me and rob were in lancashire last weekend an I heard some of the locals talking about the floods. Sadly they thought it was all highly amusing until I told them about the sheer devastation in the Yorkshire/Nottinghamshire area. They just had no real comprehension of reality and the destruction that these floods had caused nor the long term damage and tough times that lie ahead for those who have lost everything. We were very lucky, but a friend of mine has only just been allowed to move back into her house and is still living upstairs..downstairs is a total right off and now mould is taking over the rest of the house. An insurance assessor still has not yet managed to get out to her. A work colleague of mine is homeless for at least the next 6 months, has had even their car written off and faces the strong possibility that their house may have to be demolished such is the extent of the damage caused.
It is nice to know that people in HT do care about people affected by the floods..and as one of the lucky ones who suffered only minimal damage to property, i can say my thoughts go out to all HT members who were not so lucky.

Hi

Have just posted on the UK forum as we just want to send out best wishes to anyone caught up in those terrible floods. We are in Stoke on Trent and as an area we are very hilly and safe.

Have just seen the pictures across the country and our hearts go out to anyone who is affected. Can't imagine how you all feel ----- I'm sure that there are lots of folks out there who feel the same as us but don't post --- come on HT folks --- send in your best wishes to encourage folk!

Take care all

x

I'm in the Glasgow area which has escaped the floods this time but having seen the devastation that the floods of December 1994 caused here my heart goes out to those in all the affected areas this time round.
We stopped off near Heathrow for a few days on our way home from holiday last week and had we stayed another day the end of our holiday would have been totally different because of closed roads etc. We came back up the road on Thursday but many of the roads we drove were closed on Friday because they were flooded. The sight on tv last night of a few inches of caravan roofs sticking out of flood water put our disappointment of a damp caravan holiday in Brittany into perspective.

I don't know about cancelling but on Friday afternoon/evening they closed the A45 due to the deluge and people could not get to Birmingham Airport and so missed flights.

Imagine the horror a lot of folks are going to have when they return from their holiday.

We have family in Tewkesbury which as we have seen from GMTV this morning is one of the worst hit!

I hope all those whom have been affected are soon able to sort out their homes and get on with their lives.

Having seen the news on television this weekend and the national papers, I just wanted to post a message to EVERYONE who has or is beeing affected by the flooding.

I am so sorry that you are all suffering, and hope that you genuinely get all the support that you need and soon.

To all the people who are rescuing and helping, well done you are doing a great job. To the government, make this the top priority on your list.

Keep your heads up, we are all thinking of you.

My thoughts are with all those who have been affected by these terrible floods. I count myself lucky that we have been spared in Essex. Although everyone knows they should have insurance, it is unrealistic to expect everyone to have it, especially bearing in mind the high premiums insurance companies charge, particularly in areas which are considered 'at risk'.

more flooding may occur throughout Oxfordshire in the next 24 hrs ad Fridays& Saturdays rain will be brining the Thames and its tributaries into full flow

Rob is working in Oxfordshire this week and when he rang this morning, he was up to his knees in mud with not alot of chance of completing his job this week. At the minute he faces an entire week stranded down there. He sympathises fully with the situation down there as we all went through it last time round when Yorkshire/Notts/Lincs flooded.

Am thinking of all affected by the floods. If any members on here know people who have lost photos, I've put a tip as to how they can be replaced earlier in this thread. There's also good advice on the BBC website as well. February last year, the river by hubby and I looked very high so I moved things that couldn't be replaced like books and other things upstairs. The problem for us wasn't river bursting banks but coming upto the road level of a bridge and then down the road and into our road. The water didn't reach the top, probably peaked 12-18 inches from the road. We've since moved to a house on higher ground.
As someone said, some people returning from holidays are going to have a nasty surprise.

If its not flooding in the uk, its heatwave in europe, record tempertures

Rimini Italy High of 38*c
Rome 42*c, and water shortages
From the newspaper, Malaga 50*c

If we take flooding, heatwaves then if global warming, what else can we expect

This has nothing to with the global warming con. There has been heatwaves and floods going back thousands of years. It is actually believed cooling of the pacific off south america is responsible for our weather in europe.

Manmade climate the con in history. Man puts out 0.5% of co2 emmisions and the figure is has been steady for the last 100 years. In the 1970's there was major 3 volcanic eruptions which put out 20,000 years worth of mans co2 emissions.

The real science tells a very different story to the political lies on climate change. There is 3 major sources for co2 emissions 1, rotting orgamic matter puts out the most, 2 oceans, when oceans warm they release co2's and when they cool they take in co2's and lastly volcanoes. If 3 eruptions can put 20,000 years of mans emissions of co2's just what rotting organic matter must do.

Sorry for the rant but all this its global warming is going over the top. If its dryer than normal its global warming, wetter than usual its global warming, if its normal it s global warming, if the queen gets the hip cups its global warming.

Its very sad what people have to endure but it certain has nothing to do with global warming. The term climate is very mis-leading because the climate is constantly changing and never stays the same.

I'm not going to go in to the science here because this thread is about those effected by the floods. But climate change is real, there is not doubt about that. The cause is open to debate but there is no question that man made greenhouses gasses are a contributing factor. CO2 is just one of many contributors and its a viscious circle; the warmer the climate, the higher the impact.

The greenhouse effect is a natural process speeded up by man and slowed down by nature. There are always natural fluctuations, eg the last ice age. The greenhouse effect is in fact the reason why planet earth is habitable. Without it, we'd just be a ball of ice. The amount of certain gasses in the atmosphere create a thermal barrier. The simple fact is, the greater the concentration of these gasses, the thicker this thermal lining is. Think of it as sheets on your bed. The more you have, the warmer you are. The issue behind man induced climate change is the rate of change, ie CO2 and other greenhouse gas concentrations are increasing at a rate beyond what nature would generally produce.

You also have to consider the bigger picture. It's not just about emissions. Development and deforrestation around the world are key factors. Green plants are like carbon scrubbers, removing CO2 from the atmoshphere in a natural process. Remove trees and other vegetation for development and you reduce the uptake of carbon. Things are out of balance, ie there is greater output than input.

The recent floods are terrible and thoughts go out to all those effected. But the simple fact is, this flood risk was always present and bound to happend due to poor planning and lack of investment. No amount of flood defence works would have prevented some of these floods and the extra funding government has given to fund flood protection is pretty much useless and too late. I'll not get political but events like this will continue to happen due to climate change and there is very little that can be done in some circumstances. We have to accept climate change is real and its happening. This is no joke anymore. Everything which has been predicted over the last 20 years is happening - now.

The government and councils were warned time and time again and did they listen.....

There are things you can do to protect your property from flooding. If you live in a flood risk zone, or you aren't sure if you do or not, have a look on the Environment Agency's website to check. For information about what you can do to help protect yourself from flooding, there's plenty of advice here.

Darren

I live in Cheltenham, flew back from a lovely 2 weeks in Dominicain Republic on monday to find 6 inchs of water underneath the floorboards in the front room (luckly it did not come above the floor ) the rest of downstairs floor concrete. But the electrics are under the floor and were submerged in water Thank goodness the daughter had key and turned off the supply. (All the freezer contents gone) The carpets are rolled up floorboards up and have managed to borrow a humidifiser which is drying it out hopefully. Though at the moment it is throwing it down again.
We have no running water and the bowser are all empty and the holiday seems years ago.

sorry folks been stuck in several summer floods in my short residency of this planet, this is NOT unusual for British summer. is it getting warmest? well fossil and dendro records show it was about 5deg hotter in medieval summers than now [ and they did not use much in the way of fossil fuels]
the worse i can remembers was July 10th, think 68 well late 60's where floods were far worse across central england
so what causes floods [apart from rain] concrete/tarmac/paving too much of our country is coved with an impermeable layer stopping natural absorbs ion
why are so many houses flooded? Profit hungry builders and inept local planners promoting building on wet Meadows and flood plains

as much as i feel for those flooded having been caught in this and other floods all i can say is Sorry if you will buy property in flood plains then at some time [it may be next week or in 50 years] you will be flooded,
don't blame the EA they publish flood maps for all to inspect the government has no control over the weather,, you are the only people who should shoulder the blame..

Brian
[this is my personal thoughts and has nothing to do with private/government organisations]

SORRY MOD rant over

Even though I agree about houses not been built on flood plains etc.

I live in a 1930s house. Live here 20 years 10years as a council tenent now buying it, never been flooded before. I am not blaiming anyone for my house been flooded even though i did not see the rain last friday (lay on a sunbed at that time in drink in hand) but heard enough that it was very extreme weather but would hate for people to have the attitude... "tough its your fault should not live there"

so what causes floods [apart from rain] concrete/tarmac/paving too much of our country is coved with an impermeable layer stopping natural absorbs ion.

We have enough land in the UK for nobody to live on a flood plain in the future, but the problem lies in people protecting the vast green areas, we are all being condensed into specific areas while there are plenty of free acres of grass vacant on higher ground and the tarmac/concrete only accounts to about 8%....look out of an aeroplane window the next time you fly over the UK.

London was built on a flood plain and people's houses have been flooded who live nowhere near a river, my older brother for one he lives in the next village to me and just had the misfortune of living at the bottom of a road which became a river due to the amount of rain that fell in such a short space of time and no other reason, a freak of nature .tons of water started filling up his cellar because the ground was already soddened from the week before.
The water came in so fast that at 8pm it was ankle deep, at midnight it was waist deep and the next morning it had totally submerged the whole of his cellar which must be 7 foot high and then the water came up through his living room floorboards.

I've been on this planet long enough to witness severe drought and blistering summers (1976) and I've witnessed the other extremes of snow and severe hard frosts (1979/1980) funny how people "in the know" were saying then that we are heading for an ice age, I was born during one of the worst winters in history 1947"¦
Sorry, whilst I agree to some extent that pollution caused by todays chemical industries and the "throw away" plastic society could be accelerating the natural effects of climate change, I don't buy into the theory that it is the cause of the extremes of weather the planet goes through phases of heating and cooling, we are controlled by the sun and the suns activities, plus the jet stream coming from the Pacific.

We are an Island and industry spends millions just pumping out water from underground everyday, ask any ex Miner about water levels underground in pits, most of them will now be totally submerged since their closure, so if you are sitting on water, surrounded by water and more falls from the sky, where do you expect it to go.?
The government have no control over the weather, but they do have control over flood defences, investment in infrastructure and planning permission for homes, it is time we built on some of the agricultural land that farmers and aristocrats hold onto, when we have a shortage of 800,000 homes in England alone"¦ It seems a logical solution, but not in my back yard syndrome and I have been disgusted at the selfishness of people regarding the allocation of water, the wanton vandalising of water bowsers and trying to sell water for £5 a litre.....shame on them, no wonder this country is going to the dogs when it's "I'm alright Jack, you" attitude.

Anyway, I really feel for anyone affected and "who" "why" or "what" is to blame was not what this topic was about, but if others can put their two-penny worth in, then so can I.
These make interesting reading....
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/minette_marrin/article1909826.ece?openComment=true
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/weather/article2141375.ece

Kritter. Keep your chin up hun.

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiii

Quote:

"Anyway, I really feel for anyone affected and "who" "why" or "what" is to blame was not what this topic was about, but if others can put their two-penny worth in, then so can I. "[/i]

To be honest Sanji, never a true word ----- when I look at the photos and clips of the devastation caused by the floods my heart goes out to the people caught up in it! The reasons why and who to blame can come later - for now let's just get behind people who need our moral support. They need some comfort, not condemnation ----------- 'here, but by the grace of God go I ...'


PS Can we please stop the intellectual debate and just offer people some 'verbal support' ------ and a 'hug' from a distance.