Wigan Council has introduced an innovative flood reporting system that enables residents to submit live, location-based updates during severe weather events.
The platform is designed to give the council immediate insight into flooding across the borough, helping improve emergency response, recovery efforts, and future planning.
The initiative was developed collaboratively by Wigan Council, KaarbonTech, and Hello Lamp Post after significant flooding over the New Year period forced nearly 1,000 people from their homes and put major strain on local infrastructure. During that event, emergency teams were unable to access every affected area, revealing a critical gap in real-time information from communities.
Laura Morrison, Flood Risk Engineering Manager at Wigan Council, highlighted the impact of the new system:
“It gives our residents a trusted, easy way to report flooding in real time, while providing the council with live data that feeds into emergency response, Section 19 reporting and future planning.”
“We simply couldn’t get to all the affected areas and report on the incidents, so we needed a new way of working and harnessing the eyes and ears of our communities.”
Conor Holgate of KaarbonTech emphasised the value of community input, noting that during large-scale weather events, councils cannot be present everywhere at once. By integrating public reports into live operational systems, authorities gain a more accurate and detailed understanding of conditions as they develop.
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The project has already attracted national attention, earning a place on the shortlist for the Department for Transport’s 2025 Special Recognition Award for Best Use of Technology. Moving forward, Wigan Council plans to share its experience with other local authorities to encourage wider adoption of similar community-driven approaches to flood management.
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