UK 2007 floods cost the economy £3.2 Billion

The (BBC Reports) that the Environment Agency states that the 2007 UK floods cost the economy an astonishing £3.2 billion.

It also calculates that investment in flood defences will need to almost double, to £1bn a year, to protect properties in the future.

48, 000 homes were affected, each costing between £20,000 and £30,000 to repair. The cost for flooded businesses varied between £75,000 and £112,000. Farmers lost an average of £1,150 per hectare of land flooded, whilst the damage to infrastructure such as roads and power supplies was put at £660 million.

The high costs of flooding underline the importance for continued investment in reducing flood risk Robert Runcie, Environment Agency