Wigan council works closely with its partner organisations to respond to flooding incidents.
The Environment Agency
If you live or work in a flood risk area, there is much you can do to help prevent and reduced the consequence of flooding to your property.
You can find out if you are at risk of flooding by visiting the Environment Agency website and searching on your postcode. They also have information and guidance on what to do if you are at risk, including insurance issues.
In some areas, the Environment Agency is able to forecast when high river levels are expected to cause flooding. If you live or work near Wigan town centre, or the Bedford & Lilford areas of Leigh, you can sign up to receive free Flood Warning messages to give you advance notice if flooding is likely in your area. For more information, visit the Environment Agency (External link) website.
United Utilities
Within Wigan borough, United Utilities provide water and waste water facilities. They are responsible for dealing with burst water mains and flooding from sewers. For more information, visit the United Utilities (External link) website.
Wigan Council
The council is responsible for the maintenance of public drains; that is those on public highways. In the event of flooding we will assist with road closures and traffic management, and will provide public health information through the local media and our web site. Owners of property and land are responsible for their own drains.
If people need to evacuate their homes and have no family or friends they can stay with, we will provide temporary shelter and care. If the flooding is extreme and property appears unsafe, we will provide inspectors to survey the buildings to establish if they are safe for reoccupation.
We work closely with both the Environment Agency and United to Utilities in the interest of supporting our community in the event of flooding. We have a flood plan which we are currently updating to take account of recent changes. Once the update is complete, we will test the plan with co-operation from our partner emergency services responders. We want to be as sure as we can that our plan is robust. Once we have done this we will post it on our website.
Useful Links
