Section 19 flood investigations
As the lead local flood authority for Kent, we have a duty to publish reports of investigations of flood incidents, as detailed within section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
A section 19 flood investigation report is a public statement of the circumstances of a flood event and what parties have a role in managing the risks. The investigation is not an in depth analysis of the flood risk or mechanisms (hydraulic modelling of the risks and reduction options are not part of the investigation). Flood investigations additionally do not give us powers to require any parties to undertake any work.
When investigating a flood we will publish a report of the findings, where no other risk management authority is exercising or proposing to exercise it's risk management functions and where:
- the flooding causes internal flooding to 5 or more properties or critical infrastructure assets in a localised area
- the flood mechanism is complex, for instance there are 2 or more sources of floodwater involved or the source or mechanism of the flooding is unclear and there is a public interest to explain this mechanism
- we determine that a report of the flooding is merited.
If you have been flooded but the flood event does not meet the requirements of a flood report please let us know by reporting the flood online, we may be able to help and investigate even if we do not prepare a report of our investigation.