The floods

As you may be aware, there has been severe flooding in parts on the UK for a month now. Over the weekend the midlands and south west joined the 'soggy' club instituted by Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in late June.

Even though the government were warned about a disastrous flood, they did little to prepare and didn't appear to understand the gravity of the situation.

Over a third of a million people have no access to drinking water. Hundreds of thousands have been forced out of their homes. In Hull 30, 000 people still living in sports centers and temporary accommodation.

But wait! Action time has come at last. Why? Because now the water is moving towards our great metrolops, London.

It might come as a surprise to those who live south of Watford Gap, but we too have flushing lavatories and electricity, televisions and the internet. Even if we do talk like monkeys. :shame:

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Shortly before 6am last Monday forecasters at the Met Office’s Exeter headquarters e-mailed the Environment Agency with the first warning that “a serious weather event” was likely to hit England on Friday.

With weeks of rain across the country leaving ground sodden and rivers at unseasonably high levels, whichever area bore the brunt of the storm brewing over the Atlantic was likely to face the most severe flooding.

By Wednesday morning the forecasters had narrowed down the expected location to the M4/M5 corridor in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2120927.ece

If Kensington and Chelsea had been under 6 ft. of water, you could bet your last penny more would have been done. Shameful inaction from the government.

I'm rather ticked off about this as well. Us northern monkeys were flooded, and it was a week before anyone mentioned it down South. The only place were it got any real coverage was on the local news, Look North. Heck, at one point a dam was at risk of bursting, and did you hear about that being main news nationwide? No!

And now a few thousand fields are flooded and some poor Southerners go without water and the news channels won't shut up about it.

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If Kensington and Chelsea had been under 6 ft. of water, you could bet your last penny more would have been done. Shameful inaction from the government.

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What, you mean like building the Thames barrier, for instance? Point taken

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And now a few thousand fields are flooded and some poor Southerners go without water and the news channels won't shut up about it

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As it happens my brother lives in the worst affected bit of Worcestershire (which to my mind is not the south BTW). Its a bit more than a few fields being flooded.

Anyway, when Hull was flooded that was all over the news, and, come on, HULL !!!

Well, you could celebrate the end of the nanny-state. I heard it's a bad thing. :sweatdrop:

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Originally Posted by Husar

Well, you could celebrate the end of the nanny-state. I heard it's a bad thing. :sweatdrop:

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Not quite the same as receiving a fortnightly giro though, is it?

The first duty of a government is the safety of it's population. Unless you live outside of London of course. :shame:

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The first duty of a government is the safety of it's population. Unless you live outside of London of course.

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If you can call it living...:laugh4:

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Originally Posted by English assassin

If you can call it living...:laugh4:

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Well you got me there mate. :laugh4:

I object to Gloucestershire etc being called "The South". They are not, and we don't want them to be. They are practically Welsh over there!

I think everyone was kind of hoping that Hull would be washed away or left underwater like one of those lost villages. The newshounds lost interest when this proved not to be the case.

Worcestershire in jeopardy? Now this gets international.

I depend on their sauce for 30% of my cooking recipes. Do you fellas need the 101st Airborne to drop by?

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Originally Posted by KukriKhan

Worcestershire in jeopardy? Now this gets international.

I depend on their sauce for 30% of my cooking recipes. Do you fellas need the 101st Airborne to drop by?

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You will be pleased to hear that the Lea and Perrins factory is up a hill in Worcester. Unless the floods assume biblical proportions, you should be OK.

More importantly though, only 30% ?????

Methinks IA isn't getting the sympathy he was hoping for. Schadenfreude is an English word that we taught to the Germans.

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Originally Posted by EngA

More importantly though, only 30% ?????

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Had to tone it down after marrying Mrs. Kukri; her love of 'sweet and light" trumps my love of smokey-earthy, for the sake of domestic tranquility.

Good to hear L&P is safe for now. Some obviously forward-thinking plant siters there. :bow:

What is the deal with governments and floods?
They just can't get it right.

UK, New Orleans, Noah.

How bad did Lincs get it? I wonder if my previous residence is under water... :titanic:

Where in Lincs. did you live? Scunthorpe? :inquisitive: :laugh4:

Or those well known English towns, Boston and Newark? :laugh4:

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Originally Posted by InsaneApache

Where in Lincs. did you live? Scunthorpe? :inquisitive: :laugh4:

Or those well known English towns, Boston and Newark? :laugh4:

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Scunthorpe? Newark? If only I could have been so lucky. ~D

I was in Waddington, near Lincoln. I assume Lincoln is fine, being on high ground and all.

If I remember correctly, I think Derby got flooded out when I was over there, and there wasn't much on the news about it then either.

Gah! While you all sit there and complain, I took action. I just deposited five quid in aid relief to help my third world brothers and sisters in this time of need.

And I must say it made me feel good about myself. I like the thought that with this small action I may have made a difference in the life of a Briton.
Hmm, maybe I'll adopt one, I should join one of these organisations where you send a few quid every month and then you receive letters of gratitute from your adopted British foster child. Or maybe next year I'll go and do some development work there for a few months, maybe build a water well in a village so these noble people will have access to fresh water too.

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Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat

Gah! While you all sit there and complain, I took action. I just deposited five quid in aid relief to help my third world brothers and sisters in this time of need.

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Miserly so and so. Five quid won't even stretch to buy 2 pints in these poverty stricken parts, so the poor villagers will have to somehow pay for that second pint, and the packet of dry roasted peanuts as well. Do you understand how inadequate your donation was?

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Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat

And I must say it made me feel good about myself. I like the thought that with this small action I may have made a difference in the life of a Briton.
Hmm, maybe I'll adopt one, I should join one of these organisations where you send a few quid every month and then you receive letters of gratitute from your adopted British foster child. Or maybe next year I'll go and do some development work there for a few months, maybe build a water well in a village so these noble people will have access to fresh water too.

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When you say adopt a British foster child, could you actually take them off our hands? All age ranges up to around 20 should be adoptable, and we'll throw in the Burberry jackets and Nike trainers as well. They should already have the life skills they need, such as jimmying locked doors and removing alloys from parked cars, so they'll fit into society quite well. In their own variation on Parkour, they not only jump across the tops of the city landscape, but they can somersault through open windows as well, no matter how small the gap. Save the world, adopt a British child.

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Originally Posted by Pannonian

They should already have the life skills they need, such as jimmying locked doors and removing alloys from parked cars, so they'll fit into society quite well.

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Do they set fires to the cars as well, if not then there is need for a program of to teach how to so they can integrate with French society...

Joking apart guys, this is starting to look really bad.

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The Cobra meeting came amid mounting concern the Walham station would not be saved and as many as 250,000 people would lose power and water supplies.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6912650.stm

No drinkable water and no way to boil undrinkable water is not good.

The little 'uns and oldies will be the ones to suffer.....first.:shame:

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Originally Posted by InsaneApache

Joking apart guys, this is starting to look really bad.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6912650.stm

No drinkable water and no way to boil undrinkable water is not good.

The little 'uns and oldies will be the ones to suffer.....first.:shame:

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Can't they be moved elsewhere in the meanwhile? Surely the government can commandeer whatever is necessary as transport, and there is room and provisions enough for them here in the SE. If nothing else, get them to the coast and ship them down - the sea never suffers from flooding, and is always open for transport.

The threat to London stuff is perhaps a little overblown. I picked up a copy of the Evening standard earlier as the headline was "Thames to burst banks: run for your lives!", or something to that effect, and I was understandably concerned. However, it turns out that they meant the bits of the Thames, er, not in London.

Perhaps Hull should use some of the money they get from down south to build themselves a barrage?

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build themselves a barrage

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Hmmm...
Never thought they would bring artillery near London


How serious is this? Coming from across the Pond, I've heard little about any flooding in the UK. Are we talking about Katrina bad, or what?

So with a place called Hull you'd think it would be a little better prepared for a flood...

Heh. I always thought it'd be Zombies that forced the Majority of People off the Island.

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"Thames to burst banks: run for your lives!",

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That was a classic headline wasn't it? The evening standard has form for this, I remember on the day the England team were due to play a world cup qualifier abroad, the headline was "Horrific air crash: Entire world cup team burnt to death!" Turned out to have been a crash in Africa and the Congoese team, (or some other African nation)*


*Which obviously was a tragedy too, only of less immediate interest to London commuters that evening.

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How serious is this? Coming from across the Pond, I've heard little about any flooding in the UK. Are we talking about Katrina bad, or what?

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No, not that bad. But apparently half of Gloucestershire is without drinking water (and the first person to quote the Rime of the Ancient Mariner gets a slap). And my half formed plan to move to Tewkesbury may be on hold...

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Originally Posted by Big King Sanctaphrax

The threat to London stuff is perhaps a little overblown.

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Oh no it isn't. Grab a map, north sea is a big bottleneck, if all adds up be prepared to get your feet wet. We will drown with you as an act of solidarity though :yes:

Watching the news now really appeals to my occassionally sadistic tastes. Nothing better than settling down last night with a hot chocolate, watching the BBC help evacuate a family as civil defence sirens blare in the background.

Seriously though, turns out my initial view of this was seriously underestimated.

Oi, been reading my morning paper. The situation is more severe than I thought. Thankfully, all damage seems to be limited to property.



It did yield us this instant classic of a picture though:

https://img182.imageshack.us/img182/...ckthornve9.jpg

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Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat

Gah! While you all sit there and complain, I took action. I just deposited five quid in aid relief to help my third world brothers and sisters in this time of need.

And I must say it made me feel good about myself. I like the thought that with this small action I may have made a difference in the life of a Briton.
Hmm, maybe I'll adopt one, I should join one of these organisations where you send a few quid every month and then you receive letters of gratitute from your adopted British foster child. Or maybe next year I'll go and do some development work there for a few months, maybe build a water well in a village so these noble people will have access to fresh water too.

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I´m willing to take in some of those page 3 girls....

you know...just trying to help out...:laugh4:

Loius, you should get one of the park under water with the "No Golf" sign.

How serious is it, well the Severn has burst it's banks and expanded by a factor of about 10. At one point all the train lines and roads out of the South West were apparently in danger of being cut off.

It's serious but if it stops raining, which it has at the moment then infastructure should be back up in around two weeks.

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Originally Posted by Ronin

I´m willing to take in some of those page 3 girls....

you know...just trying to help out...:laugh4:

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Unfortunately for you Essex is apparently the driest county in England.

All kidding aside, are there aid societies established?

Kidding mode back on: Looks like you guys won't have to travel as far for your fish and chips.

Funny, I forget that most New England towns like Boston and Tewkesbury get their names from English towns. I keep thinking you're all talking about over here. Heck, if EA moved to my Tewkesbury, he'd be less than 1/2 hour away. There's not much in our version of Tewkesbury, EA, but there is a gentleman's-club. I can't vouch for it, but the guys at work say it's worthwhile (Mrs. Corleone subscribes to the Lorena Bobbitt school of 'husbands at stripclubs', me and my willy are staying out of there).

Tewksbuys is a small village over here (LOL, in Devon "small" is defined as a few hundred), in any case, they call is New England for a reason.

On a more serious note, everything should be fixed in a month, although the RAF and Navy have apparently been brought in to try and keep power going, easier to keep things like that going than start them up again, I suppose.

Tony Blair would know what to do.

Britain's breaking apart now that you disposed of him, IA. Terrorist attacks, floods, cold war with Russia.
And it's been only a month. I think it's the wrath of God. Lord knows what else he's got in store for you guys. Shouldn't have disposed of your Messiah, eh? Now seven plagues will curse you for it.
Maybe Britain can avert its curse by atoning for its sins by joining Tony's return to the mother church.

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There's not much in our version of Tewkesbury, EA

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Well, there's not that much left in ours now, either.... :laugh4:

I think it last hit the news in the civil war, oops, my mistake, the Wars of the Roses, thank you Google (battle of Tewkesbury 1471). Nice abbey, a few decent pubs, that's about it.

I think I would find New England very confusing. I can handle the idea that you have a Tewkesbury and a Worcester and all the rest, but I would be forever assuming that Tewkesbury was half an hours drive south of Worcester, or expecting to drive six hours north of Rochester to get to Manchester.

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Originally Posted by English assassin

Well, there's not that much left in ours now, either.... :laugh4:

I think it last hit the news in the civil war, oops, my mistake, the Wars of the Roses, thank you Google (battle of Tewkesbury 1471). Nice abbey, a few decent pubs, that's about it.

I think I would find New England very confusing. I can handle the idea that you have a Tewkesbury and a Worcester and all the rest, but I would be forever assuming that Tewkesbury was half an hours drive south of Worcester, or expecting to drive six hours north of Rochester to get to Manchester.

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Well, what would really mess you up is that there's a few town names (Manchester comes to mind) where each state has their own. So while yes, Manchester, NH is 3 hours north of Rochester, CT.... Manchester CT is 4 hours south of Rochester, NH. :2thumbsup:

Not to mention, to live up to it's namesake, New England is THE place for people who like to get lost while driving. In the rest of the US, the roads make pretty good sense and even a stranger, armed with a map, can get by. Not here. The street name may follow the turn, even when the street goes straight. The route number may follow a turn as well. In fact, you could come to a 4-way intersection. You can go straight, you can turn left to follow the street name or you can turn right to follow the route number. :laugh4:

And oh by the way, they NEVER post the name of the major street. They figure you should already know what street you're on, even if you go onto it from another major thoroughfare. :furious3:

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Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat

Britain's breaking apart now that you disposed of him, IA. Terrorist attacks, floods, cold war with Russia.
And it's been only a month. I think it's the wrath of God. Lord knows what else he's got in store for you guys. Shouldn't have disposed of your Messiah, eh? Now seven plagues will curse you for it.
Maybe Britain can avert its curse by atoning for its sins by joining Tony's return to the mother church.

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Maybe it's God's way of telling us we should go to the polls and elect the Tories.

God's just angry that the HP series is finished

“Or maybe next year I'll go and do some development work there for a few months, maybe build a water well in a village so these noble people will have access to fresh water too.” Right, if MSF is coming to help, I apply for a job as translator, but you’re aware I know the salary…:inquisitive:

“Britain's breaking apart now that you disposed of him, IA. Terrorist attacks, floods, cold war with Russia” Pff, nothing comparing to the daily life between traffic jams, the congestion charges, the CCTV and the politically Correct and the Sun Newspaper…

“page 3 girls”: Don’t tell me you put your trust on advertising…

Well, in Croydon, it was impressive I have to say, but brief…
But yep, for people who believed that Global Warming was that Dover would become Cannes that was a shock. By the way, nobody is saying that it happened before: Because it didn’t.
The good news is all these people who bought their 4x4 have a use of them now. The bad news is they don’t know how…