West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has commented on the findings of a preliminary report into the cause of flooding which swept through Kempsey last month. The external report, commissioned by the Environment Agency, found that sensors which controlled the pumps became waterlogged in the heavy rainfall, giving the pumps false information and causing the pumps to ease off when they were most needed . The flood defences have been called into action twice since they were completed in the summer and the Agency commissioned engineering consultants Arup to investigate. Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has asked to see the report into the causes of the flooding. Harriett commented: “The Environment Agency has acted swiftly to get to the bottom of what happened in Kempsey and I thank them for sharing this information so quickly. “The report says that the pumps did work but that the information they received was not accurate owing to sensor failure. “This needs to be fixed immediately so that people in Kempsey can have confidence that the flood defences will work as expected in the future. “Now that the Agency understands the root causes of the flooding, it can identify who is responsible and whether any particular supplier was at fault. “Those conclusions will be reached once the Environment Agency has completed further investigations. “For insurance purposes, people need still to make a claim and then the insurance company can handle discussions with the Environment Agency. If anyone needs me to support them through the process, I am willing to help. “I will also be requesting that the Environment Agency also send out a flood alert in the future to homeowners if their own internal monitoring ever again sends them the kind of alert that triggers the dispatch of an engineer to this pumping site. “Malvern Hills District Council has also made ex-gratia cash payments to help those residents affected.” | Kempsey Flood Incident Review