Lowdham FLAG set up communications HQ to coordinate flood response as flood warning put in place for the Cocker Beck

A community flood response group is helping to keep residents and properties safe from flooding.

Lowdham FLAG has set up its communications HQ in the village’s WI hall — adjacent to the Cocker Beck and cricket pitch flood defence.

The location will act as a central point for the group to coordinate its response to flooding in the area, which currently has a flood warning in place.

It serves as a meeting point for volunteers, contacting councils and residents for updates, and for assisting road closure wardens.

The HQ is established only when heavy rain with a potential for flooding is forecast, and the Environment Agency currently warns flooding is expected from 5pm with river levels set to remain high and further heavy rainfall predicted.

Lowdham FLAG chairman Peter Cross earlier told the Advertiser half an inch of rain was expected to fall from 4pm to 5pm.

The agency is also monitoring the situation and said its incident response staff would be in the village operating pumps.

Residents have been urged to move possessions and valuables off the ground or to safety and avoid contact with flood water.

The areas currently at most risk include Lowdham Main Street, Station Road, Merevale, and Limetree Gardens.

The village has had regular occurrences of flooding, and has banded together to help support the community during bad weather — including during the Storm Babet floods in October 2023, which saw around 100 properties flooded.

Progress is being made on defending the village from floodwater, with work underway on the £26m Environment Agency project to build a reservoir on land above Lowdham, at Rockleys View.

It will be capable of holding up to 100,000 cubic metres of water and keeping it back from inundating the village.

A ground breaking event was held for the project earlier in October 2023 — attended by Peter, Newark MP Robert Jenrick, councillors, and Environment Agency officials — and it is due to be completed by Winter 2025.

River levels are expected to remain high in the area until the night of Wednesday, January 3.