Spring tides next week (starting Monday 8th February)

We can expect Spring tides along the Topsham waterfront all next week, with the highest tides at 4.5m on Thursday and Friday.

At this stage there are some concerns about Monday, mainly due to the strength of wind (gusting to 60 mph) so residents should keep a close eye on the weather forecasts for Monday. Also, with the recent heavy rain, there is a lot of water in the river. If going away, we suggest you deploy your flood defences.

However atmospheric pressure is set to rise from Tuesday, and from Wednesday the winds are expected to veer northerly.

Overall our assessment is that the risk of flooding is low to medium.

High tides due next week from Sunday

Once again we are approaching high Spring tides for the coming week in Topsham.

We are concerned in particular that the high tide at 06.51 on Sunday morning, 10th January, of 4 metres will be raised by another 280mm due to a surge. This coupled with a predicted low pressure of around 987mb should mean an effective tide height of around 4.4 metres. Not helping matters, the wind will be from the South West gusting up to 28mph.

The highest tide of the week will be on Wednesday 13th at 08.47 at 4.3 meres with wind from the West but with normal atmospheric pressure.

It is predicted that water will overlap low lying roads in the area during these high tides.To be on the safe, we suggested that if they are away during this period, residents should deploy their flood barriers.

Flood Update - January 2016

‘Storm Frank’ was a reminder that living close to a river can have its downside - the stronger than expected southerly wind and swell of 2’ or more meant that we were quite close to an incident. A reminder of two years ago, when we had a ‘near miss’ early in the New Year, followed by the storm that led to incidents on both sides of the Exe estuary, including Topsham.

This re-emphasises the need to be prepared. The Topsham Emergency Group has produced tide tables for 2016. These will be distributed to residents in the flood zone during the first week of January 2016, by your friendly local flood warden. Residents should raise any points regarding flood protection with their flood warden.

Flood Wardens are reminded of the meeting in the Globe on Sunday 3rd January, 6-7 pm.

EA Flood Warning Service

Please note that the Environment Agency have refined their flood warning service. The EA area local to us is now known as South Devon Coast at Topsham and Cockwood. According to the EA, future flood warnings will be based on improved flood forecasting techniques as well as adjusting the water level, wind and wave conditions that will trigger warnings. Quick dial number to access warnings is 162204.

The Topsham Emergency Group continue to monitor local weather and tidal conditions from a variety of sources, including the EA, and will keep residents informed via this website should flood conditions threaten.

High tides expected this week, from Monday 26 October

From Monday 26th to Thursday 29th October 2015 we will have Spring tides predicted to be between 4.4 and 4.5 metres. Our current best estimate is that with a 0.2m surge expected this evening (Monday) and winds gusting up to 35 mph from South to SSE, the river will overlap low lying areas at high water.

Residents without their own property protection who are concerned about possible flooding, please be aware that Exeter City Council will have sandbags available at Topsham Quay and at the entrance to Topsham Rec near the Dorothy Holman Centre.

We will post any flood prediction updates to this website later in the week.

Topsham Flood Exercise Wednesday 23rd September - Report

Residents along the river frontage in the Exe estuary town of Topsham were full of praise for the flooding exercise that took place on Wednesday evening, 23rd September. The exercise was aimed at raising awareness of the risk of flooding in the town – which suffered from floods in the storms of February 2014 – which allowed residents to test their own property defences.

The exercise also tested the readiness of Topsham’s recently recruited Flood Wardens, 10 of whom were deployed across 5 sectors covering the town’s 1.5 mile river frontage, from the recreation ground through to Riversmeet. Whilst out and about, the Flood Wardens undertook an audit of flood defences, which showed that half of the 150 properties in the flood zone now have their own flood defences, although many of the unprotected ‘properties’ were either garages or those at a raised level. Of those with flood defences, nearly three quarters put them out that evening, raising many issues. Ferry Rd resident Bob Guppy found the practice putting up his flood boards – only purchased 3 months ago – very useful. He said “I found fitting the defences was more difficult than I first thought – however I was able to work it out and I’m now confident in doing it in a real emergency”. Bob was not the only one to experience problems, Roger Morton from GRK Flood Defences was on stand-by to lend assistance to those properties with their flood boards, he helped our more than half a dozen people during the course of the evening.

At the end of the exercise the Environment Agency and Fire Service combined to demonstrate how to build a water-resistant sandbag wall, and the Fire Service to the opportunity to check with residents not only about their flood defences but also requested them to check smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

Richard Horne, Topsham Emergency Group Coordinator and organiser of the exercise said “We hear a lot about of communities pulling together in difficult times – well this was an example of a community working together in ‘slow time’ in a non-emergency situation. We learnt an awful lot, both for individual residents and for those coordinating the exercise. We are now more familiar with our role in relation to the emergency services and the community is better prepared should we experience flooding again.”

More pictures can be seen in the gallery section of this website. A video is available on You Tube, featuring interviews with a number of flood wardens and residents. Please click the link

High tides in Topsham from this weekend

Some of the highest tides of the year are due from late evening from Monday 28th through to Wednesday 30th September (4.6m). However, as of midday Thursday 24th, it is predicted that we will experience high pressure during this period which will tend to keep
the high tides below the predicted levels, so the risk of flooding in Topsham will be LOW. It is also predicted that the wind will be generally from the East.

Thanks to everyone who participated in Exercise Flood Board on the evening of Wednesday 23rd September. A full report will appear on this website in due course.