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Severe flooding in Somerset


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Posted
  • Location: Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex 30Mtr ASL
  • Weather Preferences: snowy or sunny but not too hot!
  • Location: Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex 30Mtr ASL

Yes and what appears to be a below average IQ of those who continually ignored warnings before actual flooding occurred? To save upfront costs. Now to clear up the mess, costings will be two fold, fixing what needs to be fixed and yes dredging amongst other things. Prevention is allegedly better than cure or as common sense once dictated.Joined up thinking....haha pull the other one!

 

Yes we see this everytime with Government cutbacks of whatever political persuation. They feel important boasting that they have achieved this and that savings, but when the "s5it hits the fan" others are always to blame. As you say savings often result in greater expenditure as I have quoted in the past with the Magistrates Courts reorganisation and the so called bedroom tax being good examples. When will politicians ever learn that sometimes expenditure is allocated for a purpose and a reason and to cut funds does frequently not achieve the desired effect?. I guess it sounds macho when delivering those kinds of statements during an election campaign and the electorate is gullible enough to believe them.

 

Kind Regards

 

Dave

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Michael Eavis the founder of the Glastonbury Festival has a go at the Environment Agency

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2548435/I-warned-Environment-Agency-clowns-flooding-chaos-repeatedly-says-Glastonbury-boss-Somerset-farmer-Michael-Eavis.html

 

The military have been drafted in to help the situation in Somerset. The pictures are quite something. The Severn is expected to flood over the coming days and reports of flooding in Welshpool and flooding in Worcestershire. We could be in a very bad situation by the end of next week with exceptionally wet weather forecast. Thing will get worse, possibly much worse. What a mess!

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2547737/Drowning-misery-Homes-flooded-month-vast-tracts-farmland-wrecked-lives-hold-staggering-incompetence.html

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Posted
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire
  • Weather Preferences: Cool not cold, warm not hot. No strong Wind.
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire

UK floods: January rain breaks records in parts of England

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25944823

 

 

Parts of England have had their wettest January since records began more than 100 years ago, figures show.

 

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Posted
  • Location: Stoke Gifford, nr Bristol, SGlos
  • Location: Stoke Gifford, nr Bristol, SGlos

Michael Eavis the founder of the Glastonbury Festival has a go at the Environment Agency

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2548435/I-warned-Environment-Agency-clowns-flooding-chaos-repeatedly-says-Glastonbury-boss-Somerset-farmer-Michael-Eavis.html

 

The military have been drafted in to help the situation in Somerset. The pictures are quite something. The Severn is expected to flood over the coming days and reports of flooding in Welshpool and flooding in Worcestershire. We could be in a very bad situation by the end of next week with exceptionally wet weather forecast. Thing will get worse, possibly much worse. What a mess!

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2547737/Drowning-misery-Homes-flooded-month-vast-tracts-farmland-wrecked-lives-hold-staggering-incompetence.html

Yes and they're the real culprits, not the govt and 'cuts', as alluded to in Claret's post earlier.

Environ agency more interested in creating nature reserves, etc, rather than assisting humans.

EA behaving like a typical govt quango IMO. Glorified civil servants.

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Posted
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire
  • Weather Preferences: Cool not cold, warm not hot. No strong Wind.
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire

Yes and they're the real culprits, not the govt and 'cuts', as alluded to in Claret's post earlier.

Environ agency more interested in creating nature reserves, etc, rather than assisting humans.

EA behaving like a typical govt quango IMO. Glorified civil servants.

I would rather all the flood plains were not built on but rather they were turned into nature reserves (must admit locally here they are doing a pretty good job of it too, not the EA alone though), our local wetlands are nothing short of fantastic IMHO.

Edited by Jax
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Posted
  • Location: North York Moors
  • Location: North York Moors

Michael Eavis the founder of the Glastonbury Festival has a go at the Environment Agency

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2548435/I-warned-Environment-Agency-clowns-flooding-chaos-repeatedly-says-Glastonbury-boss-Somerset-farmer-Michael-Eavis.html

It wasn’t easy, with a dozen gangs – men who really knew what they were doing – keeping their mechanised excavators working seven days a week at the busiest times, but it worked.

In fact, it worked very well,  delivering a valuable double benefit, with the silt that dragged from the river being deposited on the bank tops, ensuring that as the river got deeper, so the banks got higher, too.But nearly 20 years ago, all that changed. First, the wildlife and conservation lobby steadily grew ever more influential.Very soon, conservationists, naturalists and organisations such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds were the good guys and we farmers were the enemy.As a result, the dredging was stopped and the money saved was diverted into conservation.

 

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Posted
  • Location: West Barnes, London, 18m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Warm and sunny; chilly and sunny; thunderstorms; extreme
  • Location: West Barnes, London, 18m ASL

There is some old property and families have lived on the Levels for decades , centuries and it deserves to be looked after. Ie deserves land drainage. As i said earlier, the green lobby and its habitat protection has got an excess of power. Dredging channels is maintenance, not destruction. End of . :)

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-25940907

 

Towns and villages in Worcestershire are preparing for high river levels, which are expected to peak on Saturday, the Environment Agency has said. Flood barriers will be erected in Severnside South, Bewdley on Thursday.

 

Warnings have been issued for the River Severn at Callow End and Kempsey, where rain in Wales is likely to push water levels to 6.8m (22ft).

 

Significant flooding in areas close the Severn likely next week.

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Posted
  • Location: North York Moors
  • Location: North York Moors

That DM article also quotes a wildlife site saying it is far too wet - soon birds should be paired up and selecting nest sites, that won't work too well when the places they go are under 4 feet of water.What will have happened to all the other wildlife such as small mammals which feed owls and such  is not hard to guess.The area usually gets very wet in winter but complete inundation for such a long time will have completely devastated grassland, and the anaerobic conditions will have had a serious effect on soil fertility, for example all the earthworms and invertebrates will now be dead.

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When it comes to a water vole and a farmer struggling to make ends meet I will side with the farmer every time (although I am sympathetic to the idea of conservation and protection of our environment and wildlife, but not at the expense of people)

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Posted
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield
  • Weather Preferences: Any Extreme
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield

I'd love to see the actual flow rates of the rivers over the years.

Birds will very likely nest elsewhere the more likely problem is when the levels drop leaving the young exposed to danger. Other animals will have fled to dry land away from the effected areas.

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Posted
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield
  • Weather Preferences: Any Extreme
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield

Interesting to hear on the news that army turned up had a look and couldn't do any more than what is already being done. In the meantime there's another Cobra meeting and you will soon see Dave Cameron flying across the sky sucking all the water up. The government should be thinking up some aid plans for the effected areas diverted away from countries that don't need it like China and India.

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Posted
  • Location: Louth, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Misty Autumn days and foggy nights
  • Location: Louth, Lincolnshire

Interesting that we are four pages in and not one mention of the Somerset Levels Internal Drainage Board, which drains more of the levels than the Environment Agency or local authorities who took responsibility for surface water flood management in 2010.  Water Level Management these days is much more complicated than just being the EA's responsibility.  Maybe that's part of the problem.

 

In 2007, urban concrete watercourses in Sheffield and Hull were overwhelmed by water.  There were no issues with maintenance because there was nothing to maintain.  There were no issues with 'people vs wildlife' because they were artificial drainage systems, with no semi-natural habitat at all.  It just rained too much for a system not designed for that volume of rainfall.  You can design a more capable system, but that costs more.  Most of the issues the drainage board I was involved with at the time had during that event was with collapsing of badly maintained culverts - general waterway maintenance wasn't an issue.  There are lots of reasons why water bodies can flood, and maintenance is just one.

 

I'm not saying that the EA are blameless, I'm not saying that the balance of maintenance and habitat protection in main rivers on the Levels is right, but this situation probably has loads of contributory factors, two of which are record rainfall and the fact that the levels are a floodplain. 

Edited by Just Before Dawn
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Posted
  • Location: Newbury, Berkshire. 107m ASL.
  • Weather Preferences: Summer:sunny, some Thunder,Winter:cold & snowy spells,Other:transitional
  • Location: Newbury, Berkshire. 107m ASL.

What's needed? Put simply, money, time and effort.

 

Once the "powers that be" accept these three factors then we can progress. As it stated in the C4 news reports tonight, this recovery will take months, some of the wildlife will be gone for good and livelihood will have been damaged, but us humans can win this battle. Other than money, time and effort the global governments need to invest in mitigating against extreme climatic events, they are here to stay and they aren't going anywhere.

Edited by gottolovethisweather
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Posted
  • Location: Newbury, Berkshire. 107m ASL.
  • Weather Preferences: Summer:sunny, some Thunder,Winter:cold & snowy spells,Other:transitional
  • Location: Newbury, Berkshire. 107m ASL.

When it comes to a water vole and a farmer struggling to make ends meet I will side with the farmer every time (although I am sympathetic to the idea of conservation and protection of our environment and wildlife, but not at the expense of people)

 

True, but we are intrinsically connected to the Natural World. The more folk come to realise this fact, the better. Speaking of farming and yes I do feel for them big time, I wonder (daft question/idea coming up Posted Image ) whether they could grow rice there? No seriously. Same happened last Winter don't forget and it is seemingly a recurring theme of flooding as the years pass. Right now of course, it would be far from their minds, however they have to make a living and constantly need to think up new ways of adapting to Mother Nature's latest mood swings.

Edited by gottolovethisweather
better grammar now I hope.
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Posted
  • Location: North York Moors
  • Location: North York Moors

 I wonder whether they could grow rice there? 

You seem well qualified for a top job at the E.A or Defra.  

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Posted
  • Location: Western Isle of Wight
  • Weather Preferences: Snow, Storm, anything loud and dramatic.
  • Location: Western Isle of Wight

Rules and regulations come home to roost.

Lots of traditional passed down ways of the countryside were destroyed by legislation, likely designed to provide income for people who can afford to be qualified to enforce said rules and regulations.

Old passed down ways were deliberately discredited, now you need this certificate or that licence. Don't do this don't go there.

Well look what has just exploded in their faces. A big rotten smelly mess.....

The countryside is a living thing, not a predictable machine, it is full of secrets, often only known by the wise older countrymen and women, with years of experience, who learned from their elders.

They will learn again about the dredging of rivers from the people who used to do it in the past. That will be putting some egos down a peg or two.

Memorable.

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Posted
  • Location: Newbury, Berkshire. 107m ASL.
  • Weather Preferences: Summer:sunny, some Thunder,Winter:cold & snowy spells,Other:transitional
  • Location: Newbury, Berkshire. 107m ASL.

You seem well qualified for a top job at the E.A or Defra. 

 

 

I'll send my application in. Posted Image I seriously haven't any idea whether that growing rice would be feasible in parts, but we've probably got too cold a climate for it anyhow. What I have also witnessed when I've ventured down that way several years back, was that they had gone to town with peat extraction in certain areas, I wonder if this is also a mitigating factor? As ever, nothing can really be ruled out but they do need to change their ways as I stated before as we will be here again some day.

Edited by gottolovethisweather
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Posted
  • Location: Darlington
  • Weather Preferences: Warm dry summers
  • Location: Darlington

Somerset Floodwater Has High Levels Of Bacteria

 

Floodwater in Somerset contains 60 times the amount of safe bacteria for agricultural water, tests for Sky News have found. Microbiologist Nathaniel Storey from the University of Reading took samples from Moorland on Thursday and tested it to see how much bacteria was in the water. The tests revealed the water contained 60,000 to 70,000 bacteria per 100 millilitres. The World Health Organisation says agricultural water should have no more than 1,000 bacteria per 100 millilitres. Bathing water should have no more than 500 bacteria per 100 millilitres. Mr Storey has told Sky News the amount of bacteria in the floodwater is high.

 

"It's perhaps unsurprising considering there's septic tanks in these people's gardens that are overflowing and animals within close proximity," he said. "Therefore all this excrement that's in these areas is being dredged up by the floodwater and taken into houses and into gardens." There are five severe floods warnings in place across southwest England and the Midlands, after heavy overnight rain, high winds and a high spring tide. Many residents on the Somerset Levels blame the Environment Agency for exacerbating flooding they have experienced over the past month by not dredging the rivers.

 

http://news.sky.com/story/1204892/somerset-floodwater-has-high-levels-of-bacteria

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Posted
  • Location: Darlington
  • Weather Preferences: Warm dry summers
  • Location: Darlington

Around 4 weeks of very little or no rain is whats needed for somerset to enable the agencies to get on top of the floods

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Posted
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire
  • Weather Preferences: Cool not cold, warm not hot. No strong Wind.
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire

Countryfile did a segment on this issue with Adam visiting a farm in the area regards the contents of the flood waters, all the septic tanks in the area affected and farms in general seeing so much flooding it was always going to be a problem.

 

Shame to see the continued flooding around the UK (or anywhere for that matter).

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