Flooding

The world seems all out of kilter with the water sloshing from one side and leaving the other bone dry. I’m reading messages from my FB pen friend near Goffs Harbour in NSW which sound really alarming especially when there are news reports that some have left it too late to evacuate and just have to shelter the best they can.

At least around here they seem to have stopped building on flood plains, but I feel for those who bought those lovely new houses a few years ago which are now flooded and ruined.

Does anyone know if there is a flood disaster appeal for these poor people. On the mouth of Christmas it must be heartbreaking to see our home ruineded. It is the wider effect as well. How are they getting to work, are companies able to pay those unable to get there, will small companies fold if they have no production and are having to pay people not working, what about those who had no insurance due to hardship and poverty, the children are missing schooling and the stress for parents and the vulnerable must be awful. It is truely a terrible thing and i feel for these poor people.

Willow I heard one householder whose home had been flooded (I think in Yorkshire) who was blaming flood defences further up the river for their predicament.
I know this happened on the Thames a few years ago, flood defences in one area caused flooding further down. Someone I know, who was an expert and worked in that area, said that they did warn that this would happen but the powers that be pressed ahead with the scheme anyway.

That, coupled with the huge amount of building on flood plains when LAs were warned not to give planning permission for such building over years, has exacerbated the problems of increased rainfall.
This all needs a huge re-think.

I know the area of Yorkshire affected by the current floods. It lies in a very flat low lying area around the Humber estuary and all the rivers running through it run between tall embankments. I think it is land that has been reclaimed and drained from marsh land in the 18/19th centuries.

It is land that will be the first to be lost if Global warning leads to a rise of more than a couple of feet in water levels. The name, Fishlake, is an indication of what the landscape used to be.

What is needed is not local flood relief measures, at least only in the short term, but large regional strategies as to whether these low lying areas are protectable and whether a phased rehoming and reflooding, will help to protect the land directly behind it on slightly higher ground.

I feel your pain, GracesGranMK3. My son and his fiancee are in Sydney, too. Keep needing reassurance they're OK.

Being flooded out is such a distressing experience and this so close to Christmas makes it even worse. All those people, whether remaining in their homes or not, need all our sympathy.

Soda pop, I agree, climate changes look in full flow and it’s scary.

I’m just relieved that DD2 and family are not still in NW Sydney where many schools are closed. They lived with the bush just over the road and the threat of fire always present. For anyone with family in OZ or California, I hope they stay safe.

Travelsofar there is an appeal by South Yorkshire which has now raised £98k of the £100k target - I'm not sure if I'm allowed to show links but it's www.justgiving.com/campaign/syfloods?fbclid=IwAR13uCjmiNl_8tDfBHPh4HGIN2r4afDsZBTbefLj45RBRKFe3dzBINi5GsY

however they have also now set up another specifically for Fishlake which has been the worst affected place www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/fishlakeflood?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socpledgedesktop&utm_content=fishlakeflood&utm_campaign=post-pledge-desktop&utm_term=naAPyMqvm&fbclid=IwAR3zdqbXivRr5rXDXMOepbAbrSOkkVYS9eyhRcMs_fRa_-7jo2mMZHtT9RU

Thanks ayse

I think Australia is praying for rain and here in the UK people hoping it will stop.

In our village we have a natural flood plain, alongside a river, that has worked very efficiently for millennia. But 3 years ago a building developer decided that, with new technology, he could build 70 houses on it with no problem at all. He felled almost every tree in the area, installed flooding tanks, built flood walls and laid tonnes of concrete. Of those 70 houses, only 8 have so far been sold and they've had huge problems in getting house insurance. For some reason, the local council is thunderstruck that extensive flood damage is now further down river, resulting in farmers being unable to graze cattle and sheep because their fields are now lakes. It hasn't stopped them from granting building permission for another 70 houses on the other side of the river though. sigh

Same thing happened here chewbacca, we now have an artificial flood plain across the river that was never needed before the houses were built. Of course people need homes but can there not be just some sense over where they are built. Yes, sigh indeed.

Thames Water want to use our flood plain to build a new reservoir that will be one of the largest in Europe and bigger than Kielder Water.

They will build flood alleviation ponds - the other side of the reservoir to our village

Willow500 many thanks for the info.