God i hate neighbours. My mother loves it. GRRRRRRR! However they are tame compared to Hollyoaks and As If (now long finished). I understand Hollyoaks does a regular late night episode which is little short of pornography, but all done in the best possible taste!
soap & water dude. back to the topic in hand, just read thison the BBC website. "Meanwhile, the government is expected to announce on Monday that it is rejecting calls to stop building houses on flood plains, despite the recent extensive flooding. A draft of the Housing Green Paper, which was obtained by the BBC, says it is "not realistic" to rule out new developments in areas at risk of flooding. " I think i may expire from anger. Here's the relevant link. BBC NEWS | UK | Flood crisis grows as rivers rise Gloucester is being evacuated fast.
We've been lucky up north so far. I feel sorry for all the businesses. I saw a guy on TV yesterday who owned a bicycle shop. Said he had to throw the lot out as he couldn't sell 'em as new. Thousands of pounds worth of stock and he has had to scrap the lot.
I live in Windsor, down river of the floods, waiting for it to arrive in a couple of days. I hope it isn't too bad PC. Good luck and our thoughts will be with you.
Properties have been built on the flood plains for centuries.For instance York will always fall foul of flooding as the rain in the Yorkshire Dales drains east into the Ouse and its tributaries.Unfortunately the problem has never been solved. The lower Trent is safeguarded by bund banking with selected areas of marshes which nobody has ever built on.This is available as overflow when the Trent is in full flow but was a lesson learnt after the massive flooding in 1947 when river defences had been largely ignored during the war. What is required is an assessment of the flooding potential which the Environmental Agency do hold for every area of their responsibility.There should be more investigation into the requirement to shift the drainage by pumping stations as was done in yesteryear.These Drainage Boards are still in existence and are maintained by the riperian owners.It might mean the creation of additional Drainage Boards. It might require the construction of "dry culverts" to drain off heavy storm water as I believe L.A is protected by a similar installation which drains off into the surrounding desert areas.For most of the year the culvert is dry and awaits its use only in emergency.But of course it means investment and there may be some who do not see a return on this type of public spending. Finally,what are our neighbours doing?.How does the Netherlands manage to safeguard areas which lie under sea level?I am sure that we could learn from their "tried and tested" practices. Given our population density and development encroachment on to the flood plains,protection against river overflow and adequate area drainage should be a national consideration and not left to the individual planning authority and building developers.
Finally,what are our neighbours doing?.How does the Netherlands manage to safeguard areas which lie under sea level?I am sure that we could learn from their "tried and tested" practices. Whatever you do, don't subscribe to the New Orleans model for flood prevention.
I live in Windsor, down river of the floods, waiting for it to arrive in a couple of days. Take care Peter, and start getting everything that can't be replaced upstairs. As to flood defences etc the government are not going to pay out the billion £'s a year needed now just to maintain and update what we have. We're going to sink.
Simple answer is build all future houses in potential flood areas on stilts or with living area on the first and other higher floors. My old house was three-story, ground floor was a garage and hallway only.
I hope all of you in the United Kingdom are doing alright with all the floods going on! Keep us informed on what's going on and hope all is well! I hope the flooding stops soon.
Thinking about this further,I think the answer for the Severn is to regulate the flow by installing dams.It would mean that some upstream land would have to be requisitioned for the dams.They need not be large but sufficient to regulate the flow to lower reaches of the river without danger of flood.There would be also the advantage of installing low head hydro power.It would mean investment but if the present weather is the result of climate change as Ihave heard the PM suggest, then the responsibility lies with the Government to take the inititive. France's upper Loire was a savage river and when in flood was responsible for sweeping away villages and had a history of taking many lives.This changed when the river was tamed by damming to effect regulation and cope with the heavy rain as it was frequently experienced in the Auvergne.This project was completed about 20 years ago despite the protests of the environmentalists.
Whatever you do, don't subscribe to the New Orleans model for flood prevention. I've got a copy of National Geographic magazine where one of the main stories is the threat to New Orleans from flooding caused by storm surge etc. This edition came out less than a year before the disaster hit NO. Freaky. Hope everyone is okay.
Harry, Would they still be able to surf the Severn Bore? Yes, the bore i in the estuary and a few miles upriver, the dams/lakes would be near the head of the river in the hills. An interesting theory, but the problem is this is a populated area on the lowlands of the river. Not sure of the higher lands, but I don't think it would make much difference to this situation. The problem is caused by the excessive rain we have had saturating the ground and water tables. The ground can just not hold any more rain and so it is all running straight into streams and river tributaries, hence the problems with flooding. Dams high up the river won't make a difference in this situation i am afraid.
Yes, the bore i in the estuary and a few miles upriver, the dams/lakes would be near the head of the river in the hills. An interesting theory, but the problem is this is a populated area on the lowlands of the river. Not sure of the higher lands, but I don't think it would make much difference to this situation. The problem is caused by the excessive rain we have had saturating the ground and water tables. The ground can just not hold any more rain and so it is all running straight into streams and river tributaries, hence the problems with flooding. Dams high up the river won't make a difference in this situation i am afraid. Dams at the higher reaches would hold back the head of water now available for flowing freely over any terrain at a lower level.The proposal would include a series of dams to to protect the terrain below.At the moment a point is reached when the lower terrains cannot handle the water flow and when the main river course overflows, it backs up into tributaries and drainage systems preventing the storms drains functioning at the lower levels.It is a simple mathematical model, the water flow rate throughout the course of the river should match the water flow rate that the river estuary can accept without overflow throughout the river course. Dams will provide regulation of the river flow down to the lower levels.This form of hydraulic control has been tried and tested abroad.The fact that the upper Loire has been tamed and it is a river that countered for more destruction and loss of lives than anything we have experienced in the UK. What is required is the motivation from the Government to resolve the problem but I am afraid we do not seem to approach solutions from the centre as it is always thought to be some form of nationalisation
I agree in normal circumstances that dams on the upper levels of the rivers may work (but take up more land than we can afford these days). However the current situation is quite extraordinary. There is a major weather system stuck over the top of us due to a change in the ocean currents/weather systems off Peru. Thats right, its the old Quantum Weather Butterfly situation. The ground is saturated. Rain fall levels are way higher than normal, and there is no sign of a repsite until at least August/September time. The dams would not hold back this much water and the reservoirs would overflow by now. The lakes in my area of the world ar eholding as they are lalowed to drop the instant bad weather is forecast, but even they are at their limits right now. Dams and lakes would work in a normal situation, and provide a constant water flow in dry sumers, but in this situation it wouldn't help i am afraid. Saturated ground, reservoirs at maximum, swollen streams and ancient springs coming back to the surface for the first time in living memory. I can't see dams working in this situation of prolonged heavy rainfall.
