‘Largest programme in history’: UK commits £8 billion to flood defence

Britain’s Labour government on Monday announced plans to invest almost £8 billion (US$11 billion) on flood defences over the next 10 years, citing growing risks posed by climate change.

The funding forms part of an infrastructure strategy this week due to outline the government’s long-term plan to invest billions of pounds on delivering major infrastructure projects.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government said new funds will “protect hundreds of thousands of homes, small businesses, and vital infrastructure from the growing threat of flooding”.

It will go towards building flood barriers and nature-based solutions such as wetland restoration.

The Climate Change Committee, an expert group that advises the government, warned in April that Britain is not properly prepared for severe floods and unprecedented heatwaves.

“This government is taking urgent action with the largest flooding programme in our country’s history,” environment minister Steve Reed said in a statement on Monday.

“We inherited crumbling flood defences in their worst condition on record, exposing thousands of homes,” he added.

A recent government report estimated that around 6.3 million properties in England are at risk of flooding, with that number expected to rise to more than eight million by 2050.

It estimated also that more than half of the nation’s highest-quality agricultural land and over a third of its railways and roads are vulnerable.

Like a lot of countries, Britain in recent years has been battered by major storms and heatwaves. Many areas registered record 40-degree Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures in July 2022.

Scientists warn that extreme and fluctuating weather events are becoming increasingly common as planet-heating fossil fuel emissions keep rising.

On Monday, authorities in Congo said the death toll following devastating floods and separate boat accidents has reached 77, with more than 100 people missing.

A total of 48 bodies had been recovered in the northwestern Equateur province where three boats sank on Lake Tumba during extreme weather on Wednesday last week, with 107 passengers still missing, the Ministry of Interior said.

Almost 50 people were rescued, it said.

Separately, 29 people were confirmed to have died after heavy rain at the weekend triggered floods and landslides in the capital city Kinshasa, the ministry said in a statement late on Sunday.

Residents told how walls collapsed and houses were submerged.

“It was around 3am when we heard a loud noise. When we went outside, the neighbours’ wall had collapsed. The man and his wife both died,” resident Clovis Kalenga said.

02:26

‘All my belongings are gone’: floods in Indonesian capital displace thousands

‘All my belongings are gone’: floods in Indonesian capital displace thousands

Meanwhile, in the United States, flash flooding caused by torrential rain killed five people in West Virginia and rescue crews were searching for three others who were missing on Sunday.

“We almost immediately started getting 911 calls for rescue of people being trapped,” Lou Vargo, Ohio County’s emergency management director, said on Sunday, adding that there was “major infrastructure damage to roads, bridges, and highways where we couldn’t respond to a lot of incidents. So we were delayed in getting there because there was just so much damage”.

Vargo added: “It happened so quickly and so fast … I’ve been doing this for 35 years. I’ve seen major floods here in the city and the county. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Additional reporting by Associated Press