Horncastle Flood Alleviation Scheme to be investigated after gate failure during Storm Babet

The EA has stated that during Storm Babet last week a sluice gate within the scheme ‘did not automatically operate as it should’. This meant the flood scheme did not store as large a quantity of flood water as it was designed to and this is likely to have affected some properties near the River Bain, it has said.

Storm Babet brought significant heavy rainfall across much of the UK on Friday (October 20), with the county seeing at least a month's rain in 24 hours. At the storm’s peak, there were 29 Flood Warnings and 32 Flood Alerts in place across the county.

In Horncastle, homes were flooded, businesses were forced to close, events were cancelled, and people and animals had to be rescued.

The EA has said it has made it ‘a priority’ to find out what happened with the operation of the Horncastle Flood Alleviation Scheme.

Phillip Duffy, EA chief executive, and Leigh Edlin, area director, have asked the agency’s chief engineer to begin a thorough investigation of the scheme.

Leigh Edlin said: “We are aware that the Flood Alleviation Scheme did not reduce flood risk to the extent it was designed to. We will continue our investigation and ensure we learn from its findings.

“The Flood Alleviation Scheme is now being operated manually. Our teams remain on high alert and our Lincoln incident room is open 24/7, as the risk of flooding remains high in many areas.“

A spokesman for the EA said the agency was committed to keeping the local community informed of what is happening. They said the EA’s community information officers were out in Horncastle on Friday and over the weekend, talking to local people to offer support and gather information about what happened. They also attended an event organised by the local community leader in the community centre on Monday and will continue to work with the community as more information becomes available, they added.

Although Storm Babet has passed the county’s river systems are still full, and the ground is saturated, the EA warns.

“Any further rain may cause rivers to react quickly,” the spokesman said. “Therefore, the risk of flooding will remain high over the coming days as peaks move through the systems.”

People are encouraged to be vigilant, to stay away from swollen rivers and advised not to drive through flood water, as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move a car, the EA says.

They also encourage to check their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation at https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk, via Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or by following @EnvAgency on Twitter.