Monday 10 February 2014

River Thames

Police have declared a 'major incident' in east Berkshire as the Environment Agency issues 14 severe flood warnings
Flooded homes along the River Thames are being evacuated and thousands more are at risk, with water levels expected to rise further over the next 24 hours.
Residents in one Berkshire village say the scenes are from a "horror movie".
Fourteen severe flood warnings are in place in Berkshire and Surrey, while two remain in Somerset.
PM David Cameron - who is in flood-hit Dorset - said it was not the time to change personnel amid criticism of Environment Agency head Lord Smith.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles is answering an urgent question put by Labour in the Commons on the flooding crisis.
Homes in the Berkshire village of Datchet are underwater and thousands more along the lower River Thames, as far as Shepperton, are under threat.
Several Thames gauges are showing their highest levels since being installed in the 1980s and 90s.
At the heart of this blame game is the difficult question of who gets defended and who does not.
The blunt truth is the budget has never been big enough to help everyone, so awkward decisions have to be made. The priority is to save people and property.
Calculations are done to assess the value of any flood defence scheme. First, the cost must be outweighed by the benefit - the Treasury insists every pound spent must yield at least eight in economic gain. Second, you add up households at risk and third, you count up deprived households. In all these cases, urban areas are likely to score highest. Farmland is lower in the pecking order.
There are bound to be winners and losers. If the future becomes stormier, and more people are at risk, disputes will become more contentious. And this raises the hardest question of all: how much should we all pay to keep vulnerable areas dry?
Fire crews, who have been rescuing people from their homes in Staines, say they have never known waters so deep or a flood rescue operation on this scale.
In Windsor, Councillor Colin Rayner pleaded for the police and Army for help.
"We've got 50 volunteers here, we've got the vulnerable people out of their homes, now we need to get everyone else out," he said
Nearby, in the Berkshire village of Colnbrook, resident Asif Khan said his whole street was under water, his house was flooded and his fridge "just went bang".
"It's something out of a horror movie," he said, adding that he was now about to try to evacuate with his two small children.
Hurst village resident Paul Palmer said sewers there were blocked and they have been unable to use the toilet since Friday.
"It's starting to back up into the toilet - it's like going back to the dark ages," he told the BBC.
Berkshire fire and rescue crews rescue  residents whose houses have been flooded in Staines-upon-ThamesStranded residents in Staines-upon-Thames are rescued by fire crews
A man struggles to cycle in the flood at DatchetA total of 10,000 sandbags have been distributed in Datchet in Berkshire
Swans on South Parade in WorcesterSwans wander down a flooded street in Worcester
Speaking from Portland, off the Dorset coast, Mr Cameron said: "I am only interested in one thing and that is making sure that everything government can do is being done and will go on being done to help people through this difficult time.
"There will be time later on to talk about things. Right now everybody's got to focus on the job in hand."
Mr Cameron's comments follow a deepening political row.
Speaking earlier, Lord Smith said his staff knew "100 times" more about flooding than any politician and pointed out that they were bound by rules laid down by government.
He has insisted again he will not resign.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles previously said ministers had been given bad advice by the Environment Agency over river dredging.
Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson and Mr Pickles are thought to be at odds over the performance of the Environment Agency.
No 10 did not deny Mr Paterson had complained about his colleague, who is standing in for him after he had an eye operation, but said both were doing an "excellent job".
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who was in Burrowbridge in Somerset, said dredging should have been done over the last few years but added: "I don't think now is the time to point the finger of blame."
Among other developments:
  • Environment Agency has issued 14 severe warnings - meaning "danger to life" - along the River Thames, in areas including Staines, Chertsey and Datchet
  • Two severe warnings are in place for the south-west of England in Salt Moor and East Lyng, in Somerset
  • Large parts of Worcester city centre could be closed for a weekbecause of flooding, the county council has said. Twenty-nine flood warnings remain in place across Herefordshire and Worcestershire
  • An earth bank has been built to protect the town of Bridgwater, on the edge of the Somerset Levels, from flooding
  • Dyfed Powys police have found a body in their search for a kayaker who went missing on the River Usk on Sunday
  • A meeting of the emergency Cobra committee will take place later. Mr Cameron will take part by phone from the South West.
  • Essex County Council says it is releasing £1m of emergency funds to tackle road flooding across the county
Map showing flood warnings and alerts in place along the river Thames
Major incident
Thames Valley Police have declared a "major incident" in east Berkshire.
Howard Davidson, from the Environment Agency said he expects conditions in Berkshire to deteriorate as more rain falls over the coming days.
"We have issued flood warnings from Datchet down to Shepperton, and we urge people to take heed of the flood warnings. We are anticipating another three or four inches on the Thames over the next 24 hours."

Weather information

Flooding at Burrowbridge on the Somerset Levels
Severe delays
The flooding has also caused severe delays on several train lines, National Rail said.
Robin Gisby, managing director of Network Rail, said his team were watching "several hundred" sites across England carefully.

Analysis

It's certain to infuriate those residents affected by flooding - but the floods crisis now appears to have developed into an ugly 'blame game' among the politicians.
First Communities Secretary Eric Pickles pointed at the Environment Agency and its boss Chris Smith, suggesting he should consider his position and accusing the agency of "misjudgements."
Now Lord Smith has hit back saying his staff know one hundred times more about floods than any politician and accusing ministers of "playing politics".
At the same time, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has protested to the prime minister over Mr Pickles' bruising criticism of the Environment Agency.
No wonder then that this morning Energy Secretary Ed Davey publicly appealed for an end to the blame game.
What does it tell us? That the floods crisis has all the potential to turn into a serious political crisis - hence the reason politicians are already taking sides.
"What I think is really significant, and it has got worse overnight, is Oxford down to the Thames Valley through Didcot, Reading, Maidenhead and into Paddington.
"This isn't now just flooding, this is groundwater. The land is so saturated we have got water rising up, just as much as flowing on to it. So it is difficult."
The main rail route into Devon and Cornwall via Bridgwater remains cut off because of problems caused by flooding and storm damage.
The line from Paddington to Exeter via Newbury is expected to reopen later following a drop in flood water levels at Athelney.
The line from Waterloo to Exeter via Yeovil, closed due to a landslip at Crewkerne on Saturday, has reopened.
More than 300 less serious warnings and alerts have been issued by the Environment Agency, mostly in southern England and the Midlands.
The Met Office has no rain warnings in place for Monday, but it is warning of ice across much of the UK.
But forecasters say another area of low pressure is expected to reach the UK on Monday night and into Tuesday, bringing more heavy rain.
Peter Sloss, of the BBC Weather Centre, said Monday would be the "driest day of the week" but he warned there would be 20-40mm (1-2in) of rain for many areas by the end of Thursday.
He said some showers would be wintry, with snow likely on higher ground in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.
A flooded River Thames at Staines, SurreySome residents in Staines, which borders the River Thames, were woken by telephone flood alerts
Sandbags stacked up in Burrowbridge, SomersetIn Burrowbridge, Somerset, sandbags are stacked up ready for use
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is interviewed by the media next to the flooding sites at Burrowbridge, SomersetDeputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg fields questions from reporters nearby in Burrowbridge
The floods at Datchet move across rail linesRail services have been cancelled in parts of Surrey and Berkshire

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