EXCEPTIONAL levels of rainfall have been identified as the cause of flooding in an East Yorkshire village, a report has found.
More than 40mm of rain fell in just over two hours in Cottingham on July 8 – compared with the national average of 47mm per month.
An investigation into the floods was presented to East Riding Council's cabinet yesterday, in which members agreed action needed to be taken to prevent a repeat of the summer flooding.
Councillor Chris Matthews said: "It's OK to say it was an exceptional event, but we need to take action.
"Yorkshire Water should set out an action plan and show how it is going to invest in Cottingham.
"Since July, there have been some very near-misses with the weather and we should recognise that."
Cabinet members agreed to write to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to review their "industry standard" for flood protection measures, following what happened in Cottingham this summer.
The council will also undertake a study to understand the potential demand for property level flood protection solutions.
Some 107 homes and 12 businesses were flooded when the rain hit in July.
Areas affected included Cottingham High School, Badgers Wood, Lawnsgarth, Sancton Close, Stuart Garth, St Margarets Avenue and Canada Drive.
Flooding also occurred in King Street and George Street.
At the meeting, councillors agreed that Yorkshire Water should also publish an action plan to demonstrate how it intends to address capacity and serviceability issues with the public sewer networks in Cottingham.
Humberside Fire and Rescue Service received 21 calls for assistance and advice on July 8, when the rainfall hit.
The flooding report said: "In some places pumps were deployed to drain water away from properties, but as all the drainage system was full, it was difficult to know where to pump water away to."
The report also responds to criticism from Cottingham residents who felt not enough was done at the time of the flooding to protect people's homes.
The report reads: "There was some criticism from residents of the response from the emergency services and the council.
"However, in a flash flooding event such as this, with no explicit warning, services can only respond once they are notified of the event."
Summing up the findings of the investigation, the report says: "The report concludes that, on July 8, the rainfall was of exceptional intensity and exceeded current or historic design standards for the drainage infrastructure, and that the relevant risk management authorities exercised their functions in response to the flooding incident."
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