Work to improve Canvey Island flood defences is completed
"That said, if in a massive event they were to be over-topped... there are good emergency plans in place to ensure that we would do a safe evacuation of the island," he added.
The revetment refers to the man-made material of asphalt placed on the slope leading from the shore, up to the sea wall.Sections of the previous revetment dated back to the 1930s.New steps to the beach and project information boards were installed, and a pathway between Thorney Bay and Chapman Sands was improved.The EA is improving flood defences along the Thames Estuary as part of the government's Thames Estuary 2100 plan.
Mr Mason continued: "We've overlaid those older revetments, especially where they've blown and they've become void, and we've overlain it with this open stone asphalt which is a much more gradual slope which means that the wave energy is dissipated a lot more effectively which then reduces the likelihood of erosion."We've been using this method for decades, especially around the Essex coastline."So we know it's effective, we know it works well and we know that it's easy to maintain going forward."
Former Conservative Canvey Island town councillor and Castle Point borough councillor, Ray Howard MBE, survived the flood in 1953 at age 10."We lost everything, my father had no insurance at all," he recalled."I knew what it was to be poor."He became part of a local flood defence committee for 43 years, and attended a ceremony celebrating the reinforced revetment on Friday."The wonderful job they've done, it's amazing," he said."It just pleases me to think that this scheme - that I voted for - has been a great success, and seeing my lovely officer today, I was able to thank every one of them."
Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews Heatwaves: The New Normal? It used to be called ‘summer', now a hot spell has the BBC in meltdown
Heatwaves: The New Normal? (BBC2) Marilyn Monroe started a heat-wave in 1954, by 'letting her seat wave', in a fiery number from the musical There's No Business Like Show Business. 'Her anatomy, made the mercury, jump to 93!' But to hear the BBC tell it, you'd think there was no such thing as a heatwave before climate change. Weather presenter Sarah Keith-Lucas was having a meltdown in Heatwaves: The New Normal? as she predicted wildfires sweeping the UK and 'extreme heat' with 'extreme consequences'. This was the language of hysteria, matched with pictures of burned-out houses and forest infernos. 'When Los Angeles burned, home after home was razed to the ground,' she warned. 'In Australia, hundreds have died and millions of hectares devastated as a result of bushfires. ' Britain, too, could be on the verge of similar heatwave hell, Sarah believes, thanks to 'human-induced climate change'. We cut to clips of anxious members of the public, voicing fears of 'climate collapse'. A buildings expert declared that old buildings with the wrong sort of windows 'will just become uninhabitable'. How this will happen, he didn't explain. Maybe he was worried about rusty hinges that won't open. But a bit of WD-40 will fix that, and it's cheaper than abandoning your home and moving into an air-conditioned refuge. Temperatures above 26°C could cause thousands of deaths, Sarah claimed, citing the Office for National Statistics. Before climate change, a week of 26°C used to be known as 'summer'. Now, it's the end of civilisation. Car valets of the night: Following a fatal stabbing, Mark and Johnny set about restoring a blood-soaked Renault to showroom condition for a rental fleet, on Crime Scene Cleaners (Ch4). Somebody could have died in your next holiday hire vehicle. There's a grim thought. Sarah did admit that a heatwave happened in 1976, though she reported it as a moment of national crisis, with police evacuating countless people from their homes, probably because they couldn't open their windows. But the problem, according to Candice Howarth — spokeswoman for the Quadrature Climate Foundation — is that 'we culturally and historically aren't used to heatwaves in the UK'. I'm sure she's right. Cinema-goers in the Fifties probably came out scratching their heads and saying, 'You know what, Doris, culturally and historically I've got no idea what Marilyn Monroe was singing about.' The reality is that anything can become an alarming new phenomenon if it's served with a spin of panic. Sarah took us into her BBC weather studio, a cubbyhole with a camera and a green screen, and showed us a map on which the jet stream locked Britain under a 'heat dome'. As the temperatures rose, the colours on the map turned a more vivid red. By the time it hit 30°C (86°F), the UK was glowing fire-alarm crimson. Then she met a farmer who was planning to cope with 'weather extremities' by planting a vineyard. Sadly, Sarah was left holding an empty bottle because the vines haven't produced grapes yet.
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
Warm rivers passing 20C has been ruinous for fish
The UK's hottest and driest spring on record has overheated rivers around the country, leading to concentrated water pollution, low flows and more fish deaths, according to the Angling Trust. River temperatures in England and Wales from March 20 to June 21 were the hottest since the trust's major citizen science project to monitor water quality started three years ago. In 2025 there have been 87 confirmed incidents of fish kills — meaning a sudden spate of localised deaths — which is higher than at this stage in any of the past three years. While those include deaths caused by natural factors, 36 were due to low flows which concentrate pollution from farms and sewage — higher than at this point in 2023 and 2024. Fish rescues have already been needed on the River Teme in Wales and River Redlake in Shropshire.
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
Exact time & date every phone in Britain will be pinged with Emergency Alert that triggers loud siren for 10 seconds
MILLIONS of mobiles will blast out a deafening siren as the government tests its emergency alert system - designed to warn people of deadly storms, floods or terror threats. The alarm will last around 10 seconds and will sound even if phones are set to silent. 1 It will happen at 3pm on Sunday, September 7, with the system expected to reach around 87 million devices across the UK. Ministers say the alerts could save lives by giving people crucial warnings when danger is near, similar to systems already used in countries like the US and Japan. Cabinet minister Pat McFadden said: 'Emergency Alerts have the potential to save lives, allowing us to share essential information rapidly in emergency situations including extreme storms. Just like the fire alarm in your house, it's important we test the system so that we know it will work if we need it." The last nationwide test in 2023 saw mobiles across the UK blare out the alert, and since then, the system has been triggered during major storms, floods, and even when a World War II bomb was discovered in Plymouth. In January this year, 4.5 million people in Scotland and Northern Ireland received an alert as Storm Éowyn battered the UK with a red weather warning in place. During Storm Darragh last December, 3.5 million people in Wales and the South West got an alert — the storm killed two people. Police say the alerts were vital during the Plymouth evacuation, when more than 10,000 people were moved after the discovery of an unexploded bomb. Tracey Lee, Chief Executive of Plymouth Council, said: "It played a vital role in helping us safely evacuate over 10,000 people and coordinate a complex, multi-agency response." Assistant Chief Constable Glen Mayhew added: 'By their nature, emergency incidents occur with very little notice. They can develop at speed and across wide areas which puts lives at risk. This system has the ability to send an alert to those whose lives may be at risk, to ensure they can act to help themselves and others." The alerts work on all 4G and 5G networks, but phones must be switched on to receive them. Special guidance is being issued to victims of domestic abuse with hidden phones, who may need to opt out to stay safe. The message sent on September 7 will clearly state it is only a test. The test comes alongside wider government plans to boost the UK's resilience — including £1.3 billion for new biosecurity centres, £4.2 billion for flood defences, and the biggest pandemic exercise in Britain's history, dubbed Exercise Pegasus.
