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Storm highlights need to prepare for severe weather

The exceptionally heavy rain during last week’s thunderstorms caused major disruption and damage across North East England. The intense downpours and flooding forced the closure of schools, shops, roads, the Metro network and the Tyne Tunnel, while landslides in Northumberland resulted in the closure of the East Coast main line. Dramatic video footage showed the Tyne Bridge being hit by lightning and there were also widespread power cuts across the region.

What took me and a friend to make a ten-minute car journey across the city ended up being a four-hour nightmare in grid-locked traffic. And that also involved driving through frighteningly deep surface water, and witnessing lightning strike as the violent thunderstorm raged on above us.

While severe weather events like this may be unusual, it is expected that intense rainfall events will be more frequent as our climate changes. It is estimated that 50mm of rain fell in Newcastle city centre alone in just two hours during Thursday’s storm - the equivalent of the entire average monthly rainfall for June.

So it’s apparent that severe weather events are a very real and pressing threat. The [latest ClimateNE research](http://www.climatenortheast.com/contentcontrol/documentControl/2012 survey exec summary.pdf)shows that over 60 per cent of businesses in North East England have been adversely affected by severe weather events, including flooding and rain, over the past two years. It will be interesting to see how these figures are affected next time around taking into account last week’s intense rainfall and flooding.

This all demonstrates how essential it is for businesses to recognise and put in place contingency plans to address the risk of severe weather - not only to minimise business disruption, but also to secure its very survival. AXA Insurance estimates that seven out of 10 small firms would go out of business if they experienced a major emergency during their first year, while 80 per cent of small businesses affected by major incidents close within 18 months.

However, our research also shows that the number of businesses in North East England already incorporating extreme weather into their continuity and disaster planning has doubled over the past two years - up to 32 per cent from 15 per cent in 2010 - which is encouraging. Nevertheless, 68 per cent of businesses here in North East England still need to address this issue.

Taking action and preparing for flooding can help you to feel prepared during such extreme events and will go a long way to minimising disruption and costs. Get further guidance and information on assessing risk and formulating a simple flood plan at the ClimateNE Business Hub website.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jen Atkinson - ClimateNE .