Flood Damage Restoration in Hull

How Hull floods

Professor Dan Parsons of the University of Hull put it simply: "Hull floods in every way it is possible to flood". The council counts more than 95% of the city's homes as at risk from at least one kind of flooding, and it helps to know which kind reached yours, because the clean-up differs. Our postcode checker shows the figures for your street.

• Surface water and sewers. Hull's drainage is pumped, and 84% of surface water runs into the combined sewer. When heavy rain beats the pumps, as it did in June 2007 when 8,657 houses flooded, the water that reaches homes is mixed with sewage.
• Tidal. On 5 December 2013 a surge reached 5.8m at the Hull barrier, the highest tide recorded there, and 264 properties flooded around the city centre, Walker Street and the Anchorage. The new Humber frontage defences finished since then cover about 7km of shoreline.
• Rivers and drains. The River Hull, Holderness Drain, Beverley and Barmston Drain and Cottingham Drain all carry water from the Wolds through the city on its way to the Humber.
• Groundwater. West Hull sits on thinner clay over chalk. Water can seep up through floors days or weeks after a storm, long after the streets have dried.

What we do on a flood job

1. Make it safe. We check the electrics are isolated, then assess how far the water reached and what it carried.
2. Pump out and strip. Standing water comes out first. Carpets, underlay and anything porous that sewer water has soaked are photographed, logged and removed.
3. Clean and sanitise. Floors, walls to above the tide line and any floor void are cleaned and treated with disinfectant.
4. Dry the structure. Dehumidifiers and air movers run until meter readings in the brick, plaster and timber are back to normal. Solid-wall terraces take longer and we don't rush them.
5. Reinstate, better if you can. Once it's dry, the repairs can use flood-resilient materials so the next flood costs less.

Repairing so it floods better next time

Hull City Council now requires flood proofing on all new homes in the city. Its new builds at Isledane in Orchard Park use non-return valves on the drains, solid floors, raised sockets and plasterboard laid horizontally, so only the bottom sheet needs replacing after a flood. The same ideas work in a repair. Ask your insurer whether your policy includes Build Back Better, which can pay towards resilience measures as part of a flood claim. Flood Re says these measures can cut the cost of later flood repairs by as much as 73% in some cases.

Flood cover is not escape of water

Water from outside, whether from the Humber, a drain, the sewers or heavy rain, is claimed under flood cover. A burst pipe or leaking appliance is escape of water. They are different sections of a policy with different rules, so tell your insurer exactly where the water came from. Many Hull homes built before 2009 have flood cover backed by Flood Re. We record the damage and the drying so the claim has what the loss adjuster will ask for.

Stay safe around flood water

Assume it contains sewage. Wear gloves and boots, keep cuts covered, keep children and pets away, and don't touch electrics in a flooded room. For flood warnings ring Floodline on 0345 988 1188. If sewage is coming up through your drains, Yorkshire Water's line is 0345 1 24 24 24. Our first-hour checklist has the full list of numbers.

Our water damage cost guide sets out what pumping out, stripping out and drying usually cost, and how flood and escape of water claims differ.