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Letter Re: Observations on the Flooding in Central England
Sir:
You might have seen the news reports about the flooding in Central England
last week. We’re in amongst it, but fortunately (and thanks to forward
planning) high enough to have remained dry.
The primary cause of the floods was a prolonged period of exceptionally
heavy rain, up to 131mm (c.5-1/2 inches) in one day. This followed hot
on the heels
of a very wet summer which left the ground sodden an unable to absorb the
downpour, which caused flash-flooding as it ran off.
Areas not normally flood-prone have been inundated. Rivers broke their
banks and filled their flood-plains.
Now this part of the country is used to flooding, although not in the summer
months, as it has two of the UK’s most unstable rivers, the Severn
and the Avon, passing through it. This episode, however, has been notable
for the
sheer amounts and force of the of water and depths of flooding. See this
link and this
link for some of the BBC's coverage…
The mayhem and disruption caused has been bad enough, but it has been compounded
by the behaviour of some which can only be described as moronic. Conversely,
the bravery of many, both in the response services and the public, has been
humbling to see.
The floods caused chaos with the transport links, with railway lines and
roads under several feet of water, even the M5 and M50 motorways (our equivalent
to freeways) were closed after they disappeared under anything up to a foot
of floodwater. This caused huge tailbacks with several thousand people stranded
for up to twenty hours in their vehicles. One woman went into labour whilst
in
the jam on the M5 and the emergency services were unable to reach her either
by ambulance or helicopter because of the conditions. Fortunately a truck-driver
stuck near to her car realised the situation and used his vehicle to force
a way through the water and the traffic to tow the woman’s car to the
ambulance. He then apparently had to tow the ambulance as it too had become
overwhelmed
by the water. They managed to get the woman to hospital in time for the child
to be born in the dry.
Towns and villages have been cut off for several days with residents needing
rescue by boat or helicopter as the waters rose so quickly. As is always
the case, some residents opt to stay with their property and many of these
had to
be rescued later as levels continued to rise.
The situation has been made worse by the failure of mains services; electricity
and water plant were flooded, even though they were sited above normal flood
levels. A water treatment plant was overwhelmed and engineers are having
to wait till flood levels drop sufficiently for them to get in and assess
the damage.
It is estimated that mains water will be off for at least two weeks. This
has resulted in the water company having to import bottled water into the
area for
drinking purposes and, when the floodwaters dropped sufficiently, the placing
of water bowsers to enable people to obtain clean water for sanitation. Sadly,
although not surprisingly, there have been cases of people vandalising the
bowsers, by breaking open the taps and even by polluting the contents. There
is one confirmed
case of someone urinating into a life saving tank. Looting has become a problem
in areas that have been evacuated, forcing police to be diverted from rescue
to deal with the crimes. There was an attempt to steal a length of temporary
flood barrier, supposedly for its high scrap value. It is perhaps a pity
that the thieves were thwarted in their attempt as on the other side of the
barrier
was several feet of floodwater.
Shops outside the affected zone have seen their entire supplies of water,
milk and bread bought out by ‘enterprising’ individuals who later
tried to sell them at highly inflated prices to the stranded people. Fortunately
the police dealt with this unsavoury bunch and the practice has all but ceased.It
is now just a week since the worst downpour, although the unseasonal rains
continue
to add to the misery. It took considerably less than a week, however,
for the infrastructure to break down. With no water or electricity,
empty shops and no means of re-supply, many people were in dire straits within
a couple of
days.
The elderly, infirm and those with young families were, and in many cases
still are, in deep trouble.
For families who could remain in their homes, or who have since returned,
to areas which are still without power and mains water, basic sanitation
is an
increasing problem. Toilet flushing has to be rationed, clothes washing is
virtually impossible
and personal hygiene requires a level of thought and discipline that few
are used to. One woman in her forties was seen on the television stating
that she
thought it appalling that the authorities had not been round to each home
to ‘tell
us what to do’. Personal responsibility and the thought that maybe the ‘authorities’ had
other things on their mind at the time did not seem to enter her thinking.As
the swollen rivers send the excess waters downstream the floods, power outages
and disruption travel along with them.
There has been some respite from the rains which has allowed the levels upstream
to drop, and flooding to recede, but at the time of writing (Friday 27th
July) more heavy rains are forecast for Saturday night and key personnel
have been placed on stand-by within the response services. Further flooding
is predicted as the ground is still sodden and unable to absorb any more
water. Whilst writing this first report, the post has got through and I’ve
received my copy of "Patriots" from
the lovely people at Amazon. The opening quotation from Gene Roddenberry
makes a far better ending than
any I could come up with: ‘Nuclear war is not necessary to cause a
breakdown of our society……their
water supply comes from hundreds of miles away and any interruption of that,
or food, or power for any period of time you’re going to have riots in
the streets. Our society is so fragile, so dependent on (the) interworking
of things…"
Postscript:
This has been the largest real-time test of our prepping to date. We live in
a fairly isolated spot and power outages are common, but this time we have
been cut-off by the floodwaters and have been thrown, albeit for a short time,
upon our own resources.
Our decision was to bug-in as we believed we would fare best here; the location
was chosen carefully although with some compromise due to the need to be near
places of employment.
That said, it seems everyone, us included, were surprised by the sheer amounts
of rain – the most in living memory in the region – and just how
quickly transport and communications failed. Had we bugged out in the midst
of it, we would very likely been refugees ourselves. When the recovery phase
is fully underway, we will re-appraise our planning and handling of the event.
Remember, no plan survives first contact..Keep safe. - Michael in England
JWR Adds: I find it amazing that in the midst of this crisis,
so many people are letting the copious rainwater from their roof downspouts
go to waste.
They
just
don't
have
the survival
mindset. At the very least, they could be using rainwater for clothes
washing, bathing, and toilet flushing. With a water filter, they could also
use rainwater for
drinking and cooking.
Take a minute to read his piece, by way of SHTF Daily:
Living
life without any tap water Take special note of the final quote in the
article: "We also have to use bottled water to flush down the toilet,
which is a waste, but we don't have any choice." Common sense, it seems,
is all too uncommon.
