Report roads flooded by high rainfall...

• Phone the Contact Centre on 0845 8 506 506 - 24-hours 7 days a week
• Report online using our Report Flooding Form

Drainage is an important feature of road construction. New roads include drainage systems designed to remove water efficiently from the surface and to provide a safe passage for all vehicles and pedestrians.

Older roads may have less sophisticated drainage, but all have features designed to take the water away from the road surface. It is necessary to clean and maintain these drainage provisions so that they can work properly.

Causes of roads flooding

Problems can occur even when drainage provisions are clean and well maintained. Flooded and waterlogged roads result when the amount of water arriving on the road is greater than the capacity of the drainage facilities that take it away:-

• Exceptional rainfall, a road being in a low lying area, changes in 'run off' from adjacent fields and rivers overflowing are some situations that can lead to the road flooding or being waterlogged even when drains are in good working order.
• Material carried into the drains by floods can also lead to them becoming blocked.
• Drainage grills and gratings (eg. on gullies) can become blocked very quickly when materials like mud are deposited on the road or when there is a heavy fall of leaves.

Water is directed to drains by the road profile. Puddles (ponding) tend to occur if there is a depression in the road. This can be rectified where necessary by local patching of the road surface.

If a flooded road is caused by a ruptured water main the water company (see below) will be responsible for repairing the damage.

Flooding from Public Sewers

If a drainage system is discharging foul water or sewerage then this is likely to be from a Yorkshire Water Public Sewer. 

Yorkshire Water own and manage the network of public foul and surface water sewers. The majority of public sewers are located in highways and the Council has a copy of the sewer maps, which can be viewed at the Council Planning Offices at Newton Bar, Wakefield.

• To report an overflowing public sewer, call Yorkshire Water Customer Services on
  0845 124 2429