increase flood risk.
Environment Agency The Environment Agency is responsible for taking a strategic overview of the management of all sources of
flooding and coastal erosion. The Agency also has operational responsibility for managing the risk of flooding from
main rivers, reservoirs, estuaries and the sea, as well as being a coastal erosion risk management authority.
*Essex Police, Essex Fire and Rescue and Essex Civil Protection & Emergency Management (ECPEM) are not listed as Risk Management Authorities under Section 6 of
the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 but were involved in responding to the event, so will additionally be included in this report.
Table 2: Section 4 Flood Risk Management Functions from each Act (Flood and Water Management Act, 2010)
Flood and Water Water Resources Act 1991 Land Drainage Act Highways Act 1980
Management Act 2010 1991
Any function under all Any function under Sections 159, 160 and any Flood Any function under all Any function under Sections
relevant Sections of Part I. Defence Function within the meaning of Section 221. relevant Sections. 100, 101, 110 or 339.
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Responses from Agencies Involved
A list of the questions posed to Risk Management Authorities is found in Tables 3-10 along with each authority’s response to date.
Table 3: Details of the Overall Response to Flooding on Sunday 20th July

Anglian Water Prior to the 20th July a number of internal teleconferences were held to ensure that appropriate resources were
available in the event of a wet weather event over the weekend.
On the 20th July, covering the south Essex area, AW had 12 staff available to deal with flooding issues from
collection, maintenance and treatment teams. Technicians (about 10 individuals) were also available from a
number of external contractors.
Castle Point Before an incident occurs CPBC inform the public as to which is the correct agency to contact via our “Be Aware,
Borough Council Be Prepared & Be Resilient” program.
The response to a flooding incident is for CPBC to provide a rest centre upon request, which it was prepared to do
so if requested by the emergency services. During the event, CPBC were aware of the incident and obtained
information from the ground via professional partners, providing further information to the public via social media.
To enable the community to recover a swift clean-up of the streets flooded was conducted. A kerbside collection of
flood damaged items was also organised. Castle Point Borough Council has participated in an open debrief,
conducted by Essex Police and will attend any further requests for meetings if requested.
ECPEM See Appendix 3
Essex County As Lead Local Flood Authority, the County Council’s primary responsibility is to record reports of flood incidents
Council (LLFA) and investigate (under Section 19 of the FWMA 2010) where it deems it necessary and appropriate. The LLFA has
done this, and this report makes recommendations regarding further actions to be taken, and as an outcome of
these the LLFA will be leading a multi-agency “task and finish group” and coordinate the bidding process to secure
new funding for capital investment in schemes on Canvey.
Essex Fire and Before : 4 Swift Water Rescue (DEFRA – Type C teams), 1 High Volume Pump, Normal appliance & officer
Rescue availability
During : As above
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Essex Highways Prior to the weekend of 19/20 July, Essex Highways attended an emergency teleconference on Friday 18 July
arranged by the Environment Agency. In response to the warning of heavy rainfall by the EA, arrangements were
put in hand for additional gangs to be on standby for the weekend as well as jetting crews to deal with any blocked
gullies/drains. Given the severity of the storms predicted, an additional 5 gangs were put on standby for the entire
weekend. This was in addition to the 3 standby gangs that would have been on duty (8 gangs in total). In addition,
3 jetting units were made available, one for each operational area.
On Sunday 20 July the first call relating to flooding on was received at 17:45. This related to Ferry Road, outside
Benfleet Railway Station and a Southend based gang were dispatched to attend to this. The second enquiry was
received at 17:50 relating to a missing manhole cover in East Mayne, Basildon and this was passed to the second
call out gang to deal with. Between 17:50 and 23:15, the same gang attended a further 5 sites in Pitsea, Wickford
and Harlow, all related to flooding, but did not move onto Canvey Island.
The third enquiry received at 18:50 related to flooding in Lilac Avenue, Canvey Island and this was passed to the
third standby crew. On arrival the gang reported that back to the standby officer that many roads in that area were
flooded. The gang were then instructed to place out as many flood boards as necessary. This crew were then
instructed to liaise with the first call out gang to assist with placing out flood boards. 20 flood boards in total were
placed in flooded roads.
Later, a jetting crew were requested to attend to flooding on Canvey Island and the 2 standby crews working on the
island were instructed to go to Furtherwick Road which has a history of flooding. The gangs reported back that
Furtherwick Road was clear but that flooding in the vicinity of Western Esplanade was severe, up to 1 metre deep
and the Police had closed many roads and some residential roads were close to flooding.
Further calls were received relating to flooding in Waltham Abbey and Harlow and a fourth standby crew were
dispatched to attend to these.
The Police requested further assistance with traffic management to assist with further road closures. Two Traffic
Management crews were then dispatched and instructed to report to the Police on Canvey Island on their arrival.
A jetting unit arrived on Canvey at 22:30 and began working at Link Road, Maple Way and Elder Tree Road where
flood levels were about to reach property thresholds. By 02:30 on 21 July the flood water had started to subside.
To summarise; there were 4 No. emergency call-out crews working, 3 on Canvey Island; 2 No. TM crews and 1
jetting unit.
Essex Police Managing the multi-agency response to the incident.
Environment Agency Friday morning the Flood Guidance Statement (FGS) indicates severe thunderstorms for the weekend. The alert
status changed to Amber for Essex. The Environment Agency (EA) hosted a Flood Advisory Service (FAS)
teleconference for Essex on Friday 18th July which was attended by 20 organisations and 35 people.
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The EA had increased the workforce available for the weekend in South Essex in anticipation of possible problems.
On Sunday @ 15:08 Approximately 40 telemetry alarms from the 8 coastal pumping stations are received re power
failure (later understood to be lightning strike on the island). All restarted automatically by 1523 when power was
restored.
EA operations teams are sent to the island, 13 staff in total and the Area Incident room is opened.
EA responded to the following on Sunday afternoon;
 Between 1550 and 1610 hrs the 3 pumps at Croppenburg tripped out before being re-started at 1820
hrs.
 Between 1605 hrs and 1903 hrs, 3 of the 4 pumps at Scarhouse tripped out.
 All of the 3 pumps at May Avenue tripped out for 23 minutes from 1718 and again from 1851 hrs for 32
minutes.
On Monday there were 12 EA staff on the island with our presence running through to the Wednesday. See
appendix 1 for the full time line.
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Table 4: Specific Flood Risk Management Functions (as listed in Section 4 of the FWMA 2010) Exercised in Response to
the Flooding
Anglian Water N/A - No Flood Risk Management Functions under Section 4 of the FWMA 2010.
Castle Point No
Borough Council
ECPEM The role of Emergency Planning in any flooding incident will come under the CCA 2004 and therefore there were
no specific flood risk management functions within the FWMA 2010.
Essex County The LLFA did not exercise specific functions on the 20th July as it is not a 24 hour response service. However,
Council (LLFA) during normal office hours the LLFA has exercised flood risk management functions specifically from the FWMA
2010 (such as the Section 19 duty to investigate flood incidents) and is proposing to use powers under the Land
Drainage Act 1991 where investigations have shown issues with ordinary watercourses.
Essex Fire and N/A – No Flood Risk Management Functions under Section 4 of the FWMA 2010.
Rescue
Essex Highways No
Essex Police N/A – No Flood Risk Management Functions under Section 4 of the FWMA 2010.
Environment Agency Powers under Section 159 and 160 of the Water Resources Act 1991.
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Table 5: Methods of Communication With the General Public and Communications Issued
Anglian Water For sewerage service queries and emergencies, customers are advised to call 03457 145145 (this number is
advertised on AW bills and online). Phone lines are available 24/7.
Castle Point Before an incident occurs CPBC try to inform the public as to which is the correct agency to contact via our “Be
Borough Council Aware, Be Prepared & Be Resilient” program. This is promoted at shows & events, the CPBC website, the Borough
Newsletter “Viewpoint” and public areas within the council. The public is not advised to contact CPBC during a
flooding incident as CPBC will react on request of the Police or other professional partner.
During an incident CPBC use Southend Careline to manage the out of hours contact service (01268 758357) for
the public. Post the flooding review of 2013, special restricted emergency contact numbers for Careline were set up
for officer use. Reassurance was also given by Careline that ‘On Call’ officers would be available and contacted to
provide further assistance when required. Post a flooding incident, CPBC make the public aware via the website
and social media about how it can support the community. More specific information on the CPBC communications
is available in Appendix 2.
ECPEM The ECPEM work with the ECC Communications Team and the ECFRS Media Team to provide advice on specific
information which will aid communities, this is a requirement under the CCA to warn and inform the public by all
category 1 responders. ECC took a proactive approach, and therefore ECPEM requested during the
teleconference on the 18th July agreement as to who would be the lead on public information if an emergency
situation occurred. Essex Police agreed that they would lead, however ECC in support of this issued
communications in line with Essex Police, and also through social media on the day of the flood event, as listed in
Appendix 3
Essex County The public are advised to call Essex County Council via its main switchboard telephone number to report flood
Council (LLFA) incidents. They are advised that ECC as LLFA is not a 24/7 service and if the situation requires emergency
situation to contact other relevant agencies. The County Council will advise callers to contact other flood risk
management authorities if upon reporting an incident it is immediately obvious that another RMA may be able to
assist, for example highway flooding (Highway Authority), foul sewerage (Water Authority) or main river/coastal
flooding (Environment Agency).
Essex Fire and Public contact through 999 calls, dealt with on a life risk priority basis.
Rescue
Essex Highways Public contact through 0845 telephone number which switches to the out-of-hours call centre service. The call
centre were advised in advance that there had been an amber warning issued by the Met Office for heavy
rain/flooding.
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Essex Police Essex Police have the facility to publish additional telephone numbers to facilitate communication with the police for
instances attracting high volume calls. No such numbers were issued on this occasion and the public contacted
police through the 999 system or other published contact numbers where appropriate.
Environment Agency The general public are advised to use and did use Floodline 0345 9881188. This was a surface water flood, so no
flood warnings were issued. In addition 3 fact sheets were produced and these were shared on Canvey Town
Council and Castle Point Borough Council’s websites. Social media was used proactively and to help answer
questions. Local MP’s were also briefed. EA messages were shared though TV, radio and newspapers. The EA
also use Flood Guidance Statements and Flood Advisory Telecon to help advise partner communications.
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Table 6: Procedures and Standards for Recording and Responding to Flood Incidents
Anglian Water All calls from customers are recorded. Should work be required, an appropriate team is dispatched to the scene.
Should any follow-up investigations be required then these are carried out by AW technicians and hydraulic
modellers.
Castle Point Reports of internal flooding were collated by the Head of Environment. Where appropriate callers were signposted
Borough Council to other agencies by the First Contact team.
ECPEM As detailed in Appendix 3 the Duty Officer keeps an iModus Incident Log during their period of duty and if
necessary (as in this case) a separate duty log for a particular incident.
Our response would depend on the decisions made by the Local Authority in whose area the incident occurred e.g.
should there be a decision to open an Emergency Assistance Centre by the Local Authority the Duty Officer would
arrange any assistance that may be required i.e. Transport, Voluntary Agencies, mutual aid from adjacent Local
Authorities etc.
Essex County All calls or correspondence detailing flood incidents are recorded on the County Council’s correspondence
Council (LLFA) recording system. This information is then entered onto our Flood Incidents spreadsheet as an official log, as
detailed in the Essex Local Flood Risk Strategy.
Essex Fire and Incident Response System software within the Control facility.
Rescue Calls recorded on paper, then added to the software system post the spate condition, due to the quantity of calls
received.
Essex Highways All calls received are recorded in the out-of-hours call-out log. These are passed to the duty standby officer for
assessment and call out gangs dispatched as necessary to deal with incidents.
Essex Police Essex Police manage the multi-agency approach to early planning. Undertaking a pre meet with the EA and Met
Office to discuss the benefit of a teleconference and chair the conference where necessary.
If an operational deployment is necessary Essex Police will organise and manage the Strategic planning group
through the SCC as well as a Tactical Group to develop and revise a Tactical Plan to tackle the issues raised.
Environment Agency There is no duty on the Environment Agency to record surface water flood incidents. Response to flooding comes
under EA permissive powers. However, EA is a Category 1 responder and have a full duty team on standby 24/7
every day of the year.
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Table 7: Operation of Assets Under Authority’s Ownership/Responsibility During the Incident of 20th July
Anglian Water On the 20th July Anglian Water assets on Canvey Island, affected by the heavy rainfall, were operating as
designed.
Castle Point The weedscreen at Prittle Brook operated as designed and the flow of water was not impeded.
Borough Council
ECPEM N/A – ECPEM does not own any relevant assets
Essex County N/A - The LLFA does not own any relevant assets.
Council (LLFA)
Essex Fire and Fire Appliances - during the day these were utilised to check persons at risk and to offer guidance. Some
Rescue appliances initiated pumping out in the latter part of Sunday and during Monday.
Officers in motor vehicles - these officers were utilised to interact with the public and identify members of the public
requiring the attendance of a pumping appliance. Officers also worked with the Police to co-ordinate traffic and
close roads.
Essex Highways There are 5,767 highway gullies on Canvey Island and an unknown quantity of highway drains that connect to the
adopted Anglian Water sewer system before discharging into a series of ditches and dykes.
Essex Police Available resources were used to address the issues reported. All 4X4 resources were marshalled at a central
point ready for deployment.
Environment Agency When the rain started all of the pumping stations on Canvey Island were working. Before the rain began the
pumping stations were operating as designed using between 0% and 5% of their total pumping capacity. The
operating percentage increased to approximately 15% by the time the most intense rainfall started, at which point
the numbers of pumps running dramatically increased. At 1508 hrs when 50% of the pumps were running there
was a power cut that lasted between 11 and 19 minutes. This affected much of Canvey Island and 11 of the 13
Environment Agency pumping stations. The pumps at Leigh Beck have a built-in backup generator that started 1
minute after the power cut. The operating capacity at this point dropped to below 10% although Hilton and Dutch
Village continued running as they were not affected by power cuts. One minute later Leigh Beck restarted and the
operating percentage rose to 19%. With power restored across the island this increased further to 82%. At this
point in time there was not enough water reaching the pumping stations for all of the pumps to be operating.
Between 1550-1610 hrs the 3 pumps at Croppenburg tripped out before being re-started at 1820 hrs. 3 of 4 pumps
at Scarhouse tripped out between 1605-1903 hrs, although there was still one pump running during this time. All 3
pumps at May Avenue tripped out for 23 minutes from 1718, and again from 1851 hrs for 32 minutes. The flood
water on the Island made conditions difficult for our engineers to move between pumping stations, this in turn made
the response to the ongoing problems at the pumping stations more challenging. The Pump Operating Schedule
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shows that a number of pumps in operation switched on and off frequently. This was due to automatic resets
following low water levels at the pumps and manual resets after blockages to screens had been removed or after
thermal cut-outs.
In addition to the pumps the EA also have 32km of Main River to maintain and keep free from debris. All across
the island there are various screens and grills that protect the pumps from debris and these are constantly
monitored in an event and have operations teams out on the island keeping them clear. See Appendix 4 attached
giving additional detail of the system on the island.
In addition to the assets mentioned in Table 7, there are also a large number of privately owned watercourses which are an integral part of
the drainage system on Canvey Island. This includes open watercourses and culverts on private land which are the responsibility of the
relevant riparian landowner to ensure that these are well maintained and that flow is not impeded. The condition of many of these
watercourses is currently unknown.
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Table 8: Number of Enquiries Received

Anglian Water Data provided for all Anglian Water call centre enquiries (not limited to Canvey Island flooding enquiries):
1172 Calls compared with a Sunday average of 401.
Castle Point At least 250 from 20th July – 12th August. Potentially greater number as enquiries received through various sources
Borough Council (Elected Members, Officers etc.), although some repeat enquiries were possible. Where appropriate CPBC
signposted callers to the relevant flood risk management agency.
ECPEM None from the public but many from responding agencies.
Essex County 25+ email enquiries, substantially more enquiries by telephone and through Councillors but exact numbers
Council (LLFA) unknown.
Essex Fire and ECFRS received in excess of 400 calls for assistance from all areas along the Southern Coast of Essex (Leigh,
Rescue Benfleet, Canvey, etc.)
These calls were 80% Canvey with 200 not being attended, advice given on phone.
Essex Highways 51 calls were recorded in the out-of-hours call-out log between 08:55 on 20 July and 07:40 on 21 July.
Essex Police Approximately 65 incidents of reported flooding.
Environment Agency In excess of 50 enquiries from various sources.
Table 9: Confirmed Instances of Internal Flooding Recorded

Anglian Water 38 Investigate Internal or Risk of Internal Flooding
Castle Point 91 instances of internal flooding, 50+ known to have applied for Council Tax rebates. Anecdotal evidence suggests
Borough Council these figures may be substantially higher.
ECPEM None
Essex County At least 13 separate instances reported directly from residents, although anecdotal evidence from other sources
Council (LLFA) suggests much higher figures. No information currently collated from other authorities.
Essex Fire and N/A – Information not recorded
Rescue
Essex Highways Not Known
Essex Police Not Known
Environment Agency No confirmed properties flooded as surveys have not been undertaken post event, although supporting partners
with this. Some information collated from Incident Room but unverified.
19
Table 10: Additional Information Provided

Anglian Water AW, in partnership with the EA and joint funded by ECC are undertaking an Integrated Urban Drainage model on
Canvey Island. More information on this is provided in the next section.
Castle Point CPBC Drainage team supplied substantial amounts of information on the flooding in specific locations, the local
Borough Council drainage system and general information for Canvey Island, which helped inform the conclusions of this report.
ECPEM The ECPEM team undertake the Single Point of Contact role for all emergency services when they need the
support of the Local Authorities within Essex during an incident, whether they are a Borough, District, City or
Unitary Authority. As such the team will support and co-ordinate the response of that Local Authority and also co-
ordinate and arrange any response required by ECC Services. This does not preclude emergency services
contacting a Local Authority directly or vice versa should there be a need.
All Local Authorities have a duty under the CCA 2004 as Category 1 responders and our role in ECPEM is to
support that duty.
Essex County N/A
Council(LLFA)
Essex Fire and N/A
Rescue
Essex Highways Essex Highways dealt with many other incidents of flooding as well as those that occurred on Canvey Island
including Rochford, Basildon and Benfleet. In addition, standby crews were called out to attend to other routine
incidents such as spillages, make safes on defects and RTC’s.
Essex Police N/A
Environment Agency Additional Information shown earlier in report and in Appendices.
20
Next Steps
Ongoing Work – Pre 20th July

The drainage system on Canvey Island is an intricate and heavily interlinked network,
comprising of main river channels, culverts and pumps, adopted surface water sewer
systems, highway drainage infrastructure, Canvey Lake and privately owned
drainage systems. The interconnected nature of each component means that most
drainage issues cannot be assessed in the immediate area alone. It is therefore
particularly necessary to understand the wider area’s drainage system when
assessing a flooding issue, where the relevant assets are and what effect they have
on flood risk. Whilst there are several areas which are known to have a history of
flooding, historically the overall flood risk of the island has been relatively poorly
understood.
In recognition of the unique and complex nature of the drainage system and the
relative lack of understanding of flood risk on the island, it was identified that a
comprehensive Canvey Island Integrated Urban Drainage (IUD) model should be
undertaken to address these issues. Once completed this will provide much needed
up to date information for all partners on the condition and ownership of the drainage
infrastructure on the island. The IUD study is a collaborative project between Anglian
Water, the Environment Agency and Essex County Council. These stakeholders
have come together with the aim of managing flood risk on Canvey Island where
flooding often involves drainage assets owned by more than one authority.
The Canvey Island IUD study aims to deliver an integrated catchment model of the
drainage system on Canvey Island that includes all the components of the system
and is capable of modelling the interaction between them. This will merge the
modelled sewer network with the modelled main river network, making allowances for
the highway drainage system and be supplemented by LiDAR and topographic
survey data. The model will be available to all the stakeholders and will provide a
robust tool for analysing the performance of the Canvey Island drainage under given
rainfall conditions. The model will allow flood risk in Canvey to be better understood
and will assist with investment planning by assessing the beneficial impact of any
proposed system improvements. This very important piece of work is currently
underway and the project will be complete in the summer of 2015.
The IUD work has already provided positive outcomes by identifying parts of the
island for which two organisations have responsibility (dual designation). These are
designated as both Main River and Sewers, and require that the EA and AW work
together to clarify responsibilities and ensure that these are understood. As part of
this, CCTV footage of dual designation culverts that were surveyed as part of the
visual asset inspection programme was also shared between the EA and AW in order
for identified defects to be included within AW’s Asset Management Plan 6 (AMP6)
bid. The EA and AW are now working to transfer sole responsibility of these sections
to AW.
21
Actions and on-going Work - Post August 2013 and 20th July 2014
• Anglian Water
o Since July 2014, Anglian Water have begun to undertake extensive CCTV
surveys of all surface water networks serving the properties that reported
flooding to them. Following these surveys any remedial works required
have/are being undertaken. There are currently 111 areas which require
surveying.
o Cleansing works using high powered water jetting is taking place across
the island. This has begun on the Smallgains estate and this programme
will continue until all identified issues are resolved.
o Shortly after the August 2013 flood event the EA spent approximately
£20,000 doing heavy reed removal and de-silting of Thorney Creek to
improve conveyance from Antlers Pumping Station (PS), Thorney Bay PS
and the Anglian Water outfall beside Thorney Bay PS.
o EA annual budget for frequent maintenance on Canvey Island is
approximately £300,000. Of this £20,000 is typically spent on labour
clearing debris from watercourses on Canvey.
o Following the December 2013 surge and subsequent storms the EA
currently have plans for approximately £15,000 of further seawall repairs
this year.
o The Thames Estuary Phase 1 (TEP1) programme will invest £300 million
in the Thames Estuary flood defences. The current baseline asset register
and expenditure profile for Canvey Island’s tidal defences for the ten
years from 2015/16 will require £28million of funding in line with DEFRA’s
partnership funding policy. This baseline asset register and investment
profile is subject to change over the next 18 months.
o The policy advocated for the Canvey Island policy unit is to take further
action to keep up with climate and land use change so that flood risk does
not increase. It is anticipated that in excess of £130m will be spent
between 2036-2040 on upgrading the tidal defences.
o The EA have developed an Action Plan for Canvey Island following the
July 2014 event. This Action Plan incorporates various actions, which
includes investigating the resilience of the pumps, the incident response
performance, improving the conveyance to the pumping stations and
supporting partners. They are currently investigating the options available
to improve the performance of the pumps, and have already secured an
initial £40,000 to deliver the improvements. This figure will increase
significantly once they have fully identified the deliverable improvement
works and produced costs which will enable them to apply for further
funding.
• Essex County Council/Essex Highways

o Since the 20th July 2014 flooding incident, Essex Highways have deployed
2 dedicated jetting crews to Canvey Island, one dedicated works gang
and additional dedicated staff resources (Engineer, Admin and stats
resource).
o The main focus has been to target drainage defects, but additionally the
jetting crews are carrying out extensive jetting of lateral drains to ensure
that these are clear and running to the point at which they discharge into
another system.
22
o The works will also involve collecting asset information relating to

highways drainage infrastructure. This work is being carried out
collaboratively with colleagues from Anglian Water.
o An additional £470,000 was promised by Essex County Council at a multi-
agency meeting held at Castle Point Borough Council on 29th September.
The money will mean gullies are to be cleaned more regularly on Canvey
Island so that rainwater can flow away freely into drains, minimising the
risk of flooding. The current expectation is that all gullies will be cleansed
at least twice each year.
o Essex County Council has also provided over £120,000 in council tax-
related support to the borough.
23
Recommendations
1. All RMAs – Commit to a multi-agency “task and finish” group to be led by the
LLFA, which will take evidence from all stakeholders and bring forward a plan of
action for managing flood risk based on evidence including the results of the IUD
study.
2. All RMAs - Consideration of the feasibility of increasing the design capacity of
surface water drainage systems on Canvey Island at problem points and critical
drainage infrastructure as identified by the IUD study and other relevant
evidence.
3. All RMAs – Review and improve their maintenance/inspection regimes of
drainage infrastructure throughout Canvey Island.
4. All RMAs - Commit to greater resident involvement in any future study or works to
improve drainage systems.
5. LLFA - Investigate options to provide property level protection to residents where
larger flood alleviation schemes are not possible.
6. All RMAs - Confirm ownership and role of Canvey Lake, take actions to increase
storage capacity (e.g. dredging and lower water levels) and investigate options to
increase outflow capacity.
7. All RMAs – Map and confirm ownership and condition for all drainage assets on
the island.
8. ECC/EA/CPBC Comms - Raise public awareness of flood resilience measures to
reduce the impact of internal flooding on property and of landowner
responsibilities for maintaining private culverts and watercourses.
9. LLFA/CPBC/ECPEM - Use wider dissemination of information from campaigns
such as “Six Steps to Flood Resilience” and “Know Your Flood Risk” to provide
information to residents on what to do before, during and after flooding.
10. ECC/CPBC Emergency Planning – Consider communications before flood
events, coordination of emergency response and deployment of available
resources.
11. Category 1 Responders - Improve communication and joint working between
responders during events.
12. LLFA – Support Emergency Planning by providing all information on flood risk
available prior to an event.
13. All RMAs – Collectively bid for funding for multi-million pounds of external funding
which will be required to fund capital projects to improve the drainage
infrastructure, and provide for property level protection on Canvey Island.
24
Conclusion
This report has investigated which Risk Management Authorities have relevant Flood
Risk Management functions associated with the flood event, and documents the
response of each authority involved in the flooding, including Category 1 responders
such as Essex Police, Essex Fire and Rescue and Emergency Planning teams of
both ECC and CPBC.
It is the conclusion of this report that the flooding was due to the unprecedented
volume and intensity of rainfall experienced on 20th July 2014. The rainfall data
displayed previously in the report demonstrates that the rainfall event was of such a
magnitude that it overwhelmed the design capacity of large parts of the drainage
system. The current standard of public sewer design for new drainage infrastructure,
as specified in Sewers for Adoption (7th Edition), is for a 1 in 30 year return period
plus climate change event. Large parts of the surface water drainage system on
Canvey Island pre-date the introduction of these formal standards and are likely to be
built to a lower capacity, designed by the relevant drainage authority at the time of
construction. The pressure on the drainage system on Canvey Island has intensified
over the last 50 years due to further development, and it is evident that in some
locations some drainage infrastructure is no longer at the necessary capacity to
provide sufficient drainage. It is worth noting however that given the intensity of
rainfall, it was unlikely that even a perfect drainage system with substantial
improvement to the capacity of the infrastructure would have been sufficient to
prevent flooding occurring during this event.
The evidence provided suggests that power outages affected some of the pumping
stations at Canvey Island for short periods, however it is not thought that this
contributed to the flooding. Due to the intensity of the rainfall, other elements of the
system were overwhelmed prior to the water reaching the pumps. As such, the
operating capacity of the pumps at these times was not a significant factor and
flooding would have occurred regardless of power outages. Whilst there have been
reports by residents that blockages in highway drains may have caused localised
flooding, there is no evidence to suggest that on 20th July any widespread failure of
the drainage system occurred due to insufficient maintenance or poor condition of
publicly or privately owned infrastructure. It is however recommended that inspection
regimes be reviewed and maintenance be increased where necessary to mitigate
future impacts of flooding as far as feasibly possible.
Due to its location, topography and urban design, Canvey Island as a whole exhibits
a significant level of underlying flood risk, with large areas of the island particularly
vulnerable to flooding. Whilst the 20th July 2014 and 24th August 2013 were
exceptional and the scale of flooding was a product of the magnitude of the rainfall
event, a number of locations on the island have a history of flooding in less intense
rainfall due to various issues which need to be addressed. Poor historical recognition
of flood risk in the planning process and increases in areas of impermeable surfaces
have led to further difficulties in draining a very low-lying area which has historically
been very susceptible to all sources of flooding. Allowing large accumulations of
green land to be converted to impermeable surfaces stops rainfall from naturally
infiltrating into the soil and creates an exceptional reliance on the surface water
drainage system. Additionally, the land level of the island is regularly below that of
the tide and this, combined with the very flat topography of the island, makes
conventional drainage by gravity very difficult and provides further complications for
achieving sufficient drainage of the dense urban areas. The system of open
25
watercourses that previously provided drainage for large areas of the island has also
been in-filled and converted to culverts in many instances, restricting capacity and
leading to issues with maintenance. As such, the impact on flood risk of any new
proposals for development or alterations to permeable land, for example the paving
of gardens, needs to be considered very carefully and impermeable surfaces avoided
where possible. The potential problems caused by culverts should also be publicised
and alternative options investigated where culverting is proposed.
The uniquely intricate nature of the drainage system and involvement of a number of
different Risk Management Authorities and drainage asset owners has meant that
the system cannot be managed in the same way as elsewhere. The interlinking of
drainage components owned or managed by different parties requires that a more
holistic and cooperative management approach is taken by all authorities involved. It
is the aim of the Canvey Island IUD to enable the wider drainage system to be
understood, the most at risk areas accurately modelled and identified, and to improve
partnership working between the authorities involved. The first recommendation in
this report proposes that a multi-agency group should be established, taking into
account any additional information from other stakeholders in order to inform
proposals and prepare an action plan of what needs to be done, when, by whom and
the funding needed to do this. Given the unique nature of the drainage system and
the scale of investment needed, to achieve significant results in Canvey Island will
require that special support be provided by DEFRA. With this understanding, multi-
agency cooperation and additional Central Government funding it may be possible to
make necessary and feasible improvements to the drainage system and effectively
reduce flood risk in some areas.
Resident reports subsequent to the event, the logs shown in Appendix 1 and 2, and
the responses in Table 3 have highlighted some potential problems in the
communication between the various authorities involved, and between those
authorities and the public on 20th July. During the event it is evident that misleading
and in some cases incorrect messages were given to the public and that avenues of
communication between Category 1 responders were insufficient to ensure that
accurate, effective and coordinated communication could take place with residents. It
is therefore necessary that sufficient processes are put in place to obtain up-to-date
and accurate information from partners during emergency events, even when
resources are stretched.
As previously mentioned it is unlikely that flooding from an exceptional rainfall event

such as that on 20th July 2014 can ever be completely prevented. It is necessary
however that all authorities, with the financial support of Central Government, commit
to initiating drainage improvements based on information provided by the Canvey
Island IUD and other evidence, more effective communication between stakeholders
during the event, and the provision of advice and assistance to the public on making
their properties more flood resilient. With these advances it is possible that whilst
flooding may still occur, the impact of any future severe rainfall events could be
lessened.
26
Acronyms
AW Anglian Water
CCA Civil Contingencies Act 2004
CPBC Castle Point Borough Council
DEFRA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
EA Environment Agency
ECC Essex County Council
ECFRS Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
ECPEM Essex Civil Protection and Emergency Management
EH Essex Highways
FIR Flood Investigation Report
FWMA Flood and Water Management Act 2010
LDA Land Drainage Act
LLFA Lead Local Flood Authority
LHA Local Highway Authority
Glossary of Terms
Term Definition
Culvert Covered channel/pipeline
Main River All watercourses shown as such on the statutory main river maps held by the
Agency and DEFRA or Welsh Office, as appropriate.
Ordinary All rivers, streams, ditches, drains, cuts, dykes, sluices, sewers (other than
Watercourse public sewers) and other passages through which water flows that are not
designated as main rivers.
Surface Rainwater which is on the surface of the ground (whether or not it is moving),
Water and has not entered a watercourse, drainage system or public sewer.
Useful Contacts and Links

Highways Incident Line 0845 603 7631 (24hrs)
Flood and Water Management Team 01245 430430 (Mon-Fri, 9am - 5pm)
All calls may be charged
Highways Act 1980:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/contents
Water Resources Act 1991:

Land Drainage Act 1991:

EA - ‘Living on the Edge’ a guide to the rights and responsibilities of riverside occupation:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/31626.aspx
EA - Prepare your Property for Flooding: Reducing flood damage; flood protection
products and services
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/31644.aspx
ECC – Flood and Water Management in Essex:

http://www.essex.gov.uk/flooding
National Flood Forum – Blue Pages: Advice and contacts for flood protection products
http://www.bluepages.org.uk/
27
References
Atkins (2007). Canvey Island Description of the Drainage System.
Civil Contingencies Act (2004). Available at

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/36/contents. (Accessed 6th August 2014)
CPBC (2014). Map of Properties and Roads Affected by Flooding on 20th July 2014.
Environment Agency (2014). Hyrad Rainfall Data for 20th July 2014.
Essex Police (2014). Police Helicopter Photos from 20th July 2014.
Flood and Water Management Act (2010), Part 1. Available at:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/29/part/1 (Accessed 6th August 2014)
Gov.uk (2014). Managing Flood Risks: Who is Responsible. Retrieved 6th August
2014 from https://www.gov.uk/flood-risk-management-information-for-flood-risk-
management-authorities-asset-owners-and-local-authorities#managing-flood-risks-
who-is-responsible.
Groundworks South Essex (2008). Canvey Lake Feasibility Study.
Highways Act (1980). Available at

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/contents (Accessed 6th August 2014)
Met Office (2014). Canvey Island Climate Information. Retrieved 6th August 2014
from http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/u10mj4mhv.
Posford Duvivier (1993) Canvey Island Surface Water Drainage Stage II Appraisal.
Water Resources Act (1991). Available at

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/57/contents (Accessed 6th August 2014).
28
Appendix 1 – Environment Agency Timeline 16th July – 23rd

July 2014
Date Time Actions

Wednesday 16th July
0930hours Environment Agency (EA) duty handover telecon. Discuss
actions for the weekend since thunderstorms are forecast
1000hours Field teams in South Essex initiate procedures to ensure screens
and grills are cleared.
Thursday 17th July

Arrangement of extra field staff for South Essex at the weekend
Friday 18th July

0600hours Flood Guidance Statement (FGS) indicates severe
thunderstorms for the weekend.
0800hours Some surface water flooding in Billericay and Chelmsford is
reported.
0830hours Field staff in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk are contacted to discuss
precautionary works, mainly checking watercourses and
structures for blockages. This work to be completed on Friday.
0900hours Hydrometry team asked to check telemetry in Essex.
1000hours Discussions with Southend BC and Anglian Water (both affected
by South Essex flooding in 2013) to advise that EA were putting
additional field staff on duty over the weekend.
1033 hours Flood Guidance Statement is Amber for Essex, yellow for Norfolk
and Suffolk.
1035 hours Flood Advisory Service (FAS) telecon for Essex is arranged by
the EA for 1330 hours
1100 hours Situation discussed with Norfolk County Council Duty officer
1110 hours Situation discussed with Suffolk County Council Duty officer
1130 hours Essex Police ask to add a further agenda item ‘police discussion’
to the FAS agenda.
1235 hours EA offices at Hatfield and Brampton contacted to ascertain if
there are any anticipated problems in their part of Essex. There
are none.
1330 hours Essex Flood Advisory Service chaired by the Environment
Agency. There are 35 attendees from 20 organisations. (see
attached minutes)
1415 hours EA attend Suffolk telecon on possible surface water flooding and
Latitude festival.
Saturday 19th July

0700hours EA open Area Incident Room (AIR). And check overnight rainfall
reports. Some storms brought 40mm of rain – but no flooding
reported, although plenty of lightning strikes.
1330 hours AIR closed

1537 hours EA check operational resources. Essex confirm staff available
29
and extra staff at pinch points. Norfolk and Suffolk also have staff
available.
Sunday 20th July

1508 hours Lightning hits Canvey Island. Approximately 40 telemetry alarms
from the 8 coastal pumping stations. Of the 8 stations, 2 (Dutch
Village and Hilton) are unaffected. A third, Leigh Beck restarts
within a minute. The other pumps are all restarted by 1523.
1549hours A field team of 2 is sent to Canvey many roads affected by
surface water flooding. Conditions made it difficult for our
engineers to move between pumping stations.
1610hours Additional 4 EA staff sent to Canvey
1550 – 3 pumps at Croppenburg tripped out.
1610 hours
1605 hours 3 of the 4 pumps at Scarhouse tripped out.
1630hours Further 3 EA staff sent to Canvey Island
1700hours AIR opened. Flood Warnings issued for rivers in Southend and
Norfolk.
1718 hours All of the 3 pumps at May Avenue tripped out for 23 minutes.
1735hours Residents at May Avenue report flooding happened within 20
minutes from rain commencing.
1736hour Further 2 EA staff sent to Canvey Island
1745hours Rainfall of 45mm in an hour reported from Norwich Airport.
1820 hours Operations staff have reset and restarted the 3 pumps at
Croppenburg.
1851 hours All of the 3 pumps at May Avenue tripped out for 32 minutes.
1857hours More EA staff sent to Canvey 2
1903 hours Operations staff have reset and restarted the 3 pumps at
Scarhouse. All 4 pumps now operating.
1935hours Reports received that the Police helicopter had been issuing the
message “Do not panic the Environment Agency are starting the
pumps”.
1950hours Police teleconference confirms helicopter has been used. EA
confirm pumps have been working.
2100hours More EA staff sent to Canvey. 6 staff remains on the island until
0200hrs.
Monday 21st July

0800hours 12 EA staff on Canvey Island
0840hours High incidence of blocked screens on Canvey and staff are
working to clear them.
1000hours Police telecon. Reports that situation is improving and only 4
roads on the Island remain closed.
1315hours Extra pumps sent to Canvey to over pump Tewkes Creek sluice.
This evacuates water in Tewkes Creek, already pumped over the
tidal defences, to the sea.
Tuesday 22nd July

Pumping continues throughout the day and night.
30
Wednesday 23rd July

Pump operating conditions on the Island return to normal
operating practice. Additional pumps at Tewkes Creek are
removed.
31
Appendix 2 – Castle Point Borough Council Communications

Sunday 13th July 2014
Yellow warning issued by the Flood Forecasting Centre. This shows the general
Yellow warning we get on a regular basis. A yellow warning is common.
Wednesday 16th July 2014

Facilities Management Admin Assistant issues the Council’s out of hours contact list.
Which contains the public number for Careline and their restricted emergency contact
numbers.
Friday 18th July 2014

The JEPO emailed members of the response team and the environment team.
Warning of severe weather coming in for the weekend and asking to check Hazard
Manager as needed. Information is also given out on the twitter page.
Assistant DEPO participates in a multi-agency teleconference called due to weather

forecast. Weather front not expected to affect south east Essex over weekend.
Information conveyed to key responders present within the Council Office.
The Council sent out a ‘Tweet’ on Friday 18th July, advising the public to check the
weather with a link to the Met Office. The Council’s webpage also includes a link to
emergency planning public information (see link below).
http://www.castlepoint.gov.uk/main.cfm
Saturday 19th July 2014

Nothing to Report
Sunday 20th July 2014
15:45 Southend Careline contact the Civil Contingencies Co-ordinator ( CPBC CCC).
Assist if requested by Essex Police
15.55. CPBC DEPO receives call from ECPEM Duty Officer who has been trying to
contact the Council responders via Careline. Advises on some localised flooding on
Canvey Island, no clear picture on extent, but ECFRS responding to some calls and
to be prepared to open a Rest Centre if situation escalates? Also request for contact
details for agency responsible for Pumping stations on Canvey Island.
16:12 Request from the Southend Careline for Sandbags to CPBC CCC. Careline
was informed that CPBC does not hold stocks of emergency sandbags.
17:19 Email from Chief Executive to the CPBC CCC and Emergency Planning Officer
that the May Avenue pumping station is not working.
Continued and repeated contact was made between the LALO and the CPBC CCC.
17:31 CPBC surveyor has contacted the CPBC CCC about the EA pumps and has
explained that the EA are deploying operatives.
18:08 Email from Chief Executive to the CPBC CCC, explaining that a rest centre
may be required by Essex Police (Sgt Mark McQuade)
32
CPBC DEPO contacts CPBC Severe Weather Officer/ EP Responder, to discuss

weather and situation on Canvey and enquiring on availability to attend area to
determine picture.
CPBC DEPO contacts ECPEM Duty Officer with information regarding agency
responsible for Pumps and Rest Centre response if requested.
CPBC DEPO receives call ECPEM Duty Officer requesting CPBC participation in
multi-agency teleconference. DEPO participates in Teleconference.
CPBC DEPO contacts key internal Responders concerning steady state of readiness
should request for Rest Centre opening be requested.
Information is also given out on the twitter page via re-tweeting and providing specific
information. Information is also provided by professional partners. (See above)
22:47 Chief Executive emails Executive Management Team, explaining the flooding
on Canvey and expresses the need to start the clean-up.
Monday 21st July 2014
Emergency Text Message goes out to all EMT and CMT members explaining to
standby for an Emergency Meeting after 10.00.
David Marchant talks to Superintendent Luke Collinson about hand over
10.00 Multi Agency Teleconference and the movement of the team is towards
recovery, hand over from the Police.
Emergency Text Message goes out to all EMT and CMT members saying to stand-
down.
CPBC continue with the recovery and clean up. Regular sit reps from Stuart Jarvis.
Media Press Statement is given out.
Information is also given out on the twitter page and about the collection of waste.
Briefing to the members
Monday 21st July 2014
10.00 multi-agency teleconference hand over to recovery.
33
Appendix 3
Canvey Flooding Incident Sunday 20th July 2014

Questionnaire Response
1. Details of your authorities overall response to flooding on Sunday

20th July (before and during)?
Essex Civil Protection & Emergency Management (ECPEM) with Essex

County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) are in partnership with Essex
County Council to deliver the Council’s duties in respect of the Civil
Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004. As part of this duty we provide a 24/7 Duty
Officer System 365 days a year to support and co-ordinate the response of
the Council to a major incident. An iModus Log sheet is completed to record
all actions during a period of duty.
The Duty Officer on Duty the weekend of the 19th/20th July had been
monitoring the weather since early in the week commencing 14 th July due to
the public information about the possibility of severe weather occurring over
the weekend.
During Friday 18th July the Duty Officer collated all of the Weather warnings,
Advice from the Met Office, Flood Guidance Statements and also spoke to the
Environment Agency at Ipswich in order to be fully up to date with the latest
forecasts. A multi-agency telephone conference was also convened by the
Environment Agency during the afternoon of the 18 th in which the Duty Officer
participated. He also arranged for ECC Highways, Transport and
Communications to also participate.
In view of the possibility of a severe weather incident occurring ECPEM

collated the availability of its team members over the weekend should the
need arise to invoke the opening of the CERC for the County Tactical Group
(CTG) and to support the ECC Gold should a Strategic Command Centre
(SCC) be opened.
The Duty Officer continued to monitor the weather situation throughout

Saturday and Sunday.
The first call received by the Duty Officer regarding the flooding on Canvey
Island was received at 15:50 on Sunday 20th July. It was from the ECFRS
34
Control Room reporting that it was receiving multiple calls about serious
flooding on Canvey Island which in places was 3 to 4 feet deep.
As this event had the potential to become a large scale incident the Duty
Officer commenced a paper log of the events as contemporaneous notes and
this was transferred to an iModus Incident Log retrospectively on Monday 21 st
July 2014.
Because the ECPEM role is one of support to the Local Authority in whose
area the incident is, the decision on how the incident is dealt with lays with
that Local Authority. To ensure that Castle Point Borough Council was aware
that assistance could be provided the Duty Officer had several conversations
with them during the course of the afternoon and evening of the 20 th.
2. Did your authority exercise any specific flood risk management

functions (as listed in Section 4 of the FWMA 2010) in response to this
incident?
The role of Emergency Planning in any flooding incident will come under the
CCA 2004 and therefore there were no specific flood risk management
functions within the FWMA 2010.
3. How are the general public advised to get in touch with your authority
during an incident and what communications were issued?
The ECPEM work with the ECC Communications Team and the ECFRS
Media Team to provide advice on specific information which will aid
communities, this is a requirement under the CCA to warn and inform the
public by all category 1 responders. ECC took a proactive approach, and
therefore ECPEM requested during the teleconference on the 18th July
agreement as to who would be the lead on public information if an emergency
situation occurred. Essex Police agreed that they would lead, however ECC
in support of this issued communications in line with Essex Police, and also
through social media on the day of the flood event, as listed below.
PRESS RELEASE Friday 18 July
Press statement went out at 15.45pm to all media contacts
The same statement was published at

http://www.essex.gov.uk/News/Pages/Take-extra-care-during-stormy-
weekend-weather.aspx with a link from the ECC website homepage.
TWITTER (WITH SAME MESSAGES CARRIED ON FACEBOOK)
18 July afternoon
Take extra care over the weekend - Met Office warns of possible
thunderstorms, torrential downpours and gusty winds
http://www.essex.gov.uk/News/Pages/Take-extra-care-during-stormy-
weekend-weather.aspx … Before travelling this weekend check updates on
35
local radio or at http://www.essex.gov.uk/highways,

http://www.twitter.com/Essex_Travel, http://www.twitter.com/PreparedinEssex
Remember - details of agencies providing 24-hour advice on flooding issues
can be found on the ECC webpage http://www.essex.gov.uk/flooding Essex
Trading Standards warning! If your house is flooded this weekend don't let
cold callers do repairs. http://tinyurl.com/p76vjd5
19 July afternoon
Take care on Essex's roads this weekend - there may be surface water from
heavy rainfall
20 July from 7.30pm to 8pm, following issuing of police press release

Emergency services are dealing with severe weather conditions in the south-
east of the county following heavy rainfall #essex Heavy rainfall in Southend,
Rayleigh and Castle Point - police urging motorists to avoid unnecessary
journeys and drive with caution #essex Police asking drivers to drive very
slowly on Canvey Island due to standing water on roads #essex Some roads
impassable in Southend, Rayleigh and Castlepoint due to heavy rainfall
#essex Before travelling check updates on local radio or at
http://essex.gov.uk/highways , http://twitter.com/Essex_Travel ,
http://twitter.com/PreparedinEssex
Advice on flooding is available at http://www.essex.gov.uk/flooding Essex
Trading Standards warning! If your house is flooded this weekend don't let
cold callers do repairs. http://tinyurl.com/p76vjd5
21st July morning

Canvey Library closed due to #floods. Read about this and more flood
updates here: http://tinyurl.com/lzt9mta @EssexLibraries
4. What is the process/procedure/standard for your authority in

recording and responding to flood incidents?
As detailed in Q1 the Duty Officer keeps an iModus Incident Log during their
period of duty and if necessary (as in this case) a separate duty log for a
particular incident.
Our response would depend on the decisions made by the Local Authority in
whose area the incident occurred e.g. should there be a decision to open an
Emergency Assistance Centre by the Local Authority the Duty Officer would
arrange any assistance that may be required i.e. Transport, Voluntary
Agencies, mutual aid from adjacent Local Authorities etc.
5. How were any assets under your authority’s ownership/responsibility

operating during the incident of 20th July?
There were three members of the team operational during 20th July:
36
 Duty officer
 Referral Officer
 Deputy Head of Emergency Planning. This role was supportive rather
than operational and served to keep senior members of ECC and ECFRS
in the loop with regard to the incident.
6. How many enquiries within did your authority receive in response to

this incident?
None from the public but many from responding agencies (See logs)
7. How many reports of internal property flooding are your authority able
to confirm?
None
8. Any further information or comments you think would be beneficial to

the report.
The ECPEM team undertake the Single Point of Contact role for all
emergency services when they need the support of the Local Authorities
within Essex during an incident, whether they are a Borough, District, City or
Unitary Authority. As such the team will support and co-ordinate the response
of that Local Authority and also co-ordinate and arrange any response
required by ECC Services. This does not preclude emergency services
contacting a Local Authority directly or vice versa should there be a need.
All Local Authorities have a duty under the CCA 2004 as Category 1
responders and our role in ECPEM is to support that duty.
Essex Civil Protection and Emergency Management

29th July 2014
37
Appendix 4 – Environment Agency Pumping Stations and Main River Map (Environment Agency, 2014
38
Appendix 5 – EA Factsheet
39
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Flood Investigation Report Can Vey Island

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Flood Investigation Report Can Vey Island

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Essex County Council

Flood Investigation Report

Essex County Council

Rev Date Details Author

Importantly the report also makes a number of recommendations regarding future

Drainage on Canvey Island

Historical Investment in Drainage Infrastructure

Summary of the Event

Figure 1 – Hyrad Radar Hourly Accumulation data (Environment Agency, 2014)

Figure 2 – 4hr Radar Rainfall Accumulation data (Environment Agency, 2014).

Risk Management Authorities and Flood Risk Management Functions

Table 1: Risk Management Authorities and Responsibilities (from Gov.uk, 2014)*

Responses from Agencies Involved

Table 3: Details of the Overall Response to Flooding on Sunday 20th July

Table 8: Number of Enquiries Received

Table 9: Confirmed Instances of Internal Flooding Recorded

Table 10: Additional Information Provided

Ongoing Work – Pre 20th July

• Essex County Council/Essex Highways

o The works will also involve collecting asset information relating to

As previously mentioned it is unlikely that flooding from an exceptional rainfall event

Useful Contacts and Links

Highways Act 1980:

Water Resources Act 1991:

Land Drainage Act 1991:

ECC – Flood and Water Management in Essex:

Civil Contingencies Act (2004). Available at

Flood and Water Management Act (2010), Part 1. Available at:

Groundworks South Essex (2008). Canvey Lake Feasibility Study.

Highways Act (1980). Available at

Water Resources Act (1991). Available at

Appendix 1 – Environment Agency Timeline 16th July – 23rd

Date Time Actions

Thursday 17th July

Friday 18th July

Saturday 19th July

1330 hours AIR closed

Sunday 20th July

Monday 21st July

Tuesday 22nd July

Wednesday 23rd July

Appendix 2 – Castle Point Borough Council Communications

Wednesday 16th July 2014

Friday 18th July 2014

Assistant DEPO participates in a multi-agency teleconference called due to weather

Saturday 19th July 2014

Sunday 20th July 2014

CPBC DEPO contacts CPBC Severe Weather Officer/ EP Responder, to discuss

Monday 21st July 2014

David Marchant talks to Superintendent Luke Collinson about hand over

Media Press Statement is given out.

Briefing to the members

Monday 21st July 2014

10.00 multi-agency teleconference hand over to recovery.

Canvey Flooding Incident Sunday 20th July 2014

1. Details of your authorities overall response to flooding on Sunday

Essex Civil Protection & Emergency Management (ECPEM) with Essex

In view of the possibility of a severe weather incident occurring ECPEM

The Duty Officer continued to monitor the weather situation throughout

2. Did your authority exercise any specific flood risk management

PRESS RELEASE Friday 18 July

Press statement went out at 15.45pm to all media contacts

The same statement was published at

TWITTER (WITH SAME MESSAGES CARRIED ON FACEBOOK)