Scottish Flood Forum

The Scottish Flood Forum has released two new factsheets for flood victims and flood affected communities.

The factsheets can be found here.

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The Scottish Flood Forum is aware there is a lot of concern regarding protecting properties.

Paul Hendy of SFF commented,

“My continued stance is each home owner has responsibility to protect their property and this is not necessarily the responsibility of the respective Council. In order to promote flood protection products and to let residents see them for themselves I have arranged a number of Flood Barrier Awareness Days to be held in various communities across Scotland.”

Dates, Times & Places

Broxburn – 16 September (Wednesday) – Strathbrock Community Centre, Broxburn (Strathbrock Partnership Centre, 189 (a) West Main Street, Broxburn EH52 5LH) at 7pm

Milnathort – 29 September (Tuesday) – ideally in the town hall but the Jolly Beggar would be a possible alternative. 3-7pm same time as the flood surgery

Cupar – 30 September (Wednesday) same time and venue as the flood surgery i.e. 3- 7pm in the Café, County Buildings, St Catherine Street, Cupar, KY15 4TB.

Event Description

The display and demonstration will be done by Rob Turner – who is an independent specialist in flood products. He does not work for any FD company but offers independent impartial advice on what is most suitable and affordable in respective properties.

Following the demonstration he will then arrange a no obligation and free of charge site survey / visit to any one who would like him to look at their properties.

The estimate will then be sent, but no follow up calls, or visits will be done. – Rob has many years in the building trade, and has extensive knowledge and understanding of the problems associated with protecting property.

It is anticipated once we know how many products are required the keenest prices will be negotiated to ensure that savings will be passed on to clients.

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Once again the recent rain has caused wide spread and devastating flooding. Sadly many business and families have had their property destroyed or badly damaged by flood waters. We are liaising with our colleagues in local councils, government and other agencies to  identify how we can best assist flood hit communities.

The Scottish Flood Forum has already written to Moray Council offering help and support during the recovery period. Please keep an eye on this website, the Moray Council website and the local newspaper for further information on the assistance we will be providing over the coming weeks and months.

Both the recently flooded communities in Milnathort and Cupar have benefitted from the expertise and support advice, from the SFF, where regular weekly flood surgeries provide real help.

If you have been flooded and need help please download the Scottish Flood Forum Post Flooding Factsheet, and feel free to make contact with Paul Hendy of the Scottish Flood Forum. We are here as a free service to help flood affected communities.

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Following meeting with Fife Council, Perth & Kinross Council, community representatives, church leaders and door to door visitation of as many affected properties as possible, it was decided to hold a number of Flood Advice Surgeries in Cupar and Milnathort.

Photographs shown below from the first session are representative of the many enquiries through emails, phone calls and personal visits made in each community. Issues raised centre on flood protection, why were the drains blocked and what are the council doing about it, to flood damage strip-out and insurance issues.

 
  Photos: Flooded properties in Milnathort

  
  Photos: The Cupar Arms outside and stripped out inside 

   
  Photos: The flood service staff discuss issues with councillors and residents

 
  Photos: Blocked street drains… despite past reassurances from Fife Council

Milnathort is Wed 3pm-8pm in Town Hall, Cupar is Thurs 3pm-8pm Fife Council buildings in Cupar. The surgeries will continue to run for the next 3 weeks. Thereafter a decision will be made regarding their frequency.

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Just as promised earlier, Paul Hendy of the Scottish Flood Forum was joined by John Thomson of Freuchie Flood Action Group during a visit to the flood affected town of Cupar.

Upon arrival Paul and John found the local church minister talking to a group of affected residents. Flood recovery companies had been onsite to start the clear-up process and loss adjusters and surveyors were consulting with residents about the flood damage to their homes.

A number of homes had been affected by the flash flood that had hit Ceres Road, bring down garden walls, flooding lower floors of homes, depositing mud and silt on every surface the flood waters touched and general causing devastation to this community.

 
Photos: Damage to homes and property in Ceres Road, Cupar

The badly affected Burnside area and town centre were also visited with information leaflets being provided to businesses and householders. It had also been reported in the media that Springfield had been badly hit by flooding,  but thankfully no properties appeared to have been damaged by the flood water.

The Scottish Flood Forum will be setting up support services over the coming weeks and months to assist this community. Please keep an eye on this website and the local newspapers for further information.

Technorati Tags: Ceres Road, Cupar, flood, flooding, Freuchie Flood Action Group, Paul Hendy, Scottish Flood Forum, Springfield

Members of the Broxburn community were invited to attend an information evening to discuss a number off proposals from the post flood review following the Broxburn flooding. A public meeting was held in the Canon-Hoban Church Hall in Broxburn on the 11th June 2009.

The Scottish Flood Forum contributed to the evening through a short presentation on Community resilience and the role of community flood groups. Our appreciate is shown to John Thomson of Freuchie Flood Action Group for presenting at the meeting as part of the SFF content.

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The Scottish Flood Forum was invited to address the Moray Council Flood Alleviation Sub committee in Moray Council Chambers regarding the relevance of community resilience and the importance of community flood groups.

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The National Flood Emergency Framework Workshop, held at Leeds on the 26th March 2009, was an open consultation with flood professionals, local authority reps, voluntary sector and many others involved in the aftermath and support of communities following a major flood incident. The Scottish Flood Forum was invited to attend along with SEPA where we were able to share and contribute to the discussions.

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A “Business Flood Seminar” conference, organised in partnership with SEPA, was held on the 17th March 2009 in Surgeons’ Hall at the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. The Scottish Flood Forum was invited to share in this first business conference hosted by SEPA.

  
  Photo (Left): Roseanna Cunningham MSP – Minister for the Environment, David Sigsworth – SEPA Chairman, Louise Bachelor – Chair
  Photo: (Right): Paul Hendy – Scottish Flood Forum, Roseanna Cunningham MSP, David Sigsworth

Our keynote speaker on the day was Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Minister for the Environment. Other speakers included representatives from the insurance industry, farming community, flood defence products, and BAE systems – all came with a wealth of relevant practical experience in protecting businesses from the major impacts of flooding. The conference was professionally chaired by well known journalist, TV presenter and public speaker Louise Bachelor.

   
          
  Photos: Various speakers from the conference

Topic discussed on the day included flood projects, legislation, flood trauma and the impact on the workforce (SFF) and business recovery. The occasion also was an opportunity for SEPA to launch their new Flood Awareness Leaflet and the SFF to promote their business continuity training seminar.

More information and the presentation decks can be found HERE on the SEPA website.

The Scottish Flood Forum would like to thank all our speakers, everyone who attended and our chair for making the day such a success. It is our hope that delegates took away a wealth of information to apply in their business and are now better prepared for dealing with potential future flooding. A special thanks go to John Thomson, Chairman of Freuchie Flood Action Group, who graciously allowed us to use his photographs taken on the day.

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You will be forgiven for mistakenly thinking this was a conference relating to the common cold, swine flu or other inherent seasonal nasties, however SNIFFER stands for … Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum For Environmental Research.

Once again a very informative and professional conference where representatives engaged in environmental issues flooding etc. come together to share best practice and learning from all aspects of the process. The Scottish Flood Forum was invited to share its expertise and experience regarding the development of community flood groups and supporting vulnerable and at risk individuals and areas through resilience training and information. Diversity of common cold leading to diversity of SNIFFER engagement in community support.

Technorati Tags: flood, flooding, flood groups, Scottish Flood Forum, SNIFFER