Charity offers help to flood-risk community (From Gazette & Herald)

National Flood Forum offers help to flood-risk community in Norton

11:42am Wednesday 6th February 2013 in News

RYEDALE residents affected by flooding were given the opportunity to put forward their views at a special roadshow in Norton.

More than 200 people attended the National Flood Forum (NFF) roadshow which included representatives from Ryedale District Council, North Yorkshire County Council, Yorkshire Water, the Environment Agency and the emergency services.

A national charity, the National Flood Forum is dedicated to supporting and representing communities and individuals at risk of flooding.

It works to support the recovery of victims of flooding, to improve resilience of communities to future flood threat and speaks out to highlight the plight of flood victims and the need for adequate flood prevention investment.

Staff at the roadshow were on hand to provide support for local people to ensure that the needs of flood-risk communities are represented.

Mark Young, flood officer for North Yorkshire County Council, said: “The roadshow was extremely well-attended by people from throughout Ryedale.

“It provided another way in which the community can feed into the multi-agency review of recent flooding events, which North Yorkshire County Council is leading on.

The review aims to gather evidence from the widest range of sources possible, so that future planning and investment can be focused in the right places.”

The flooding situation in Ryedale continues to be closely monitored by Silver Command.

River levels and groundwater levels in the district are continuing to fall – the level of the River Derwent currently stands at 2.52m and groundwater levels are starting to fall at 21.42m.

Met Office forecasts indicate possible snow later in the week, but it is not expected to present any significant issues regarding flooding.

Glyn Payne, North Yorkshire Police’s Scarborough and Ryedale safer neighbourhood commander, said: “We are continuing to keep a close eye on the situation throughout the district and are ready to respond should conditions suddenly worsen.

“Silver Command will remain in place until we are satisfied that the risk of flooding has reduced substantially. Until then, we will be on hand to help and reassure the local community.”