Floods - anyone else had a problem?

Oh, b****r. I've just booked my train tickets for Christmas.

Not a lot of point in dieting for Christmas then

i have always beleived in the mayan prediction of the 21/12/2012 the end and it looks like its happening

MaryXYX if your friend goes on the Environment Agency Website she can find out her REAL chances of being flooded and refer insurance companies to that information.

We are, as the crow flies, about 200 metres from the river/canal and our insurance was doubled because of our proximity to the river. I pointed out that, if we got flooded, Noah would have to get his ark out again but the girl on the phone didn't know who Noah was. I referred them to the Environment Agency website and our insurance went back to normal.

But they are all girls my chicks........and I wouldn't want to be on the CofE ark, boring, old, sexist, farts gits.

But Nanad's bantams aren't sexist, so that's all right!

If Matt the Telegraph cartoonist is to be believed, if it is a Church of England ark, no females of the species will be allowed.

Yep! It was 69. How on earth did they find names for them all...or remember the names come to that?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_with_the_most_children

Sounds unlikely, but unlikely things do happen. Maybe lots of multiples. Google it or try Guiness book of Records.

I have it in my head that the most number of children born to one woman is 69. Could the possibly be correct?

Are you sure about that, Nanad?

I've already volunteered Jen and Rick!

Missed out a bit - "may want to wind down production soon" apparently right now they still want another one. Gluttons for punishment.

I hope they make it big enough to take aboard two specimens of homo sapiens to restock the world. How about the parents of 14 mentioned on another thread? though they want to wind down production soon.

The brighter ones (the banties) are building an ark

They're so adaptable, chickens, aren't they?

Just driven to Stratford and back. Our usual place t park is about half a mile outside then walk along the banks of the Avon into the town. No chance today. Car park at least a metre deep in water where the Avon has burst her banks. Field totally under water. Now raining again. Chickens growing webbed feet.

Ta! I'm now enlightened .

Lengthsman - it is an old word that refers to the people who used to "do the dykes and ditches" and keep local drainage in trim. It refers to the fact that each worker had their own patch (length) of drain that was their responsibility. It's not quite like that now as PCs usually employ a firm, but the scheme whereby it gets paid for is still called the Lengthsman Scheme.
Lesson over!!

A what? Mishap?

You are right Hilda - the problems near us are caused by exactly this. Sodden hilly fields have huge amounts of run-off that cause the lane above us to turn into a fast-moving river. The problem is made worse by some of the farming practices: ploughing fields top to bottom rather than side to side; large fields that do not have the protective effect of hedges and their root systems; ineffective and unmaintained drainage on farms, because farmers are cutting back in a recession.

Luckily we now have a lengthsman scheme - and I can take some credit for this as it was me being a thorn in parish council's side that persuaded them to pay for this! We are now able to ring them if we see any maintenance that is required to the drainage systems and they come out very quickly.

Good luck to everyone who is faced with further heavy rain this weekend.

The daft thing is that flooding often has nothing to do with rivers. We have several villages nearby that have isolated problems that are due to the off-run of the rain from the fields. The clay is so sodden that it can't drain away and all of a sudden a 'river' of flood water is created, does its damage and then dissappears. Insurance companies are going to have to re-think the matter completely, perhaps take it out of normal household insurance so that you buy it as an add-on but with a bit more research into the real risks. Our neighbour across the yard has had problems but we don't. It all to do with how their building was restored (poor damp course and limited land drainage).

I think the flats where I live are safe, but the bus took me on a mystery tour because part of its route was flooded, only half a mile away.

One of my friends can't get proper insurance because she's within half a mile of a river that floods. They won't listen when she tells them she's in Wales and it's quarter of a mile along and quarter of a mile UP to her house.

Maybe first time in Malaga, but you would see plenty in most European cities!

It is scary isn't it - we are bracing ourselves for tomorrow's rain. The lengthsman has been out doing his bit on the drains all round the village; and speedy negotiations have taken place with the farmer who owns the land whence the floods come - emergency ditches are being dug to try and channel the water away from the village. The real problem is that the ground is saturated and that floods often arrive later - just when you are beginning to relax - as the water starts to flow down off the Welsh hills.
I hope we are not in for a winter of this!