Rising Above Threat On Floodplains

One way to avoid the threat of flooding is to simply not build on a floodplain. But with a shortage of land in Britain, this solution just isn't so simple.

"For those without £1m or so to spend, living on a flood plain is often not a matter of choice. Kate Barker, the government's housing adviser, has called for the construction of an extra 120,000 homes a year. Given there has been no corresponding relaxation of the planning system to allow building on green-belt areas or national parks, there is growing pressure to build on land from the Thames Estuary to Lincolnshire and beyond."

Another way to mitigate a flood threat is to rise above it. That's what one family has done with their new home along a flood-prone river. By building their home on 2-meter tall concrete stilts, the homeowners have placed their home far above the height of even the highest flood on record.

"The riverside town council had decided it wouldn't be cost-effective to build new embankments to the Avon to defend against serious floods expected to strike the Warwickshire town at least every 40 years. They are instead demanding any new houses in the flood plain should be built in such a way that they survive should they be flooded."