Blog: Mental health – the silent casualty of climate change

Almost a year ago, the UK was battered by three successive storms that left swathes of the country under water. Between 8 February and 1 March, storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge barrelled across the Atlantic, bringing torrential rain and severe flooding to the Midlands, Northern England and Wales.

The physical impact of extreme weather is impossible to ignore. Storms Ciara and Dennis alone caused an estimated £214m of flood damage to 3500 homes and 1500 businesses. But there is reason to be concerned about another, ‘hidden’ consequence of the UK’s increasingly destructive weather – the harm it is doing to people’s mental health.

For some victims, the psychological toll of flooding is just as devastating as the disaster itself – and the effects last long after the waters recede. With five million people in England at risk of flooding, and climate change intensifying the frequency and severity of extreme weather, a mental health crisis is looming.

According to academics at the University of York and the National Centre for Social Research, people whose homes are damaged by storms or flooding are significantly more likely to experience mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety. Taking into account other factors known to impact mental wellbeing – such as social disadvantage, debt and poor physical health – people hit by storm and flood damage were 50% more likely to experience poorer mental health.

Research from Public Health England found that the risk of depression, anxiety or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was six times higher among individuals who had experienced flooding. These risks increased for people whose homes were under water for longer than 24-hours or those forced into temporary accommodation.

Escalating crisis

As the climate crisis escalates, we must ensure that mental health – often the silent casualty of flooding – is not forgotten alongside the more immediate priorities to protect people’s lives and property. There are three areas where action is urgently needed.

First, insurers must continue to adapt and improve their response to flooding. Helping victims to recover as quickly as possible can limit the emotional impact of extreme weather, as can encouraging households to “build back better” by making their homes more resilient to future flooding. Of course, flooding does not just test the physical resilience of buildings but also the mental resilience of those who live in them. Here, insurers need to think beyond their traditional role of repair and replace. A counselling and wellbeing service for flood victims can help. 

Second, frontline public and voluntary organisations must ensure their flood response plans stand up to enhanced threats posed by the climate crisis. An increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather could mean current interventions for mental health are no longer adequate. From signposting support ahead of heavy rains, to getting boots on the ground in disaster-stricken communities, organisations should review their response and preparedness plans to ensure support reaches the most economically and socially vulnerable.    

Finally, the government must act further to reduce, as far as possible, the impact of flooding on people, property and communities. With the Prime Minister backing a green recovery, fixing the broken flood resilience grant system would be an effective way to mitigate the emotional impact of extreme weather.

Currently, the government only hands out funding for people to install flood resilience measures in their homes after a flooding event. This is akin to shutting the Thames Barrier after a storm surge. We need to give communities most at risk of flooding a chance to defend their homes before extreme weather strikes. By making the grants available before, not after a flood, the government could significantly reduce the physical damage from flooding, and the emotional trauma that follows.

Widespread flooding at this time, of all times, could be even more catastrophic for UK communities. With the country still in the grip of Covid-19, tens of thousands of people face the double disaster of flooding overlaid by the pandemic. If ever there was a moment to wake up to the mental, as well as the physical devastation caused by flooding, it is now.