Flood-hit farmers clean up after tidal surge
Flood-blighted farmers hit by last week’s devastating storms and tidal surge have been counting the cost of the damage as the clean-up continued today (Tuesday 10 December).
The wild weather that battered parts of Scotland, north Wales and east England, led to hundreds of acres of farmland being flooded.
Rural insurer NFU Mutual said it was so far dealing with 310 claims resulting from last Thursday’s storm, dubbed the “biggest tidal surge in 60 years”. Sixty claims are connected to the flood surge.
Farming businesses in low-lying coastal areas in East Anglia, east Yorkshire, North Wales and Scotland bore the brunt of the storm and tidal damage.
The river bank broke and flooded Hazelwood Farm in Aldringham, Suffolk. Farm manager Richard Parry is concerned that saltwater may have contaminated fresh water stored in a reservoir.
“If we have got salination problems and we can’t pump water for our vegetable crops we are going to have very big problems,” he said.
East Yorkshire farmer and #clubhectare founder Jonathan Dixon, who farms at Sunk Island, estimated that between 810ha and 1200ha of farmland in Holderness, along the east Yorkshire coast were left under water after the North bank of the Humber was breached.
Dale Senior, an independent agronomist of East Yorkshire-based JK Senior & Sons, said hundreds of acres of farmland had been flooded in two places – near Howden on the north bank and near Welwick.
“In some areas, the water travelled over half a mile inland from the breach, which created problems both in residential accommodation and in farming,” he explained.
“Everybody has been trying to pump or clear water from fields. In some instances, farmers have been trying to pump the water back into dykes. Others have been using excavators to create channels, known as ‘gripping off’, to lead water off the fields.”
Mr Senior said farmers were waiting nervously to see whether salt waters would damage the crops.
Some have also spent the last few days moving wheat, barley and oilseed rape crops from flooded sheds. He feared many would not be insured for any damage caused to grain.
NFU Mutual claims manager Richard Birch said: “From the number and severity of claims reported so far, it looks as if the extent of damage is not as great as feared, but we won’t have a clear picture for a few days.”
He warned people living in low-lying areas to remain vigilant over the next few days, and continue to check Environment Agency flood warnings so they are prepared for further flooding.
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