By Hull ‘better protected’ after new flood defences installed
Over 110,000 homes in Hull are better protected from flooding after ‘vital’ defences were installed on the Humber estuary, the Environment Agency has said.
A £42m scheme, which runs for more than four miles from St Andrew’s Quay to Victoria Dock Village, has now been completed.
it has been key in enabling the department to meet its target of protecting 300,000 homes from flooding across England.
Hull was badly hit in 2013 when a storm surge flooded 264 homes. According to the Environment Agency, water levels on the Humber are expected rise by over three feet in the next 100 years.
Planning permission was granted to improve the flood defences on Nelson Street/Victoria Pier in 2019.
Helen Tattersdale, Project Manager, said:
“We’re thrilled that we have reached this milestone. It’s a fantastic achievement and I’m very proud of what has been accomplished.
“Climate change is one of the biggest global threats we face, and intense storms are becoming more frequent.
“Sea level rise on the Humber in the next 100 years is likely to be in excess of one metre. The work we have now completed will better protect properties in Hull from the increasing threat of flooding.”
Oliver Harmer, from the Environment Agency, added the new defences left the city “better prepared for the future”.
“I was here in 2013. I saw for myself just how devastating it was,” he said.
“Of course the sea level’s rising, climate is changing. It’s schemes like this which are so, so important to the future of Hull and, indeed, the whole of the Humber estuary.”
“The foundations are now in place to raise the walls, to increase the standard of protection should sea levels rise further.”
The flood defences have been designed to be sympathetic to their surroundings, which covers commercial, industrial, as well as residential areas.
Working alongside one another, Hull City Council and the Environment Agency used materials and a colour palette to blend the new defences into the existing landscape.
Work to complete landscaping and the aesthetic details of the scheme is ongoing, and is set to be completed in the coming months.
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