Council rises to challenge following flash flood crisis

On Monday 23 September the borough experienced unprecedented levels of rainfall, with a month's volume falling in a single day. Residents woke up to closed roads, delayed public transport and in some cases, floodwater entering their properties.  

From the moment the first reports from residents came into the council in the early hours of Monday morning, its staff across a range of services sprang into action to tackle rapidly-escalating numbers of flood related issues. 

Three local schools had to be closed; Bourne Primary School in South Ruislip, Queensmead Secondary School, Ruislip and Ruislip High School. Council officers visited each site to investigate and assess any damage. 

Two schools have now reopened but Bourne Primary remains closed while the council sanitises and dries the affected areas. High volumes of water had to be pumped clear of the school's main building with the council's swift action minimising what could have been devastating damage.  

Alternative provision, including remote learning is in place for those pupils affected, with welfare checks for any vulnerable families. 

Road sweepers and gully cleansing teams helped alleviate issues of surface water flooding on roads across the borough to help get traffic moving again. For some roads, there is no drainage for the water to flow into, so it was case of having to wait for it to recede naturally.  

The council's flood alleviation schemes, such as those in Bessingby Park, Ruislip and Elephant Park, Uxbridge, worked effectively to keep rising waters away from nearby homes. Both are designed to hold water on site so that it can seep away slowly over time slowing down flows and reducing risk to properties. 

While new measures recently introduced by the Environment Agency around Brook Drive in Ruislip also proved effective at minimising flooding in an area where a high number of homes have previously been at risk. 

Despite the disruption, the majority of council services ran normally throughout the challenging weather, with all returning to full operation by Tuesday.  

Cllr Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council's Cabinet Member for Residents' Services, said: "We're very proud of how quickly and effectively the council's teams dealt with a broad range of issues, under very challenging circumstances. 

"The frequency of such weather events is expected to increase with changing climates which is why we've been taking steps to try and minimise risk to households in the borough including the adoption of a flood risk management plan.   

"We will now thoroughly investigate where these floods caused serious issues and investigate why it occurred. We'll also review our processes to see what we've done well and learn where we can improve things to ensure we're doing all we can to keep residents safe in future."