The second round of a £5.5 million grant scheme was announced by English floods minister, Huw Irranca-Davies and is part of the government's response to a review of the 2007 floods, estimated to have cost the country £3.2 billion in total.
As part of the funding, the £2.6 million will be allocated to 34 schemes in areas at high risk of flooding, enabling 532 households to benefit from practical flood protection solutions such as air bricks covers, storm porches, door guards and flood boards.
In the first round of funding, £3 million was made available to 25 local authorities to protect up to 593 properties across England.
The announcement followed a report from the Environment Agency that predicted England would need to double its investment in flood defenses to £1 billion a year by 2035 if it is to prevent future devastation (see Water & Wastewater International story).
Irranca-Davies said: “In the future we must be prepared for more extreme weather on all levels. There are 490,000 properties at significant risk of (river/coastal) flooding in England. Since the floods of 2007 we have been taking action on a range of fronts to protect against the heart breaking damage and destruction that can be caused by floods."
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