A message from Sherry Woolgrove, Emergency Planning Team Leader, Shropshire Council
As you are no doubt aware, Storm Babet brought in significant rainfall totals across Shropshire.
As reported on the BBC, Pennerley received up to 61mm of rainfall in 24hrs with widespread rainfall totals of 40-50mm across the County. During the event there was significant disruption to transport infrastructure with runoff from surrounding land overwhelming smaller watercourses and drainage systems. Although this disruption continued throughout the day, once the heavy rain stopped the localised flooding began to drain away with the majority of locations returning to normal by Saturday morning. River levels on the Severn remain high however these are likely to fall throughout the week, but the weather remains unsettled.
In order for Shropshire Council to gain a better understanding on the impacts of storm Babet we would appreciate it if all Town and Parish Councils could provide us with information on any significant flooding in your area. We are aware that there will have been a large number of minor events where runoff from fields temporarily exceeded the capacity of drainage networks before returning to normal. Therefore for the purposes of this update we would classify significant flooding as flooding which caused internal flooding to residential or business properties, or flooding that caused significant transport disruption. You can report the above information via email to [email protected].
For minor issues please ask residents to report these to Shropshire Council via the fix my street app. Issues with the sewer network can be reported to Severn Trent Water via 0800 783 44 44. Issues with pollution and main rivers can be reported to the Environment Agency via 0800 80 70 60.
If any of your residents have been affected by flooding, need advice on post flood clean up, or advice on dealing with insurance companies, Shropshire Council are working in partnership with the National Flood Forum (NFF) to offer support to Shropshire residents. The NFF have a range of advice and useful information on their webpage: https://nationalfloodforum.org.uk/ and can be contacted on their helpline 01299 403 055. The NFF are also supporting communities in establishing flood action groups therefore if you are aware of a need for a group in your area the NFF can support its establishment.
Last modified: 27th October 2023
