'Resilient' Calderdale businesses need support to survive future floods

Resilience and the ability to recover quickly will be at the forefront of flood planning in the future as environmental experts warn that deluges which have caused devastation for parts of Calderdale will become more frequent.

The Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee (EFRA) last week heard from key figures from the Environment Agency, on the same day that a new blueprint for tackling flood risk was unveiled.

Emma Howard Boyd, the chairwoman of the Environment Agency, said there was a change in emphasis from protection to resilience in local areas as climate change had made it clear the formerly rare flooding events would become more common.

She said: “Until now we have focused on trying to protect communities, and that is still vital, but as a nation we need to stop chasing the last flood event and should instead be making sure we are ready for the next one, and all the ones after that.”

More than 5.2 million properties in England are already at risk of flooding, and climate change will lead to even more people being affected. More extreme weather is expected, including summer temperatures up to 7.4C hotter and 59 per cent more rainfall by 2050. Therefore the new strategy focuses on resilience rather than what is traditionally seen as flood prevention such as building concrete defences.

John Curtin, the Environment Agency’s executive director of flood and coastal risk management, pointed to Headquarters hairdressers in Mytholmroyd as an example of how resilience can make a difference.

He said: “The Calder Valley has been hit hard by floods but there’s a hairdressers in Mytholmroyd, it’s called Headquarters and it’s run by a lady called Sue.

“She was badly flooded – her hairdressers is right next to the river in Mytholmroyd – and she was badly flooded in 2016, and it took her nine months to get her business back on its feet.

“But what she did, which is absolutely central to what we’re saying today, when she was flooded in 2016 instead of just putting back as it was, she invested money to tank (damp proof) the walls, pave the floor, lift the electrics, and her kit can be bagged up really quickly when she gets one of the flood warnings.

“She was unfortunately flooded during Storm Dennis again this year but instead of nine months, she was up and running in a week.”

Sue has run Headquarters for over 38 years and has been flooded three times in eight years, sometimes facing up to six feet of flood water.

2020 has proved to be a particularly difficult year for the salon, after Storm Dennis caused 3ft of flooding, shortly followed by the coronavirus lockdown.

“We in Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge have had to put up with nearly four years of disruption to build the present flood defences.

“There is no guarantee we will not be flooded again so along with that fact and climate change problems, I like to think resilience is the best way forward.

“The business was doing great but lockdown caused a lot of worry and heartache. When we were told to shut that was my livelihood gone, and coming so soon after the flood it was heart-breaking.

“Help is needed with insurance and we need the authorities to listen to what business owners and the people who live and work in the valley have to say.

“We have some fantastic businesses in the Calder Valley and we don’t want to lose them.”