If you live on a flood plain-

[Gordon Booth]

Shouldn't you expect you may get flooded now and again?
When you do should you complain it's all someone else's fault or accept it as a risk you took.
Shouldn't you build your homes on the higher ground or on raised foundations? Even the Stone Age people knew to do that.
Or live somewhere else?

The Somerset Levels have been known as a flood plain for thousands of years. A lot of it is below high tide level and was only used in Summer as it was always flooded all winter. Without constant pumping it would be the same now.

You don't hear Eric or Turtle complaining their government hasn't done anything about the cold or dottie the same about the heat. It's nature- live with it or move!

It's sad for these people but what do they expect?

[cashman]

Agree Gordon, But to me the main fault lies with Governments/Councils etc they have consistently allowed "New Housing Stock" to be built in them, Its much easier fer authority to say "NO" than ordinary folk to sell n move imho.

[MargaretR]

Originally Posted by Gordon Booth

Shouldn't you expect you may get flooded now and again?
When you do should you complain it's all someone else's fault or accept it as a risk you took.
Shouldn't you build your homes on the higher ground or on raised foundations? Even the Stone Age people knew to do that.
Or live somewhere else?

The Somerset Levels have been known as a flood plain for thousands of years. A lot of it is below high tide level and was only used in Summer as it was always flooded all winter. Without constant pumping it would be the same now.

You don't hear Eric or Turtle complaining their government hasn't done anything about the cold or dottie the same about the heat. It's nature- live with it or move!

It's sad for these people but what do they expect?

Try telling that to the Dutch

The difference is that the Somerset flooding could have been minimised/prevented if the enviro agency had continued dredging, whereas no intervention is possible to prevent heatwaves and polar chill events.

[cashman]

Continued dredging would no doubt have minimised the flooding, but my point is new housing stock should never be built in areas likely to flood, but no doubt Back-Handers always win the day.

[Gordon Booth]

Originally Posted by cashman

But to me the main fault lies with Governments/Councils etc they have consistently allowed "New Housing Stock" to be built in them,

Couldn't agree more with new developments, cashman, but these villages are hundreds of years old. Some of them were actually on islands surrounded by water when first built.

Originally Posted by MargaretR

The difference is that the Somerset flooding could have been minimised/prevented if the enviro agency had continued dredging, whereas no intervention is possible to prevent heatwaves and polar chill events.

MargaretR, you'll notice from the TV pictures most of the flooding is on open farmland. The villages have their roads cut off but they're mainly not seriously flooded themselves and the farmers methods(grassland, cattle) are adapted to working on a flood plain, knowing it will flood.
A lot of the 'rivers' are actually artificial drainage ditches which only work by constant pumping as they're below high tide level. They'll never stop all the flooding, they weren't designed to.

Should we have to spend millions of pounds to stop some fields flooding and a few roads being cut off every time nature lets rip?

Might be a good time to open an inflatable dinghy shop down there!

[Barrie Yates]

RAF Locking sloped down to the Somerset Levels and one area of the camp was prone to flooding - it happened when I was stationed there in 60s.
Then Weston-s-Mare gets a big building programme, domestic & commercial. That of course means lots of concrete, roads and buildings so reducing the area of land that can absorb water and slowly dissipate it.
Could see this happening when we lived in Bristol area on the 00s

[Eric]

Why live on a flood plain? Maybe 'cause the good lord ... or the cosmic muffin, or whatever ... chose to put a helluva lot of prime agricultural land in flood plains ... and, by the way, in tornado alley.

[Accyexplorer]

Apparently its gays that are to blame

Henley on Thames News | Henley councillor suspended

[wadey]

The area has always flooded that's why they grow willow there, if anybody suggest draining or peat cutting the greens kick off, you just cannot win

[accyman]

ocassionally it is someone elses fault like when a new motorway is built and it disrupts the natural drainage of rainfall and re directs it towards houses.

most of the time it is usually the buyers fault a bit like when some people buy a house on a main road and whinge about traffic

[Gordon Booth]

Originally Posted by wadey

The area has always flooded that's why they grow willow there, if anybody suggest draining or peat cutting the greens kick off, you just cannot win

Apparently the environmentalists(tree huggers) played a big part in getting the dredging stopped. They said burying the water voles and other cuddly things which lived on the banks with the mud dug out was ruining the balance of nature. So the rivers silted up, the banks didn't get built up and I'll bet the voles still aren't happy, flooded out for five weeks.

[wadey]

All this raises the question of should we spend 40 billion to get to London a few minutes quicker

[accyman]

i dont know if anyone else has ever noticed this but whenever a village or town gets flooded in the UK theres always some smug sod with a conoe in the background

[Neil]

Originally Posted by accyman

i dont know if anyone else has ever noticed this but whenever a village or town gets flooded in the UK theres always some smug sod with a conoe in the background

Doesn't everyone have one?

[accyman]

Originally Posted by Neil

Doesn't everyone have one?

good grief no

most of us had children so we have something to stand on in case of floods...


of course im joking...


that wouldnt happen until their arms got tired from bailing out water