About Mary

Mary has been flooded herself on many occasions and has extensive experience in supporting and advising the victims of flooding during their recovery. She has championed the promotion of Property Flood Resilience and is a passionate advocate for communities to work in partnership, with those who manage flood risk, to help minimise the disruption flooding brings

Mary has represented the ‘voice of the flood victim’ at government level, she appears regularly on national TV and radio during a flood event and speaks at many flood risk management national and international conferences.

Mary was the CEO of the National Flood Forum from 2006/10 and now holds a similar position for the ‘Know Your Flood Risk’ campaign. She runs her own consultancy (MD Associates) specialising in Flood Resilience. She regularly works alongside the University of the West of England researching into the resilient repair process. Mary has often interviewed people who have been flooded for research purposes and has produced many high-quality case studies. Mary also project managed the resent Cumbria Resilient Showcase Project and has recently published an eBook ‘Property Flood Resilience, Stories from homes and businesses who have made adaptations to help them recover more quickly after a flood’ She is a member of the Transition Panel for Flood Re. She is affectionately known as ‘Mary Queen of Floods’

Mary is the co-author of the Homeowners Guide to Flood Resilience, the Business Guide to Flood Resilience, the Homeowners Guide to Flood Recovery and the 4-Step guide to preparing a Household Emergency Plan.

Mary was awarded an OBE for Services to the Environment in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2009. In Dec 14 she was awarded a HonRICS, in recognition of her high profile for standing up for the public interest regarding flooding. Mary was also given the ‘Voice of the Customer ‘award at the CII Public Interest Awards 2015 and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West of England in July 2015 and was made a Hon Fellow of CIWEM in May2017.