Warning after flooding occurs in unexpected areas of the district

Floods were caused by drainage systems unable to cope, rather than burst rivers of streams.

On Saturday, the district saw significant surface water flooding due to saturated ground, run-off from farm land and drainage systems not coping with the excess water from the heavy rainfall - not because of flooding from becks and rivers.

Due to this, flooding occurred in places which have not experienced it before and effected a small number of properties in the district.

The council had 15 teams working through the night to prevent any internal flooding to those properties, including pumping water, providing sand bags and clearing gullies.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service supported our teams and were on standby to rescue vulnerable people.

Flooding of individual properties from land due to increased rainfall is the householder’s responsibility and all residents and businesses are encouraged to be prepared in case of any future flooding, particularly as further snowfall and wintry showers are expected this week.

Coun Matthew Morley, Wakefield Council’s cabinet member for planning and highways, said: “We know how upsetting property flooding can be for those affected and over the weekend we did everything we could to prevent that from happening – with teams working around the clock to support residents, alongside the fire service.

“When the ground is so saturated and there is heavy rainfall, surface water flooding can happen anywhere and there are some simple things people can do to prepare for flooding. Knowing what to do in a flood could help keep you and your family safe and save you thousands of pounds in damages and disruption.

“As we saw at the weekend, surface water flooding can affect properties that aren’t expecting it and are not typically known to be a flood-risk area. That’s why it’s always best to be prepared and with increased rainfall linked to climate change, it’s likely that the flood risk across the UK, including the Wakefield district, will increase over time.”

Information on how to prepare, help prevent and stay safe during a flooding event is available by clicking here.