Commuters soaked as flooding strikes in Bristol city centre.
Passersby in Bristol city centre were left astonished this week after a 30-strong mob of masked vigilantes drenched unsuspecting commuters with buckets of water.
Fortunately for the people of Bristol, however, it soon became apparent that the soaking was a stunt orchestrated by the Environment Agency in a bid to raise awareness of the risks of flooding, and the unsuspecting commuters had in fact volunteered for the soaking.
The Environment Agency is today is releasing the ‘flooding flash mob’ video online to highlight how flooding can happen at any time. The film was produced to support a month long national flood awareness campaign.
The campaign aims to increase awareness of the risks of flooding and encourage people to sign up to receive free Environment Agency flood warnings.
One in six people at flood risk
Around 1.6 million people are eligible to receive the free flood warnings – which can be sent by email, text, or a message to a landline or mobile phone. This summer over 100,000 households were warned of potential flooding thanks to the service, giving people essential time to protect their homes and possessions.
One in six people are at risk of flooding in England and Wales, yet the latest Environment Agency figures show that only 45% of people in a flood risk area thought that they were at risk.
Pete Fox, Head of Strategy and Investment at the Environment Agency, said: 'By doing something a bit different, we want to reach a new audience and make them aware of the risk flooding poses.
'With one in six homes at risk of flooding, the most important step people can take in protecting themselves from the worst impacts is to find out if they are at risk, and sign up to the Environment Agency’s free flood warnings service.
'This summer over 100,000 households were warned of potential flooding thanks to our warning service, giving people essential time to protect their homes and possessions. We would urge people to sign up to flood warnings today.'
Last week, the Environment Agency and Met Office warned that this summer’s unusually wet weather means there is a higher risk of flooding this winter.
Sign up for free warnings
Households and businesses can check their flood risk and sign up to receive free flood warnings on the Environment Agency website.
Watch
See the 'Flash Flood Mob' video on YouTube
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