Severn Trent urges Midlands residents to prepare amid heavy rain warning
Severn Trent has issued storm and flooding advice to customers after more rain was forecast for the Midlands over the coming 48hrs. The showers are set to batter the region on Thursday and Friday, with a Met Office amber weather warning in place.
Severn Trent has released advice to make sure residents and businesses are prepared, with tips to reduce any impact of flooding on peoples’ homes and to make sure they know who to contact.
They said storms can produce different kinds of flooding events, with surface water on the streets potentially resulting from blocked roadside drains, ground saturation, or when the amount of rain falling overwhelms the capacity of the sewers.
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For flooding on roads, small rivers and streams - you should contact your local council to report flooding on roads or blocked drains or grates on highways. They will also help you with groundwater surface flooding, as well as flooding in streams, brooks and small rivers. For major river flooding, the Environment Agency will be able to help you if you are at risk of flooding due to rising river levels.
For sewer flooding or flooding due to burst pipes, if the flooding is coming from the public sewer, Severn Trent, is urging people to contact them. They said that if the flooding is due to heavy rain, they may need to wait for the flood water to subside before they can investigate.
Steve Betteridge, Head of Waste Network Operations, Severn Trent said “We know just how distressing any form of flooding can be and with more extreme weather events on the horizon being driven by climate change, we want to make sure that our customers are as prepared as possible if we see a return of last year’s stormy conditions.
“If the flooding is rainwater, it should subside on its own once the weather starts to clear and it stops raining. But if you see sewer flooding from a public drain or manhole should contact us and we’ll send someone out as soon as possible.”
Severn Trent is telling residents to empty any water butts in the garden before the rain starts to help reduce the rainwater flow into the drains when a storm arrives. They also advise checking that home and garden drains are free-flowing and to clear out any leaves or other waste so rainwater can more easily flow away.
Finally, they're asking people to look at the roadside drains around their houses and clear any leaves or debris where possible. Otherwise, they advise contacting the local council if they’re blocked and unable to be cleared.
Betteridge said “Knowing who to contact first time can save a lot of worry and help to make sure that the right calls are able to get through. People might naturally think of contacting Severn Trent first, but it could be another agency that they have to speak to.
“We can help when it comes to sewer flooding from public drains or manholes, while the Environment Agency are the right people to contact if a river bursts its water banks, and your local council can assist with blocked roadside drains, or if small streams or brooks are overflowing.
“To help keep the sewer pipes in your neighbourhood flowing freely, you should only ever flush the three Ps – pee, poo and paper – down the loo, and scrape any sauces, gravy and food scraps from plates into the bin instead of rinsing down the sink, and cooking oil can be poured into a bottle and then thrown away.”