Report a flood

Main rivers
How to report
Ordinary watercourses
Surface water
Groundwater
How to report
Major highways
Highways
How to report
Adopted sewers
How to report
Internal Drainage Board watercourses
How to report

Environment Agency

The Environment Agency has a strategic overview of all sources of flooding and oversees flood risk management activities on watercourses designated as ‘main rivers’ and seas. This includes developing long-term approaches to manage flood risks and the national Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy. The Environment Agency also regulate reservoir safety and work in partnership with the Meteorological Office to provide flood forecasting and warning for these main rivers. 

To report flooding from main rivers and seas you can contact the Environment Agency on the incident hotline on 0800 807 060 24-hours a day.

You can also report collapsed or badly damaged river banks, blockages in main rivers from vehicles or fallen trees that could cause flooding, and unusual changes in river flow via the incident hotline.

Guidance on how the Environment Agency assess and prioritise the incidents reported is available from the link below.

For general enquiries, you can contact the Environment Agency by email at enquires@environment-agency.gov.uk, by phone on: 03708 506 506 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm), or by post at: 

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY
United Kingdom 

Lead Local Flood Authorities

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Lead Local Flood Authorities are County Council or Unitary Authorities for the area that oversee flooding from ordinary watercourses (rivers, brooks and streams not categorised as main rivers), surface water and groundwater sources. 

Lead Local Flood Authorities are also required to prepare and maintain local flood risk management strategies for their areas, investigate significant local flooding incidents and publish the results, and play a lead role in emergency planning and recovery after a flood event. It should be noted, however, that not all incidents of flooding will require a formal investigation, and each Lead Local Flood Authority sets their own process and extent of flooding that is ‘necessary or appropriate to investigate’. As a general rule, this does not include external flooding to garages, gardens and highways. 

There are different Lead Local Flood Authorities for Staffordshire and the Black Country. 

The Lead Local Flood Authorities for Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and Wolverhampton, collectively known as the Black Country Local Authorities, have individual service level agreements with Staffordshire County Council to assist with Lead Local Flood Authority functions. This means you may be contacted by Staffordshire County Council if you have reported a flood incident. However, you should contact the primary Lead Local Flood Authority for your area to report flooding in the first instance. 

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council logo

Dudley

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council is the Lead Local Flood Authority for Dudley.

To report flooding, or risk of flooding, to properties from surface water, ordinary watercourses, or groundwater in Dudley, please use the online survey here

Staffordshire County Council logo

Staffordshire

To report flooding from surface water, ordinary watercourses, or groundwater in Staffordshire, please use the online questionnaire here

Sandwell

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council is the Lead Local Flood Authority for Sandwell.

To report flooding, or risk of flooding, to properties from surface water, ordinary watercourses, or groundwater in Sandwell follow the link below.

Walsall Council logo

Walsall

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council is the Lead Local Flood Authority for Walsall.

To report flooding, or risk of flooding, to properties from surface water, ordinary watercourses, or groundwater in Walsall, please use the email address below.

FloodRiskManagement@Walsall.gov.uk

City of Wolverhampton Council

Wolverhampton

The City of Wolverhampton Council is the Lead Local Flood Authority for Wolverhampton.

To report flooding, or risk of flooding, to properties from surface water, ordinary watercourses, or groundwater in Wolverhampton please use reporting tool link below.

You can also call the Council’s “City Direct” call centre on 01902 551155 Monday – Thursday between 9:00am and 5:00pm and on Fridays between 09:00am and 4:30pm. If you are calling during out of office hours, please call 01902 552999

Local Government Borough or District Councils

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Local Government Borough or District Councils oversee flooding from ordinary watercourses.

Borough and District Councils, where present, are able to carry out flood risk management works on ordinary watercourses that are not inside Internal Drainage Board areas. Borough or District Councils are also responsible for the maintenance of public open space. If this contains or is bound by an ordinary watercourse, then the Borough or District Council is also responsible for the maintenance of this watercourse.

Unitary, Borough and District Councils also have responsibilities for major incidents and emergencies as part of emergency planning. This includes undertaking risk assessments and having a risk register for their areas, as well as providing services in response to emergencies like rest centres.

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council logo

Dudley

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council also acts as the Lead Local Flood Authority. To contact Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council about flooding, or risk of flooding, to properties, please use the Lead Local Flood Authority contact details.
For more information about emergency planning from Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, please click on the link below. 

Sandwell

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council also acts as the Lead Local Flood Authority. To contact Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council about flooding, or risk of flooding, to properties, please use the Lead Local Flood Authority contact details.
For more information about emergency planning from Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, please click the link below. 

Staffordshire County Council logo

Staffordshire

There are several District and Borough Councils across Staffordshire. Information on contacting these are below. 

The Civil Contingencies Unit support residents in Staffordshire and Stoke in preparing for emergency events such as flooding. You can visit the Civil Contingencies Unit website here: Staffordshire Prepared - The Civil Contingencies Unit.
To contact the Civil Contingencies Unit, you can email use the email below 
You can also call them on 01785 898618

ccu@staffordshirefire.gov.uk

Highway authorities

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National Highways are the highway authority that are responsible for maintaining and managing major highway (trunk roads and motorways) drainage and oversee flooding from major highways in England.

To report flooding from major highways to National Highways, please use the online report tool link below

You can also contact the National Highways Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 5000

Local Highways Authorities have responsibility for providing and maintaining highway drainage and oversee flooding on local highways that are not deemed to be major highways (trunk roads and motorways).

There are different local highway authorities for Staffordshire and the Black Country.

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council logo

Dudley

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council is the local highways authority for Dudley. To report highway flooding in Dudley, please use the report tool link below.

If the incident you are reporting is dangerous or an emergency and requires immediate attention, please contact the Council on 0300 555 2345 between 8:30am and 4:45pm Monday-Thursday and on Fridays between 8:30am to 4:30pm.

If the incident you are reporting is dangerous or an emergency and requires immediate attention out of office hours, please contact the Council on their emergency number 0300 555 8283. 

Sandwell

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council is the local highways authority for Sandwell. To report flooded roads that are blocked to traffic in Sandwell, please contact the council highways team on 0121 368 1177 between 8:00am and 5:30pm Monday-Friday. If it is out of hours and it is an emergency, please use the highways emergency number 07867 506556. Please only call this number if it is out of hours and an emergency. 

If you need to report a blocked highway gully (drain), or if surface water on the highway has not drained into the gully an hour after the rain has stopped, please use the link below

Staffordshire County Council logo

Staffordshire

Staffordshire County Council is the local highways authority for Staffordshire. To report flooding to roads in Staffordshire, please use the Report It online tool below

Walsall Council logo

Walsall

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council is the local highways authority for Walsall. To report flooding to roads in Walsall, please use the online report tool below.

City of Wolverhampton Council

Wolverhampton

The City of Wolverhampton Council is the local highways authority for Wolverhampton. To report flooding to roads in Wolverhampton, please use the Street Scene online reporting tool below.

Water and sewage companies

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Water and Sewerage Companies: responsible for flooding from adopted sewers.

Water companies are responsible for providing and managing water and sewerage services. They also manage the risk of flooding to these water supply and sewerage assets, and the risk to others from failure of their infrastructure. They ensure their systems have the appropriate level of resilience to flooding, and maintain essential services during emergencies, maintain and manage their water supply and sewerage systems to manage the impact, and reduce the risk of flooding and pollution to the environment. 

There are different water and sewerage companies that provide services to different areas across Staffordshire and the Black Country.

 If you are unsure who the water company in your area is, please visit the Water UK ‘Find Your Supplier’ webpage and postcode search at the link below.

Severn Trent logo

Severn Trent Water

To contact Severn Trent Water about sewer flooding, or report a sewer flooding incident, please visit the link below.

United Utilities logo

United Utilities

To contact United Utilities about sewer flooding, or report a sewer flooding incident, please visit the link below

South Staffs Water

South Staffs Water provides drinking water for certain areas but does not manage sewerage for these areas.

Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs)

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Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) are responsible for flooding from ordinary watercourses and land drainage.
IDBs are independent public bodies that are responsible for land drainage and flood risk management on ordinary watercourses within their defined area or ‘drainage district’. 

More information about IDBs and a map of the areas the operation in can be found on the Association of Drainage Authorities website below.

Sow and Penk Internal Drainage Board logo

Sow and Penk IDB

Staffordshire includes the Sow and Pend IDB and more information on this drainage district can be found at the link below