must be heartbreaking...would a bit of dredging have made amy significant difference to flooding with all the rain we have had?
they're talking about years of neglect of the drainage system. The whole area is below sea level, the Somerset levels is actually a series of small islands surrounded by wetlands which was drained by the dutch experts in the 17th century (but its been being drained for centuries before that) The systems have been neglected so dredging of the rivers is one part, but its a massive drainage system, very much like Holland. Its all reclaimed land which has been built on massively. *****wit planning through the years allow people to build on floodplains - you reap what you sow
I feel so much for you guys. This was near my house 2007, I don't actually have pictures of my place as we were away at the time and not allowed back until water had gone.
This The big house is a brand new £1m build I really fill sorry for those effected but this area is a flood plain and we have had unpressandented amount of rain so its bound to be bad and i doubt dredging would make much difference overall and may of made it worse by flooding big towns further down. I am just glad i am on top of hill
i live in the Aire Valley which floods at least once a year and people still want to build there...and people still buy them!
It's awful to watch, I guess the selfish part of me think's thank fug it's not me. I would imagine that long term flooding, i.e. over 2 weeks is far more damaging than one or two days. I'd also not buy any cars in nice condition but with a lingering smell that will come up onto the market once this lot of flooding buggers off.
Lincolnshire is the same, flat and drained by the Dutch. Most places here rely to a certain extent on artificial drainage, BUT our drainage boards seem to be on the case and keep everything in good order. The dyke by our house is manually cleared of weeds and growth twice a year and dug out every few years whether it needs it or not. I don't know the setup in Somerset. Here we have local drainage boards funded as an item on the council tax and it seems they have enough money to keep on top of things. Land here is largely arable as well - more valuable than pasture and probably of more strategic importance for food production. It does show what can be done with the appropriate funding and will to get the job done. Clearly someone in Somerset has taken their eye off the ball.
Careful - people will be seeking recompense against the dutch. I guess the other misnomer is when the Environment Agency, government etc etc get sued or push emergency aid in - that's all of us paying up.
it can't be that deep, i saw a duck swimming down the road in somerset and it was only half way up his back!
I would imagine the rivers are tidal, as is the sea. And then ground saturation and underground springs. It's a perfect storm of ground saturation, heavy prolonged rain and tidal surge - somewhere in the equation is dredging and building further up the water chain compromising flood defences further down it.
