Flood risk and investigation

October and November 2023 flood investigations

In our role as the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA), we commissioned JBA consulting to gather evidence following the flooding that impacted the Island as a result of Storm Babet and Storm Ciaran in October and November 2023.

The initial evidence gathering exercise indicated that at least 317 properties experienced internal flooding in October and November 2023.

The information supplied helped us to understand how this flooding has impacted the local community, where to carry out specific investigations and to consider potential options to mitigate the risk of similar flooding occurring in the future.

The following Section 19 flood investigation reports have now been published by the council in our role as LLFA:

Since publication of the Brading Section 19 report, the council have been in positive dialogue with the RSPB over the role that the RSPB play in the operation of the Brading Marshes Water Level Management Plan (WLMP). The RSPB have provided further informative data relating to water levels within the land that they manage, covering the flood event on 25 October 25 2023. The data indicates that the marsh water levels controlled by the Bembridge sluices did not influence flooding outside of the nature reserve. The council, in our role as Lead Local Flood Authority, will be setting up a working group in the first half of 2025 for all key stakeholders to take forward the recommendation in the report of reviewing the content of the WLMP to ensure positive outcomes for all.

A Section 19 report addendum for Binstead will be published in Spring 2025.

Any questions related to these Section 19 flood investigation reports should be sent to llfa@iow.gov.uk

Flood investigations

On becoming aware of a flood we must, to the extent that we consider necessary or appropriate, investigate:
  • which risk management authorities have relevant flood management functions
  • whether each of those risk management authorities has exercised, or is proposing to exercise those functions in response to the flood.

When considering whether to investigate, we will follow our flood investigation protocol.

We may investigate if:

  • there is doubt surrounding the source or responsibility of a flood incident;
  • internal flooding of one property has been experienced on more than one occasion;
  • internal flooding of a group of properties has been experienced during a single flood incident;
  • flooding resulted in disruption of one or more items of critical infrastructure;
  • a single flood incident resulted in flooding that affects vulnerable individuals; 
  • there is risk to life as a result of flooding.
Investigations have been undertaken for the following areas:

Flood risk management

We are responsible for flood risk management and have developed a local flood risk management strategy. The strategy provides information about potential flood hazards including

  • tidal
  • river
  • surface water
  • sewer
  • groundwater

The aim is to understand, communicate and manage the risk of flooding and the impacts they have.

The following documents provide information on flooding on the Isle of Wight

If you require the documents on this page in a different format contact the service. 

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