Moray Council will require external funding if quick preventative action on the surface flooding suffered by many communities in Moray in August is to be achieved.
A list of 12 key measures will be considered by Moray Councillors today aimed at achieving initial objectives in flood management for each of the ‘potentially vulnerable’ areas in the region.
Members of the economic development and infrastructure committee will look at a shortlist of protective measures being introduced into the region’s flood risk management plan.
However, the measures do not include plans to address surface water flooding of the type experienced when the aftermath of Hurricane Bertha hit the region earlier this year.
Report author Debbie Halliday, a senior engineer in flood risk management for the local authority, said that would come in a later report.
She said: “The list of potential protection measures for surface water flooding will be identified during the development of surface water management plans.
“A surface water management plan will be developed for five areas within Moray – Elgin, Forres, Rothes, Buckie and Keith. The surface water management plans are the subject of a separate report to this Committee.”
In a separate report before the committee Moray Council’s consultancy manager, Dave Gowans, looked in detail at the floods throughout the region resulting from the aftermath of Hurricane Bertha on August 11.
Mr Gowans report says that while not unexpected the event “was more extreme than initially forecast”, adding that rainfall amounts were very high, widespread and intense with “some records broken”.
He added that flood alleviation schemes already in place had saved many homes – but there was widespread surface flooding and while these incidents will be investigated “this will take time unless external resources are introduced”.