Introduction
Partner agencies from the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) have held further strategic and tactical meetings throughout the day and Emergency Response Team officers have been active in communities meeting some of those affected by flooding.
Although weather today has been stable, flooding risks remain due to water runoff and we remain in ‘major incident’ mode due to ongoing concerns around Moorland, Burrowbridge, Muchelney and surrounding villages.
Floodwater is rising near road closure points. Some barriers are now partially submerged. The situation is fastmoving and our focus continues to be preparing to act quickly and safely if conditions worsen.
A Met Office weather warning for rain is in place for Somerset from Tomorrow (Thursday), into Friday.
Emergency Response and Recovery Team
We are working with our partners, voluntary and emergency services so that we’re ready to respond to any issues. The Council has redeployed staff from their usual duties to support the incident response.
On the ground support
Link Officers, housing teams, highways colleagues and others are already on the ground gathering intelligence and supporting communities.
Locality Link Officers, in Strategic Partnerships, have been pro-actively communicating with parish councils across Somerset over the last 24 hours and have been physically out and about talking to residents and others gathering community intelligence and insights relating to flooding and incidents.
Teams have been in at Moorland Village Hall, Sparkford, Severn Drive (Taunton), Bradford on Tone, West Monkton, Bathpool, West Camel, Mudford, Ilchester, Podimore, Ilminster, the Cokers and Muchelney today offering support and guidance.
In Seven Drive our officer spoke with the two householders affected by flooding, gathered and shared information and received really good feedback from the community about the team’s response.
This evening staff have supported community conversations in Muchelney and will be supporting conversations in West Camel tomorrow. We will continue to share information regarding reporting and identifying vulnerable residents with all partners and stakeholders in impacted communities.
Link Officers continue calling parish contacts for reassurance.
They will be at West Camel Village Hall tomorrow from 11am. They will be there assessing the situation and offer reassurance to local people.
Rest centres and support arrangements are on standby overnight, with Westfield Church in Bridgwater identified as a suitable rest centre if required.
It’s important that residents are encouraged to report flooding and impacts using the ‘Report It’ system – this information will be vital in helping us to plan and respond quickly if the situation escalates.
Links can be found here Flood report – Self Service.
Multiagency cells are now fully stood up, including:
- Communications
- Search and Rescue
- Welfare
- Transport
- Logistics
- Intelligence/Data
Highways updates
Teams have continued to clear up debris today – a number of roads have now reopened. Extra resource remains available and will be on standby over coming days.
We are aware the wet conditions are generating a large number of defects, please ensure that these are reported here: Report a problem on the road. The teams are dealing with these as quickly as possible in order of priority.
It’s important that people do not drive through floodwater or ignore the road closure signs, even where the water has dropped – we have reports of multiple abandoned cars in affected areas, which create hidden hazards.
Key road closures
(List correct at time of publishing)
- A361 – (East Lyng to Burrowbridge)
- Cutts Road (East Lyng to Athelney)
- Langport Road (Muchelney to Langport)
- New Road (West Lyng to North Curry)
- Lipe Road, Creech St Michael
- Limington Road Ilchester
- Oake Road Bradford-on-Tone
Environment Agency update 28 January
The weather is a much improved picture today, but the rain that fell last week and over the weekend is still making its way through the catchments, and levels are high in rivers across the Somerset Levels and Moors.
For a detailed description of how the Levels and Moors work see How the Somerset Moors work.
Across the whole of Somerset, circa 50 properties have been reported as flooded. We are working closely with our partners to support affected households. There are still widespread impacts on the road network; please check Travel Somerset for updates.
Since Somerset Council declared a major incident, multi-agency response to the flooding has been stepped up, with close co-ordination between partners.
For any welfare needs, we encourage residents to contact Somerset Council on 0300 123 2224.
We will be at Moorland Village Hall tomorrow (Thursday) from 10am – 4pm, together with our partners.
What we are doing
All six temporary pumps are up and running at Northmoor pumping station as of this evening. Extra staff, pumps and equipment have arrived from other areas of the country.
All temporary pumps at Saltmoor are on site and being installed, we are confident they will be fully operational tomorrow.
The pumps upstream of Burrowbridge cannot operate until river levels drop, as we cannot pump water into already full rivers. Once levels fall, we are ready to maximise the window of opportunity and operate the pumps as soon as we can. Temporary pumps are ready to be deployed at Currymoor once the river levels allow.
Brief road closures/traffic management continue to be in place to enable the installation of equipment.
There is a significant amount of water on the moors around Langport and Muchelney, and the moors continue to fill. We are closely monitoring levels in this area.
We have reports of property flooding not just on the Levels and Moors but in other areas of Somerset, including Taunton and Ilminster over the past few days. We would encourage members of the public to report flooding to the incident hotline or to Somerset Council.
We are meeting with Local Resilience Forum partners and coordinating closely with Somerset Council and the emergency services.
The incident room in Bridgwater is open, and staff are on duty 24 hours a day.
Flooding of some properties in flood warning areas is possible, we would encourage residents to check their risk and the latest warnings and alerts here at https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/alerts-and-warnings
Update from Avon and Somerset Police
Neighbourhood Policing Superintendent Lisa Simpson said: “Our police teams are fully involved with the major incident response efforts, working alongside a whole range of partner agencies solely focussed on keeping people safe.
“We’re putting more officers into the affected and at-risk areas to provide reassurance, respond swiftly as part of the co-ordinated emergency response, and to help protect the most vulnerable people in our communities. This visible presence will continue as long as is needed.
“We know residents will be concerned and unsettled by the risk of further flooding, but we’d encourage people to continue following official advice and guidance and prepare for the possibility of further flooding.”
Forecast
There will continue to be showers of varying intensity overnight, with another Met Office yellow warning for rain in place for Somerset tomorrow (Thursday) into early Friday morning. More rain is forecast into the weekend falling on already saturated ground.
Further spells of wet weather are forecast throughout next week.
Waste collections
- Rubbish collections missed yesterday (Tuesday) have been completed.
- Bridgwater area: Some recycling and rubbish collections due today have been delayed until tomorrow. This was to help recovery in other areas.
- Most rubbish collections in South Somerset have been completed. There are a small number in the Marston Magna that are inaccessible.
- Operational impacts of flooding could still affect services this week.
- Rubbish collection crews are being prepared for deployment from Bridgwater and Evercreech depots on Saturday.
Keep an eye on social media for updates as the position may change quickly. Residents can also report a missed collection online, where details of recollection will be available: www.somerset.gov.uk/missed-collection
Schools
Some schools remain impacted, mainly due to road access rather than flooded school sites. For the latest information on school closures please visit School closures
Advice for residents
Our Communications Team is sharing information about where to find useful information for what to do to prepare for flooding.
Anyone worried about flooding or impacted by flooding can find advice and guidance at Flooding information and advice .
If there is serious risk to life due to flooding always call 999.
Anyone needing to leave their home due to flooding is reminded to take any medication they may need with them.
Do not drive through flood water. More information about safety during floods on the road can be found here: Adverse weather conditions
Reporting problems
To report flooding on a road or blocked drains on a road use our report a problem on a road form
If your property is owned by us and has been affected by flooding, please visit our Housing repairs page or you can phone us on 0300 123 2224.
For urgent housing needs please contact Somerset Council housing team on 0800 123 2224. Further information can be found on our website www.somerset.gov.uk/housing-support/homelessness-guidance/
Stay up to date
For the latest travel updates visit our Travel Somerset Facebook page or our Roadworks and travel information page
Find out the current status of roads that have Emergency road closure gates
