Kettering residents looking for answers as Christmas flood investigation yet to be triggered by authorities

Torrential rain just before Christmas led to dozens of homes being deluged
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More than two weeks after catastrophic floods engulfed a Kettering housing estate, leaving at least 25 homes uninhabitable, residents are waiting for answers to why they did not receive flood warnings.

Although signed-up to the automatic alert system, homeowners in Stratfield Way on Kettering Parkway were left unwarned of the impending floods that hit their homes on Christmas Eve morning.

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Torrential rain had pounded the county with an estimated 50mm to 60mm falling in one day - seven times the previous year's total for December 2019 according to data from Northampton Weather .

Resident and local councillor Scott Edwards and his wife Eve were flooded out along with his neighbours who live next to the Slade Brook - a tributary of the River Ise.

Cllr Edwards, 44, said: "We need answers to these questions - Why weren't we alerted beforehand? I never got a flood alert although I registered as soon as we moved in 16 years ago.

"Why didn't the Environment Agency do anything when we warned them? I called them at 7pm the night before (December 23) to tell them the water had reached the grass in front of the house. "They said 'thank you we don't think there will be anyone out this evening.'

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"I want to know the likelihood of it happening again. What plans are they going to put in place to make sure the alert system works?

The view from one resident's front window of the floodingThe view from one resident's front window of the flooding
The view from one resident's front window of the flooding

"We accept that the water rises and it sometimes floods the land in front of the house. We were here in 2004 when the floods hit the Pytchley Road Industrial Estate industrial estate."

Dozens of houses and vehicles were engulfed after the river burst its banks swamping homes, gardens and roads with filthy water.

Stratfield Way resident Ryan Critchley had been so concerned that water had been rising 30 metres from his house that he too called the Environment Agency to warn them.

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He said: "I did try to warn them. I phoned them at about 7pm on the 23rd and said 'there's water on the road at about kerb level'. They said that someone might let them know.

Flood Warnings came too late for residentsFlood Warnings came too late for residents
Flood Warnings came too late for residents

"We were not given a flood warning until after we were flooded at 9.12am I got an email by which time we were already flooded out."

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "The flooding experienced on December 23 and 24 unfortunately resulted in multiple properties flooding across the county, and a number of our river gauging stations exceeded the highest recorded historic river levels. The nature of the incident led to both surface water flooding and river (fluvial) flooding.

"During this incident, the Environment Agency received a very large number of calls in a short space of time. Unfortunately, we were therefore unable to respond to all calls we received during the incident as our priority was our operational response. This included issuing multiple Flood Alerts and Flood Warnings across the county, as well as operational work in the field."

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Homeowners in England can sign up to the free flood warning system that alerts subscribers by phone, email or text message if a home or business is at risk of flooding.

River levels surpassed the flood action level on December 23 and again on Christmas EveRiver levels surpassed the flood action level on December 23 and again on Christmas Eve
River levels surpassed the flood action level on December 23 and again on Christmas Eve

Under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, one of the roles of Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) as Lead Local Flood Authority is to carry out investigations into flooding incidents if they meet set thresholds. Investigations take place after the flood event has passed and the flood water has receded.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said: “We are currently assessing which of these flood incidents meet our threshold for an investigation and are contacting all of our flood risk management partners as a matter of priority, to ensure we are aware of the full extent of the flooding.

“We are still receiving reports from December 23/24 and are concentrating on addressing any immediate concerns that residents might have. Once we are in a position to confirm any flood investigations and their locations, we will contact those residents who have reported this flooding to us directly to begin this process.

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“For more information, our thresholds and process for flood investigations can be found on our Flood Toolkit website.

“If anyone has not yet reported the flooding they have experienced, they can do so on our Flood Toolkit website." Click Here to report flooding.

After a incident, flooding report forms are collated and then reviewed to see if a formal investigation is needed.

Stratfield Way seen from Kettering Parkway with the Slade BrookStratfield Way seen from Kettering Parkway with the Slade Brook
Stratfield Way seen from Kettering Parkway with the Slade Brook

The thresholds for a formal flood investigation set by Northamptonshire County Council are if one or more of the following occurs:

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• Flooding has affected critical infrastructure affecting essential national services for a period in excess of three hours from the onset of flooding;

• Internal flooding of a building has been experienced on more than one occasion in the last five years -not including detached garages

• Internal flooding of five buildings in close proximity has been experienced during one single flood incident.

Investigations undertaken are contracted out to Northampton-based David Smith Associates - a specialist engineering and construction company.

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An Environment Agency spokesman said: "We will be working closely with Northamptonshire County Council as the flooding will have met the thresholds for a formal Section 19 investigation under the Flood and Water Act.

"Following any river flooding incident, the Environment Agency also undertakes its own review, for the purposes of identifying improvements and re-calibrating the Flood Warning system’s trigger levels if required. Any property flooding is devastating for those affected. Our role is to reduce and mitigate this risk – we cannot however always prevent flooding.

"The flooding experienced on December 23 and 24 was complex due to a combination of surface water and river flooding, in Kettering and across the county, causing some rivers to respond in different ways to previous flood incident observations. Multiple gauging stations across the county recorded their highest ever river levels.

We will review all Flood Warnings issued in this incident across the county and, if necessary based on this river levels experienced, we will adjust the trigger levels for the Flood Warnings.

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"The gauging station did trigger the issuing of a Flood Alert (issued on December 23) and Flood Warning (issued on December 24 ) and these are based on historical observations of flooding and impacts on Slade Brook.

"Last time this area experienced flooding, the businesses on Pytchley Lodge Road were also flooded. On this occasion they weren’t, so the flood investigation will need to assess the interaction between surface water and the river flooding in this location to see if there is a reason only this area was affected."

Data from the Pytchley Road Monitoring Station published by RiverLevels.UK shows that the river level had reached flooding levels in the early evening of December 23 with the river level receding overnight. The river level then rose again on Christmas Eve causing the Stratfield Way to flood.

Nearby Wicksteed Park where the River Ise, carrying flood water from upstream Geddington, and the Slade Brook meet, also suffered flooding on Christmas Eve.

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A spokesman for Wicksteed Park said: “Wicksteed Park suffered extensive flooding after the heavy rainfall in the run up to Christmas. Ballast has been washed away from the park’s railway track in three places but the affected areas have been inspected by an engineer and there is no damage to the track or track bed.

“We are now making arrangements for the ballast to be reinstated so that the train is ready to operate once we are allowed to re-open the park’s attractions.

“A lock gate system has been in operation at Wicksteed Park lake for almost 100 years and was updated as part of the lake restoration in 2013.

“The automatic system is owned by the park and is designed to maintain the level of water in the lake. It opens to allow water to run down its natural course in the River Ise and past the confluence with Slade Brook, once sensors indicate that the lake level has reached capacity.

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“Inspections of water levels in the park in the run up to Christmas Eve didn’t reveal any cause for concern and this flooding appears to have been caused by a sudden surge of water without any advance warning.”

The Environment Agency will send a report to Northamptonshire County Council with their findings after which, if the thresholds have been met, an official flood investigation will be launched.