Preparation was key in keeping Nottinghamshire residents safe during Storm Christoph

And the council’s response to Storm Christoph, ongoing flood risk management schemes and the purchase of new technology to protect Nottinghamshire from future flooding were the subject of a council report.

Nottinghamshire County Council’s Communities and Place Committee heard that when Storm Christoph arrived in Nottinghamshire, heavy rain caused river levels to rise, and communities looked set to be affected by flooding.

The report to the council’s communities and place committee heard how the preparation was all the more important given restrictions in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19, and so Trading Standards and Customer Service Centre staff made more than 250 calls to clinically extremely vulnerable residents to offer support for potential evacuations.

And via East Midlands Ltd the council owned highways division delivered around 5,000 sandbags, some to individual households who were in the very vulnerable category, closed 12 roads and mobilised gully emptying tankers to respond to local requests.

This resulted in no properties being flooded thanks to the week-long multi-agency preparation and response.

Councillors also heard about a pilot scheme of telemetry equipment to monitor watercourses, as well as the allocation of £520,000 of funding from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for hydraulic studies.

Coun Phil Rostance, vice-chairman of the communities and place committee said: “Flooding devastates communities and as the Lead Local Flood Authority, we strive to protect and serve our vulnerable communities.

“We have secured and are undertaking a trial of telemetry technology to monitor watercourses and keep track of water levels in key high-risk locations to indicate when flooding may occur.

“This scheme, along with the hydraulic studies which will be completed in West Bridgford, Mansfield, Bleasby, Rhodesia, Clarborough, Shireoaks, Retford and Gotham, thanks to funding from DEFRA, will help us continue to protect communities from future flooding.

“In 2020/21 our Flood Risk Management team secured external funding of over £1m for flood alleviation schemes, demonstrating our partners’ confidence in Nottinghamshire County Council’s ability to deliver.

“Five significant flood alleviation schemes totalling £8.3m are in progress across Nottinghamshire, with others being considered for feasibility and design.”