Ollie Hope

Environment Agency Flood and Coastal Risk Manager for Cheshire and Merseyside. Improving the nation’s environment & climate. All views my own.

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

👇🧵Really sound analysis of the role our flood defences are playing in keeping people and property dry but an important climate change reality check on the need for adaptation and innovative approaches in our catchments

[Dave Throup @DaveThroup]

As the waters recede on another monster flood, thousands of homes and businesses along the Severn and Wye remain dry thanks to flood defences.

They work.

But they’re not the answer to future flooding and are creating a false sense of security.

A (long!) 🧵

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

Devastating #flooding yesterday and overnight in #Greece. 24 hour #rainfall totals exceeded 700mm. For those in North West England, that’s more than double the record total that fell over the Lake District during the catastrophic Storm Desmond in 2015 😱.

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

5/ Community
@VolkerStevinUK did their best for the #Community: emptying residents bins, hosting tours with school kids, stepping in last minute to erect the town Xmas tree, temporarily rehousing the @RNLI, towing a car from the Marine Lake. Here's @ICE_engineers point of view👇

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

1/ West Kirby #Flood Defences, a 🧵
Now complete, the @WirralCouncil project, jointly funded by @EnvAgency, protects the community for generations to come. Read on 👇 to find out a little more about the #science, #environment, #engineering and #community considerations behind it

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

4/ The Engineering
555 steel piles were driven into the ground for the promenade and wall. Engineers who initially surveyed the site described the ground conditions as like blancmange. This is shown from the different depths of the piles - these are all exactly the same length!

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

#thunderstorms yesterday over South and East #Manchester caused river levels to rise frighteningly fast as debris was washed out of drains and gulleys. Fortunately our team of @EnvAgency 🦸‍♂️🦸‍♀️ were quickly to the rescue to clear these screens and prevent #flooding

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

@AngstFlood @johncurtinEA 🤓

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

This scheme will benefit a #community in #StHelens as these devastating scenes from 2012 will be prevented. A project on Black Brook will protect homes and businesses on West End Road from #flooding and deliver several new wetland areas to boost local #nature

[Env Agency NW @EnvAgencyNW]

New funding, announced today, will boost 7 schemes & projects in the North West.

The schemes are in areas which are hit repeatedly & will provide extra support for communities trying to get back on their feet after flood damage.

Find out more https://t.co/TlIG5CAN7b

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

4/ For now the beavers remain mostly contained within trial sites across England. But could they soon become a living tool in our #ClimateAdaptation arsenal or should they simply be welcomed back to more of our wild places? Thanks to @CheshireWT and @JosieMartin for the tour

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

1/ #Flood management from a bygone era. The Beavers of #Delamere Forest were released just over 2 years ago into this 4.5 Hectare site managed by @CheshireWT. Each night they emerge from their den to build dams and block ditches so they can paddle easily from A to B

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

3/ Beavers will eat up to 600 different woody species and a byproduct of their munching are the sticks and branches they’ve used to build this 50metre long, 1 metre deep dam. This 5 year project will show the #waterquality and #habitat benefits of reintroducing beavers

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

And don’t just take my word for it. Here’s @johncurtinEA with a brilliant thread describing the important work taking place at West Kirby and some of the wonderful history and heritage of the site 👇

[John Curtin @JPCurtinClimate]

1/ Yesterday I was either at a) the construction of the new coastal flood scheme in West Kirby on the Wirral b) the longest bench in the U.K. or c) actually both! A thread 🧵 ….. #geographyteacher

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

A big week for #flood protection in Cheshire and Merseyside. @EnvAgency and @WirralCouncil Directors came to see the West Kirby #coastal defence taking shape and @EnvAgencyNW, @Go_CheshireWest and @uugroupplc unveiled our plans to protect Northwich https://t.co/ozVJaLWk1V

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

Designed with #climatechange in mind, these defences at West Kirby will protect 93 homes and business from tidal flooding from Spring 2023. As sea levels rise, a further 70 properties will be protected by 2040. Delivered in partnership with @VolkerStevinUK and @EnvAgencyNW

[Wirral Council @WirralCouncil]

Even Messi wouldn't beat this defence - the flood wall at West Kirby is really starting to take shape. 💪 Visiting a local business? FREE parking is available at the Watersports Centre/Sail Loft until New Year - weekdays only, 8.30am to 5.30pm with a 2 hour maximum stay. 🚗

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

@rexmundi1 2/2 due to erosion from the sea. The recent work, led by Wirral Borough Council, placed approx. 9000 tonnes of rock along a 1.1km stretch of the embankment to extend its lifecycle by at least 30 years. I hope that helps. Ollie

[Ollie Hope @OllieHope3]

@rexmundi1 1/2 Hi Tony, the embankment at Leasowe protects over 1200 properties from risk of tidal flooding in Leasowe, Moreton and Meols. However since it was built in the 70s, the steel piles which protect the ‘toe’ of the embankment have lost approx. 50% of their original thickness