Flooding alert issued tonight for West Berkshire by Thames Valley Police:
Thames Valley Police would like to raise awareness of the current flooding incident in West Berkshire affecting the West IIsley and East IIsley local areas and potentially lower down the valley.
Due to the heavy rainfall and saturation of the land, groundwater level which is rather unpredictable is rising at a considerable rate. We are taking a multi-agency approach to quickly respond with our partner agencies to deal effectively with this emerging issue of flooding and we are deploying our resources to monitor and mitigate the effects of the flooding to these areas.
The military are assisting the police and other agencies to put in preventative measures and sandbagging precautions are currently put in place to protect flooding of properties in East IIsley.
A number of partner agencies are currently involved in pumping water as part of the flood relief efforts in the West IIsley area. This water is being pumped to a nearby stable and onto the land, which is running as part of the natural water course. The pumping flood relief efforts are having an impact on the surface water only and having minimal impact on groundwater flooding in East IIsley.
The impact of the increased levels of the groundwater is contributing to the rise of water levels in East IIsley and risk of flooding of this area in the West Berkshire LPA.
Chief, Insp Cecilia Agger, silver commander said: “Groundwater is rising which is causing flooding, this is due to saturation of the land and surface drainage systems being at full capacity.
“We are working with the military, Royal Berkshire & Fire Rescue Service, Environment Agency and other partner agencies to put in place preventative measures and sandbagging to protect at risk properties.
“I would like to reassure residents we are acting quickly, assessing all risks and taking a multi-agency approach to resolve this emerging flooding risk. Please do not contravene or ignore any road closures put in place, for your safety.
“We aim to ensure there is a minimal disruption to residents but please note there will be some disruption to travel and we would advise residents to look at the West Berkshire Council website for any updates on the road closures.â€