Kent County Council (KCC) brought in a 50mph speed restriction on the A2 yesterday (4 January 2024) and it’s reported the Nailbourne River in the east of the county is continuing to rise and flowing its full length.
This has led to the closure of several roads in the Canterbury area including South Barham Road, The Causeway, Mill Lane Ford, Keepers Hill Ford and Old Palace Road. A public footpath/bridleway CB274 between Kingston and Bishopsbourne is also now under a foot of water.
Engineers were deploying more flood barriers and sandbags daily over the Christmas break and keeping a check on levels at known susceptible areas.
Canterbury City Council has reported it’s in regular contact with KCC, the Environment Agency (EA) and the Nailbourne River Group and the EA is closely monitoring the situation and considering the need to start deploying temporary pumps and other equipment.
Southern Water is carrying out localised removal of groundwater from the sewer at Bishopsbourne to protect services to properties.