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Being resilient to flooding: an interview with Mike Still

With over three decades of experience around risk management and the impact on insurance, Mike Still – Chair of Business in the Community’s (BITC) Business Emergency Resilience Group (BERG) understands the real cost of flooding. Mike has plenty of first hand experience with individuals who have had their homes, businesses and entire lives turned upside down as a result of flooding, and through BERG, he seeks to help change attitudes and social norms of flood resilience to reduce the impact of flooding in future. Mike says “We witness the devastating impacts of floods, in circumstances where, with a little warning and some action, so many of the consequences could have been reduced or even avoided altogether.”

He continues to say “Most people will have seen the physical effects of flooding on news reports, but what the pictures do not always show are the emotional impacts of having your home flooded”. With the impacts on communities continuing for a long time after the media stops showing the impacts of flooding, it is often not possible to realise the true extent of these natural events.

“Too many people are unaware of or ignore the risks,” says Mike, “or perhaps think that their insurance will sort out any problem that occurs. Insurance is, of course, a vital safety net and can provide financial support, but it cannot prevent flooding nor the disruption and emotional upheaval it causes.”

Mike and other key members of the BERG team have played a key role in the Property Flood Resilience Action Plan, leading Task Group 1 which addresses the immediate response following flooding. This action plan and the work that BERG do, is helping to change attitudes to flood resilience in the UK.

 

Flood Resilience Summit 2018

Mike is chairing the Flood Resilience Summit event in early February of this year. This event will address some of the challenges that Mike and the team at BERG face on a day-to-day basis. With a range of fantastic speakers and exhibitors, this event will discuss issues ranging from the design of flood resilience technologies to city-wide resilience projects and what we can learn from these, in a packed schedule.

In addition to this, the event will also include an on-site demonstration of the BRE Flood Resilient Repair house, which  featured on BBC’s Countryfile last year. A full case study of the Flood Resilient Repair house is available here.

For more information and to attend the Flood Resilience Summit, visit the website, or contact the team on 0203 225 5204, email [email protected].