More than 1,200 Nottinghamshire homes and businesses suffered internal flooding following Storm Babet

The statistics confirm the storm caused far more local flooding than any other weather event in the last decade.

Councillors will discuss the lasting impact of the ‘severe’ October incident in a meeting next week.

The council’s flood risk management team verified 1,259 properties and businesses in 92 communities as suffering from internal flooding as a direct result of the storm.

By comparison, the council had 1,547 reports of internal flooding recorded in total in the nine years between 2013 and 2022.

A total of 1,233 claims have been paid out by the council’s recovery grant scheme for those affected by internal flooding in the aftermath.

The extreme flooding in October led to a major incident being declared by the council.

The report will be discussed at the place select committee on March 27.

As the lead local flood authority, the council must report on flooding incidents.

The authority said it ‘remains committed to working with our communities and partner organisations to reduce the risk and consequences of flooding across the county’.

In October, Storm Babet also led to 77 roads being closed with many more impacted by the flooding, resulting in significant disruption.

Environment Agency statistics recorded up to 124mm of rain falling in parts of the county between October 18 and 21 with 95mm of that falling in a 24-hour period.

The agency issued 17 flood alerts, 57 flood warnings and two severe flood warnings between October 19 and 23.

In a flood emergency, the council must provide support on the scene including sandbags, closing off unsafe roads, structural assessments and gully emptying.

It must also identify vulnerable residents and support emergency services with evacuation.

A major incident was declared on October 21.

Highways and maintenance provider Via East Midlands responded to 376 calls for support from communities at risk.

Now, the council is considering the implementation of new measures to help communities affected.

These include extending the property flood resilience programme to cover new ‘at risk’ areas and building on support for community groups including training and CCTV.

The council will also consider creating a four-year programme of investment in some rural areas and review its work on flood risk every six months.