The past couple of nights at work we have sent Inshore Rescue Boats again to flood stricken areas. The are taking part in a large joint effort by many organisations & being successful in rescueing/evacuating many people.This had me thinking.
Has anyone any opinions on why we are experiencing the amount of severe flooding that we are? Forget Global Warming as if it does exist, we not only need to try & slow it down/reverse it, but we also have to manage & limit it's impact.
Consider , does the Thames barrier have an impact on rivers above it, are the rivers being managed correctly? are the local councils doing enough?
What about the cost? Government money pledged to help South Yorks/Humberside, will they support Oxfordshire/ Gloucestershire/Worcestershire the same in the latest round of areas to be hit?
Insurance companies will start if not already to refuse or cancel policies or cover.
Does Government policies about building more housing leading to building on known flood plains contribute to the problems?
What about the impact on the countryside & wildlife that are in & around these areas?
I am interested to know your views.

This post was last modified: 22-07-2007 12:17 PM by tibbar.

There are many reasons why we are getting the flooding. Of course there is the amount of rain - large amounts in one go so the ground cannot absorb it so it runs off - we are currently getting payback for all those dry summers recently, weather will even itself out!

Other reasons for flooding: building in inappropriate areas; too much concrete; reduction in the numbers of trees in towns & cities; reduction in expenditure by local councils resulting in blocked drains no longer being cleaned at regular intervals; poor design of housing estates to cope with rain water. The whole reason for the river Wharfe flooding in recent years is the digging of drainage channels in the peat moorlands. This has been done to lower the water table to encourage the growth of heather to increase the numbers of grouse for shooting. Result, the moorland no longer acts as a giant sponge to hold the heavy rainfall and instead the water runs straight off into the river Wharfe.

So, ignoring the high rainfall, all the reasons for flooding are down to us!!!

The rivers aren't always managed correctly, they often become clogged up which of course leads to greater flooding risk. A small example in a local village a couple of years ago, a small stream that could have easily been kept unblocked by the council was allowed to build up and build up until eventually there was a heavy rainfall and four homes were completely flooded and ruined. If you imagine this happening in a large river the results could be much worse.

You are both also right that building on flood plains is contributing to increasing numbers of floods.

It has been a very wet summer but we must remember that we have had summers like this before, Britain is known for them, this one is just magnified because we are having more floods and there has been all the media coverage of climate change.

I believe like Wild Canon that most of the flooding is caused by iresponsible building sites and other human factors which have been exposed by high rainfall this year. Will this bring changes in where and how we build? I doubt it!

New Orleans is a very good example of what happens when everything that can go wrong, does.

Kingfisher

Obviously I have no personal experience of New Orleans, but we've had the same attitudes from central government here that they had there - lack of response to warning from people in the know and those with local knowledge and a difference in response depending on geography and status.

I've been listening to reports today about the latest flooding. Compare the response to the flooding in Gloucester etc to that in the north of the country - Sheffield etc several weeks ago. Far far more properties were flooded in the north, but no MP, let alone Government minister visited that area!