Climate change could turn it into a 'ghost town'

Climate & environment
Climate change could turn it into Britain's first ghost town

Christina Nordh

Updated 13.13 | Published 13.06

Tenbury Wells has flooded twice a year in recent years, now the number of floods could increase by a fifth due to climate change. The image from the 2020 floods. Photo: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

In the past four years, Tenbury Wells town center has flooded seven times.

Now business owners can no longer afford any insurance – and the city risks becoming a ghost town.

After the last flood in November, the city center was in chaos. The main street was covered in layers of mud, shop windows smashed and destroyed furniture and goods littered the street.

- On Monday, when we got here, we just wanted to lock the doors and disappear. We have lost approximately 6,000 pounds (roughly SEK 83,000) and we will not get anything back. Six weeks ago we lost about £4,000 (about SEK 55,000) in a flood, says Richard Sharman, who owns Garland's flowers, to The Guardian.

He has had his shop on the main street for seven years.

- If we suffer another flood, I will leave this. The landlords can sue us. I don't care, I'm going bankrupt. I've had enough.

According to local people, Tenbury Wells needs help urgently. Otherwise, the city center risks becoming the first to be abandoned in the UK due to flooding made worse by climate change.

The shop owners wage a fruitless battle against the water and the insurance premiums have increased so much that many can no longer afford to take out insurance. (The image from the 2020 flood.) Photo: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

- If the floods continue once or twice before and no one can get any insurance, it will be impossible to continue. Without proper flood defences, the future looks very bleak, says Dave Throup, former head of the Environment Agency and flood expert.

Tenbury Wells, located in north-west Worcestershire, is surrounded by water from the River Teme and its tributary Kyre Brook. In the most recent flood, a wall that had protected the city until then was destroyed.

Building a new flood defense, with walls and 20 flood gates, is estimated to cost £30 million (about SEK 416.5 million). So far, the city has secured half that amount. Now the government is being called on to cover the rest.

The climate crisis worsens the situation, writes The Guardian. River surges from the Teme are expected to increase by 20 percent over this decade, even under low discharge scenarios.

Shops and residents in the city center are struggling with the economic impact of frequent flooding. Many have adapted their premises, but several business owners are considering closing for good.

- This will kill the city if it continues, because no one wants businesses here and those who are already here are simply exhausted. We need help - fast. It feels like we are stranded on an island and that everyone has forgotten us, says Tracy O'Mahoney.