January 31, 2023 5.00 pm This story is over 24 months old

“Remain vigilant”: Warning on 70th anniversary of devastating 1953 floods

“We’re never safe, we always have to be on our guard.”

Lincolnshire leaders said the county should remain vigilant as they marked 70 years since the 1953 floods, which claimed the lives of 43 people.

An exhibition at the North Sea Observatory in Chapel St Leonards features photographs, newspaper articles, and local children’s schoolwork from the time of the flood in January 1953.

High spring tides and severe winds caused a storm surge with the sea overflowing into the towns and villages along the coast, breaching the defences, and leaving them underwater.

The exhibition will show the impact of the floods. | Photo: LCC

During a launch event of the commemorative exhibition, County Councillor Colin Davie said there had been a “fantastic” service of remembrance.

However, he said: “We’ve been very fortunate in the past 70 years that we’ve had no repeat of the 1953 event, but we have to remain vigilant, climate change is real and the sea level is rising.

“There may be a point in the future where those stars realign as they did in ’53 and the coast will again be under pressure.”

He said the council, along with the Environment Agency (EA) and government continued to work together to keep the coast protected.

“We have a great partnership with the EA and government who recognise the challenge nationally of coastlines and water. Ultimately this will have to be invested in to give us the level of protection we need,” he added.

“Coastlines promote a huge amount in tourism and leisure, that can be a lot more in the future and we need to make sure we have a coastline that is attractive for visitors and one that is long-term safe and investable in.”

Norman Robinson from the Environment Agency. | Image: Daniel Jaines

Lincolnshire County Council leader Martin Hill said the risk was “still there”.

“Although coastal defences have been improved, it is a constant issue for Lincolnshire.

“We have to make sure with partners that those defences are kept up to a reasonable standard otherwise there’s always a risk that if the wrong weather conditions occur we could find that the sea defences are overtopped.

“It was a terrible thing in 1953, and we need to make sure we do all we can to make sure we are safe and make sure those who come after us are safe as well.”

The floods washed across the East Coast 70 years ago. | Photo: LCC

Norman Robinson, Area Director for the Environment Agency, said it had been a privilege to attend the event on Tuesday.

“Flood defence in this country is unrecognisable from what it was in 1953, we sit today in a much well-informed society where defences are higher and there are better standards,” he said.

“You could say we are safer… unfortunately we are still at significant risk. Tidal surges are not common but they’re also not rare.

“We’re never safe, we always have to be on our guard, but the technology and the size of the fences has advanced beyond recognition from 1953.”

He pointed to £5.2bn national projects for flood defence along with local projects such as the Boston Barrier, and the beach restoration works.

The North Sea Observatory exhibition is free to visit from 31 January until the end of February 2023.


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