THE FLOOD EVENT:
On the afternoon of Saturday 6th September 2008 a period of high intensity rainfall resulted in water from the River Rea flooding roads and properties in Selly Park South. Approximately 90 homes were flooded and in many of these cases residents were forced to find alternative accommodation for up to 6 months while their properties were repaired. This was the first time that such a flood had occurred since 1927. The rise in the floodwater was rapid when a prolonged downpour of rain started around 13:00BST. The rate of rise slowed after 15:00BST and the peak was reached by 16:00BST. The water gradually began to subside during the next hour and subsided more rapidly from 17:00BST onwards. The heaviest of the rain was over by 15:00BST after which rainfall became moderate then light.
BACKGROUND AND CAUSES OF THE FLOOD
On the morning of Saturday 6th September 2008 the ground was already saturated by many days of high rainfall and this followed a very wet August. There were already pools of water lying on the surface of the Kitchener Road playing fields and the river was full to the top of its natural channel. As a result of this, all of the rain that fell that Saturday simply flowed straight to the river, which rapidly overtopped is banks. The afternoon rainfall was also particularly intense with rates in excess of 64mm/hour being indicated on rainfall radar in the Rea catchment area to the south west of Selly Park. (The normal total rainfall for the whole month of September in Birmingham is 54mm).
The Environment Agency (EA) automatic river level gauge on the Rea at Calthorpe Park Edgbaston, downstream of Selly Park, showed that whereas the mean discharge of the river is 0.78 cubic metres per second (cumecs), in the hours prior to the flood the river was flowing at 6 cumecs and the flow peaked at 72 cumecs at 15:30BST. Calthorpe gauge is downstream of the confluence of the Rea and Bourn Brook and so it was also measuring the input from this major tributary. However, as this was the highest peak recorded at this gauge since constant gauging began in 1972, it is indicative of the exceptional volume of this flood.
Observation at the time of the flood and subsequent investigations and eye witness reports established that the route taken by the Selly Park South flood water started with the river overtopping its western bank to the south of Dogpool Lane Bridge. The water flowed over the flood plain, through the factory premises and car park of W H Leake & Sons and flooded Dogpool Lane and the southern half of Fashoda Road. There it flowed right through the houses on the eastern side of the road, on through the back gardens to flood through the houses on the western side of Cecil Road and out into the street. Some houses in Hobson Road and Kitchener Road were also flooded. The water finally flowed onto the Kitchener Road playing fields where an extensive temporary lake formed. In effect the Rea had created a temporary second course for the duration of the flood and subsequent investigations by the EA show that this in fact follows the line of the lowest land in the area, suggesting that this was probably once a former course of the river. The flooding was made worst by Dogpool Lane Bridge restricting the flow of water on the Rea and causing it to back up south of the bridge. This was largely due to the two “temporary” concrete piers and steel jacks which support the bridge. To see photographs of the flood event which illustrate these points please follow this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcweatherman/sets/72157607172937378/
(To do this please open a second browser window and copy and paste this URL into the address box. You will then be able to view he photos in the new second window and this article in this first window).
ACTION SINCE THE FLOOD
In the months following the flood Selly Park South Neighbourhood Forum established the Selly Park South Flood Action Group (SPSFG) which currently consists of more than 30 residents with the roles of, and Flood Volunteers and Flood Action Coordinator. SPSFG has worked closely with the Environment Agency, with Birmingham City Council’s Resilience Team (BRT) – the Council’s Emergency Planning Department - and with the Council’s Drainage Department towards improvements which will reduce the possibility of future major flooding but which will also provide immediate support to assist residents should another major flood be threatened or occur.
Achievements:
A comprehensive Flood Action Plan (FAP) has been developed and tested in exercises carried out by members of the Flood Action Group and organised and coordinated by BRT and the EA.
Flood Information Packs have been produced with the help of BRT and the EA and distributed to all of the 281 households potentially at risk of flooding in the Selly Park South Neighbourhood. All of the households were also visited by members of the Flood Action Group to ascertain the extent to which they were affected by the flood, their preparedness in the event of another flood being threatened or occurring and to establish the households where there are elderly, infirm or disabled residents who would need extra assistance in the event of another flood.
With the help of BRT and funding from the Birmingham Environment Partnership various items of flood defence equipment have been obtained.
The management and staff of St Andrews Healthcare on Dogpool Lane have offered assistance in the event of another flood and the hospital is providing storage facilities for the flood defence equipment.
Christ Church, Pershore Road, Selly Park has been established as the front line evacuation centre, should this become necessary in the future.
Members of the Flood Action Group have attended various meetings and conferences locally, regionally and nationally to share information on best practice in community flood resilience. This has been facilitated by BRT.
The Environment Agency responded to a request from SPSFG to install a new automatic river level gauge on the Rea between Dogpool Lane and Cartland Road. The installation was completed in September 2009 and the gauge is now active and linked to the EA’s Flood Warnings Direct service, which all residents in the flood risk area have been encouraged to subscribe to, free of charge. The new river gauge provides much better warning of flood threats on the Rea than was previously provided by the more distant gauge at Longbridge. BRT has also arranged for the SPS Flood Group managers to receive automated SMS text warning messages from the Met Office of severe weather affecting the West Midlands.
EA has also now completed a comprehensive computer model of the Rea system which shows how the river behaves under flood conditions. The model confirms precisely the pattern of flooding described earlier in this article. Informed by this information, SPSFG made a formal request to EA in July 2010 for the creation of flood defence measures to the south of Dogpool Lane Bridge where currently no defences exist.
Birmingham City Council highway engineers have produced plans for the rebuilding of Dogpool Lane Bridge, again in response to requests from the SPS Flood Group, and also because the bridge does not meet current highway engineering standards. A major Private Finance Initiative agreement was signed in May 2010 between the City Council and Amey plc for the maintenance of Birmingham’s highways and the new bridge will be built as part of this agreement. Work is scheduled to start in Mrach 2011.
In conclusion a great deal has been achieved in the two years since the flood through the partnership of SPS Flood Group, BRT and the EA and we are confident that we are much better prepared now to deal with any future threats of flooding. However, no-one is complement and we all realise there is still significant further work to be done.
