Day 4 of the Big Flood and scarcely a mention on this forum?
Jul 23rd, 2007, 09:39 AM
#21
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Ran out of time on computer the librarian is letting me on for a few more minutes.
I think the main difference between the Eastern U.S. flooding and England is that there has been flooding in Pennsylvania within memory. Apparently this a 100 year flood for England. It's been raining all day which can't improve things.
Please keep all here in your thoughts, and no more negativity on the forum.
I think the main difference between the Eastern U.S. flooding and England is that there has been flooding in Pennsylvania within memory. Apparently this a 100 year flood for England. It's been raining all day which can't improve things.
Please keep all here in your thoughts, and no more negativity on the forum.
Jul 23rd, 2007, 09:51 AM
#22
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The weather is warm. Danger to life is small. The floods are the result of human ignorance. They have paved the ground, cut the trees and brush and neglected to clean the waterways. Poland recently went thru the same misery. California does it every year! Florida is next. Watch what happens to the condos on the barrier islands. According to geological records, England is not a stable life site.
Jul 23rd, 2007, 10:17 AM
#23
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" think the main difference between the Eastern U.S. flooding and England is that there has been flooding in Pennsylvania within memory. Apparently this a 100 year flood for England"
I think it's actually about the same as the floods of 1947 (less in my area, so far anyway), so not quite a hundred year thing.
I think it's actually about the same as the floods of 1947 (less in my area, so far anyway), so not quite a hundred year thing.
Jul 23rd, 2007, 10:26 AM
#25
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It's terrible and my heart goes out to the people who have lost their homes and everything....but it's not the kind of news that sells papers and increases ratings on the cable news networks.
A while back, I read a novel about a terrible flood in London filling up many underground and tube lines with flood waters drowning hundreds...there was also some kind of discovery type scenario about this four or five years ago...if such an unthinkable thing were to happen in London, I'm sure it would be front page news here (the USA) too.
As it is, thank goodness there hasn't been a massive loss of life thanks to the wonderful work of the emergency services.
I think it is for these reasons, it is not really big news here.
A while back, I read a novel about a terrible flood in London filling up many underground and tube lines with flood waters drowning hundreds...there was also some kind of discovery type scenario about this four or five years ago...if such an unthinkable thing were to happen in London, I'm sure it would be front page news here (the USA) too.
As it is, thank goodness there hasn't been a massive loss of life thanks to the wonderful work of the emergency services.
I think it is for these reasons, it is not really big news here.
Jul 23rd, 2007, 10:29 AM
#26
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Here it is from the horse's mouth, as it were.
I live in Gloucestershire, thankfully on top of a hill 10 miles from the River Severn and Gloucester, so am not personally affected. But I have friends who are, and I had to drive to just outside Tewkesbury today so have seen the extent of the flooding. I have been listening to local radio (moved from Gloucester to Bristol because of loss of power in Gloucester) and people's stories and it is a devastating situation for many. Thankfully there is no loss of life that I have heard.
On Friday the main problems were torrential rain which meant masses of surface water on the roads and flash floods. This meant many people had to abandon their cars. The rivers became swollen, but when I drove to Ledbury in Herefordshire on Saturday they hadn't really broken their banks and the problems were blocked drains and surface water on the roads and fields, and I was shocked by the number of abandoned cars everywhere - it must have been really bad on Friday evening.
But all this water eventually ran into the rivers, and is still doing so and the rivers are now at several feet above usual, and the level is rising as tributaries pour their floodwater in. The worst is still to come, maybe tomorrow.
Almost half a million are now without fresh water, and many of those have no electricity now either as the power station is submerged. There is talk of people having to be evacuated to Birmingham or Bristol. Gloucester has 100s of 'bowsers' in place now (temporary water tanks) and Cheltenham is getting them this evening. Tewkesbury is pretty much cut off, but they are getting supplies in by boat and air.
Patients from hospitals in Gloucester have been moved to Stroud and Cirencester, all operations and appointments have been cancelled. While hospitals have their own electricity generators, the lack of water is the big problem.
There have been 'fights' in supermarkets as people stock up with bottled water, and in fact there was none in my village shop at 8am this morning. Very few trains are running south of Birmingham, and virtually none to London. Phones are out in Gloucester too.
Generally from what I have heard from the radio, people who are affected are very cheerful - typical British blitz spirit - but the worse is yet to come, with the incredible cleaning up that will have to be done, the loss of many precious possessions, the filling in of insurance forms, the waiting in limbo for lives to get back to normal, and the worry that it might happen again... I do feel for them all.
Of course this is not a disaster on the scale of what happened in New Orleans last year, but it is still pretty bad. Oxfordshire and Berkshire, close to the Thames are expected to get worse over the next 24 hours too, and more rain is forecast later this week.
The press is not making a big deal out of this - it really is a bad situation.
I live in Gloucestershire, thankfully on top of a hill 10 miles from the River Severn and Gloucester, so am not personally affected. But I have friends who are, and I had to drive to just outside Tewkesbury today so have seen the extent of the flooding. I have been listening to local radio (moved from Gloucester to Bristol because of loss of power in Gloucester) and people's stories and it is a devastating situation for many. Thankfully there is no loss of life that I have heard.
On Friday the main problems were torrential rain which meant masses of surface water on the roads and flash floods. This meant many people had to abandon their cars. The rivers became swollen, but when I drove to Ledbury in Herefordshire on Saturday they hadn't really broken their banks and the problems were blocked drains and surface water on the roads and fields, and I was shocked by the number of abandoned cars everywhere - it must have been really bad on Friday evening.
But all this water eventually ran into the rivers, and is still doing so and the rivers are now at several feet above usual, and the level is rising as tributaries pour their floodwater in. The worst is still to come, maybe tomorrow.
Almost half a million are now without fresh water, and many of those have no electricity now either as the power station is submerged. There is talk of people having to be evacuated to Birmingham or Bristol. Gloucester has 100s of 'bowsers' in place now (temporary water tanks) and Cheltenham is getting them this evening. Tewkesbury is pretty much cut off, but they are getting supplies in by boat and air.
Patients from hospitals in Gloucester have been moved to Stroud and Cirencester, all operations and appointments have been cancelled. While hospitals have their own electricity generators, the lack of water is the big problem.
There have been 'fights' in supermarkets as people stock up with bottled water, and in fact there was none in my village shop at 8am this morning. Very few trains are running south of Birmingham, and virtually none to London. Phones are out in Gloucester too.
Generally from what I have heard from the radio, people who are affected are very cheerful - typical British blitz spirit - but the worse is yet to come, with the incredible cleaning up that will have to be done, the loss of many precious possessions, the filling in of insurance forms, the waiting in limbo for lives to get back to normal, and the worry that it might happen again... I do feel for them all.
Of course this is not a disaster on the scale of what happened in New Orleans last year, but it is still pretty bad. Oxfordshire and Berkshire, close to the Thames are expected to get worse over the next 24 hours too, and more rain is forecast later this week.
The press is not making a big deal out of this - it really is a bad situation.
Jul 23rd, 2007, 10:51 AM
#27
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The NY Times posted a picture with an article link this morning, front and center on their homepage:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/worl...-Flooding.html
My thoughts are with you. Gloucestershire is one of my favorite places in England.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/worl...-Flooding.html
My thoughts are with you. Gloucestershire is one of my favorite places in England.
Jul 23rd, 2007, 11:54 AM
#28
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I have many friends in the communities surrounding London. As one said in an email this past Thursday, "We went from no rain to more rain than we could possibly hold in short order"
I have lived through flood conditions twice here in the Tucson Valley. I know the stress that being cut off from basic necessities creates.
It sorrows me to see such negative responses to such a thoughtful initial post. Is there Media hype, to some degree, yes. However, the other posters are quite correct in their statement that this hasn't gotten much high profile media coverage world wide.
Is there something to be said for not building in a flood plain or on a river bank, most assuredly. However, how many of us flock as tourists to those lovely British towns along the river?
I hold a prayer for all of you in the flooded areas.
Slan Agus Beannacht,
Bit Devine
I have lived through flood conditions twice here in the Tucson Valley. I know the stress that being cut off from basic necessities creates.
It sorrows me to see such negative responses to such a thoughtful initial post. Is there Media hype, to some degree, yes. However, the other posters are quite correct in their statement that this hasn't gotten much high profile media coverage world wide.
Is there something to be said for not building in a flood plain or on a river bank, most assuredly. However, how many of us flock as tourists to those lovely British towns along the river?
I hold a prayer for all of you in the flooded areas.
Slan Agus Beannacht,
Bit Devine
Jul 23rd, 2007, 12:34 PM
#29
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According to the news this evening up to 350,000 people will be without mains water supply for 1 week minimum. Tens of thousands of people are without electrical power. Several large towns are virtually cut off from the outside world. And experts expect it will get worse before it gets better. This is fact, not media hype.
The rain where I live on the South Downs last Friday was some of the worst I've ever seen - over 3 inches in 1 hour and we were hardly the worst affected, as the storms moved further north. I'm waiting for the Met Office to announce the stats, but this must surely go down as one of the wettest July's on record.
If I was about to visit a foreign country and there was a signficant emergency situation or natural disaster, I'd want to know about it, even if the cable news stations back home couldn't be bothered to report it. I'm willing to bet there are many hundreds, maybe thousands, of vistors to the UK who are right now having to change their plans because of what is happening. This therefore deserves at least as much prominence on a forum like this as the endless debates about "dress codes" in Paris, tipping etiquette, bringing cash versus ATMs etc.
The rain where I live on the South Downs last Friday was some of the worst I've ever seen - over 3 inches in 1 hour and we were hardly the worst affected, as the storms moved further north. I'm waiting for the Met Office to announce the stats, but this must surely go down as one of the wettest July's on record.
If I was about to visit a foreign country and there was a signficant emergency situation or natural disaster, I'd want to know about it, even if the cable news stations back home couldn't be bothered to report it. I'm willing to bet there are many hundreds, maybe thousands, of vistors to the UK who are right now having to change their plans because of what is happening. This therefore deserves at least as much prominence on a forum like this as the endless debates about "dress codes" in Paris, tipping etiquette, bringing cash versus ATMs etc.
Jul 23rd, 2007, 01:27 PM
#30
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Being without water gets old a lot faster than being without electricity, I can say from experience. I'm so sorry for all those dealing with this horrific situation.
Two comments on media coverage:
1. more benign: it takes a while for the word to get fully out -- the reporters and cameras have to get in and back out again, and the news rooms have to be functioning. Remember how long it took for the full horror of Katrina to reach national and international view?
2. more cynical: in general, if it doesn't happen in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London, etc., it's often marginalized in media coverage. After one hurricane, almost 1/4 of the entire state of NCarolina was, one way or another, flooded and under water, yet all the national media showed was the usual air shots of seaside luxury homes being lashed by waves. Even Chicago, which suffered a weeklong black-out after subterranean tunnels flooded and shorted out the power grid, doesn't merit the same spotlight the major cities do.
Two comments on media coverage:
1. more benign: it takes a while for the word to get fully out -- the reporters and cameras have to get in and back out again, and the news rooms have to be functioning. Remember how long it took for the full horror of Katrina to reach national and international view?
2. more cynical: in general, if it doesn't happen in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London, etc., it's often marginalized in media coverage. After one hurricane, almost 1/4 of the entire state of NCarolina was, one way or another, flooded and under water, yet all the national media showed was the usual air shots of seaside luxury homes being lashed by waves. Even Chicago, which suffered a weeklong black-out after subterranean tunnels flooded and shorted out the power grid, doesn't merit the same spotlight the major cities do.
Jul 23rd, 2007, 01:37 PM
#31
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I live in the Gulf coast area of Texas, so I am very familiar with flooding, hurricanes, etc. I live along a large bayou that has come out of it's banks a few times in recent years, it's considered to be a 100 year flood plane. Ha!! in 2001 I had 6 feet of water in my home. 2003 only 4 inches. Best advice.....if you are able, get supplies, water, canned goods, and of course something to open them with. Flashlights (torches) and batteries, and a battery powered radio. These are things we always keep on hand down here. Many of you could be without power and drinking water for weeks, even if you have no flood water in your home.
I'm listening to your PM right now on the radio. He said it is the worst flooding in 60 years.
I hope you all come through high and dry, and the rain stops soon.
I'm listening to your PM right now on the radio. He said it is the worst flooding in 60 years.
I hope you all come through high and dry, and the rain stops soon.
Jul 23rd, 2007, 01:44 PM
#32
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This is very much in the news here (NPR in Seattle). I was going send my sympathies this morning, but work intervened until now. Living in flood-prone western Washington, we have some idea what you are going through.
Jul 23rd, 2007, 02:53 PM
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It was on the Today show this morning also as a lead story.
I've emailed my friends who have the Magna Carta barge on the Thames but haven't heard from them.
Sure hope the rain eases up & that the creeps who are looting stranded cars get what they deserve.
I've emailed my friends who have the Magna Carta barge on the Thames but haven't heard from them.
Sure hope the rain eases up & that the creeps who are looting stranded cars get what they deserve.
Jul 23rd, 2007, 03:00 PM
#36
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Not to overreact, but I've been hearing about this since Saturday morning. (Maybe more people need to listen to NPR 
)
The reports say "a month's rain in a couple of hours". That's serious, and obiously not typical.
And I agree, we'll hear more about it here later - people don't always have time to drop in on internet forums while bailing out the basement or looking for a dry spot on the 2nd floor!
)The reports say "a month's rain in a couple of hours". That's serious, and obiously not typical.
And I agree, we'll hear more about it here later - people don't always have time to drop in on internet forums while bailing out the basement or looking for a dry spot on the 2nd floor!
Jul 23rd, 2007, 05:11 PM
#37
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I have to concede that I've heard more about the release of the latest and last Harry Potter novel than about the flooding, which I only read about today.
This may be in part because news editors have been primed for the HP thing for weeks, whereas the floods were a more sudden, less predictable event, with details initially hard to confirm or put into proper context.
When we were in the Oxford/Cotswolds area, spouse remarked that every river in the region seemed engineered to a 't', with no 'wild' rivers to be found.
Well, it seems the rivers are once again wild indeed, at least for now.
This may be in part because news editors have been primed for the HP thing for weeks, whereas the floods were a more sudden, less predictable event, with details initially hard to confirm or put into proper context.
When we were in the Oxford/Cotswolds area, spouse remarked that every river in the region seemed engineered to a 't', with no 'wild' rivers to be found.
Well, it seems the rivers are once again wild indeed, at least for now.
Jul 23rd, 2007, 05:29 PM
#38
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I don't think there's been much talk about it on this forum because there's not a lot that one can say. Those who are currently affected by the situation (whether residents or travelers), for the most part, don't have time (or perhaps the ability) to post about it.
When I was in the UK last month, we took the train from London to Edinburgh on a day that there was flooding in York. Didn't affect us at all, but we talked to a girl on the train who worked in York (and had a flat there) but commuted to her home near Glasgow on the weekends. It was an interesting story, but not something I posted about while traveling.
I certainly sympathize with what these folks are going through. We got back to Texas just in time to experience flooding here (last year it was drought; this year, we're setting rainfall records). Not much you can do about it other than try to cope. Good luck to all those affected.
When I was in the UK last month, we took the train from London to Edinburgh on a day that there was flooding in York. Didn't affect us at all, but we talked to a girl on the train who worked in York (and had a flat there) but commuted to her home near Glasgow on the weekends. It was an interesting story, but not something I posted about while traveling.
I certainly sympathize with what these folks are going through. We got back to Texas just in time to experience flooding here (last year it was drought; this year, we're setting rainfall records). Not much you can do about it other than try to cope. Good luck to all those affected.
Jul 24th, 2007, 03:34 AM
#39
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I'm lucky enough to be in an area that hasn't been effected - we haven't even had THAT much rain to be honest, even though we're only about 10 miles from greater London.
It is very bad in certain areas, especially around the Severn/Avon/Thames triangle. Not on Katrina scale thank goodness, but still devastating for those living there.
Am I bad person though for laughing at the first bit of flood advice on the news last night from the leader of the emergency services?
"If your house is flooded, go upstairs".
It is very bad in certain areas, especially around the Severn/Avon/Thames triangle. Not on Katrina scale thank goodness, but still devastating for those living there.
Am I bad person though for laughing at the first bit of flood advice on the news last night from the leader of the emergency services?
"If your house is flooded, go upstairs".
Jul 24th, 2007, 03:49 AM
#40
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Interestingly, there is an article in today's "Washington Post" 'World News' section entitled, "Thousands of Britons Flee Deluged Homes."
The last paragraph reads, in part:
"Scientists have predicted far more flooding in the future in Britain because of climate change, but 'it's far too early to connect it to global warming,' [a professor of hydrology and water management at the University of Bristol, Ian] Cluckie said."
The last paragraph reads, in part:
"Scientists have predicted far more flooding in the future in Britain because of climate change, but 'it's far too early to connect it to global warming,' [a professor of hydrology and water management at the University of Bristol, Ian] Cluckie said."
