UK flooding again

[El Cid]

I dont think that there has been much critical news stories about the recent and coming floods.

Yes flooding has happened before, but flooding does seem to be much worse in recent years. We spend millions on flood defenses, but it makes no difference.

Nothing critical from the Environment Agency; did they have enough money?

Surely, if a private company had spent all that money, with little effect, we and the Government would be saying that they havnt done their job, at heads at the top will roll?

Whether the cause is our view of climate change, it has been predicted and flooding has been prevalent in recent years. Why no extra money from the Government? 15% cuts to the Environment Agency !!!

[Berberis]

What is to blame?

 

Well for a start, councils failing to clean the drains. The on outside my house has been blocked for years, despite SCC stating they were going to clean all drains after the flood in 2007.

 

People paving over their gardens is also a huge issue.

 

Building on flood plains is another problem. They are plains because over thousands of years they have been made flat by flood water. It may only be once every 100 years but with the changing weather patterns and El Nino effect this year, you can bet there will be floods.

 

People like to live by the banks of rivers, but fail to appreciate the possible problems this may cause. Its no fluke when you see old buildings built on river banks in other countries that are built up away from the water.

 

I only herd this third hand. The people of these hit areas (excluding York) were to have flood defences installed, but ask that they be limited in height as they were worried about their views and the effects it would have on tourism. The people of Cumbria asked for the defences to be kept lower than advised. The government(s) offered to build much higher and stronger defences.

 

The York flood was caused by faulty pumps. Why have they not been services or tested? Another council cutting corners maybe?

[unbeliever]

I dont think that there has been much critical news stories about the recent and coming floods.

Yes flooding has happened before, but flooding does seem to be much worse in recent years. We spend millions on flood defenses, but it makes no difference.

Nothing critical from the Environment Agency; did they have enough money?

Surely, if a private company had spent all that money, with little effect, we and the Government would be saying that they havnt done their job, at heads at the top will roll?

Whether the cause is our view of climate change, it has been predicted and flooding has been prevalent in recent years. Why no extra money from the Government? 15% cuts to the Environment Agency !!!

 

Read the EU Water Framework Directive.

Complying with this EU law and maintaining decent flood prevention measures such as we have enjoyed for the previous hundred years and more is all but impossible.

It's not much use throwing more money at the EA, because under EU law it's not their job to prevent flooding, but to minimise the disruption of human activity to natural waterways.

The environment is important, but under this law fish have become more important than people.

 

As for climate change, you're showing extreme observer bias. The climate folk make all sorts of generalised predictions, many of which are so vague that they're bound to be found true in some regard.

[dutch]

guardian, pretty critical

[Berberis]

guardian, pretty critical

 

Politically biased BS.

[Obelix]

What is to blame?

 

Well for a start, councils failing to clean the drains. The on outside my house has been blocked for years, despite SCC stating they were going to clean all drains after the flood in 2007.

 

People paving over their gardens is also a huge issue.

 

Building on flood plains is another problem. They are plains because over thousands of years they have been made flat by flood water. It may only be once every 100 years but with the changing weather patterns and El Nino effect this year, you can bet there will be floods.

 

People like to live by the banks of rivers, but fail to appreciate the possible problems this may cause. Its no fluke when you see old buildings built on river banks in other countries that are built up away from the water.

 

I only herd this third hand. The people of these hit areas (excluding York) were to have flood defences installed, but ask that they be limited in height as they were worried about their views and the effects it would have on tourism. The people of Cumbria asked for the defences to be kept lower than advised. The government(s) offered to build much higher and stronger defences.

 

The York flood was caused by faulty pumps. Why have they not been services or tested? Another council cutting corners maybe?

 

York's flood wasn't caused by faulty pumps, it was the power supply to the pumps that failed as water got into the substations. That meant they had to lift the barrier which flooded out the east city of the city.

 

The flooding on the Ouse was perfectly "normal" insofar as the usual areas were sacrificed and the defences held against the highest floods they have ever seen.

 

Leeds on the other hand was a complete shambles and places that people thought would never flood were utterly inundated but then again the water levels on the Aire and Calder blew massive holes in the previous record levels.

[Dubaidani13]

perhaps we need to direct the foreign aid budget and the budget for asylum seekers to our own problems with flooding?? why should our citizens year after year have to put up with this?? at the moment its a sticking plaster to cover huge wounds.

[Berberis]

York's flood wasn't caused by faulty pumps, it was the power supply to the pumps that failed as water got into the substations. That meant they had to lift the barrier which flooded out the east city of the city.

 

Odd as they reported today on the BBC that it was a faulty part of the pumps that made them fail and once they got the parts in, the pumps worked and started to lower the water. If it was a flooded power supply, the pumps would not have worked.

 

---------- Post added 29-12-2015 at 10:32 ----------

 

perhaps we need to direct the foreign aid budget and the budget for asylum seekers to our own problems with flooding?? why should our citizens year after year have to put up with this?? at the moment its a sticking plaster to cover huge wounds.

 

I think helping to immunise babies from killer diseases is more important than preventing a relative handful of people from having to redecorate their first front rooms.

[tinfoilhat]

York's flood wasn't caused by faulty pumps, it was the power supply to the pumps that failed as water got into the substations. That meant they had to lift the barrier which flooded out the east city of the city.

 

The flooding on the Ouse was perfectly "normal" insofar as the usual areas were sacrificed and the defences held against the highest floods they have ever seen.

 

Leeds on the other hand was a complete shambles and places that people thought would never flood were utterly inundated but then again the water levels on the Aire and Calder blew massive holes in the previous record levels.

 

I understand why the government is getting a bit of stick but are they supposed to build flood defences for things that haven't happened and if it was that obvious why hasn't it been done years before? Or has the risk of flooding in the UK jumped up THAT much in the past 5 years.

 

---------- Post added 29-12-2015 at 10:35 ----------

 

perhaps we need to direct the foreign aid budget and the budget for asylum seekers to our own problems with flooding?? why should our citizens year after year have to put up with this?? at the moment its a sticking plaster to cover huge wounds.

 

Do they put up with it year after year? Really?

[Obelix]

Odd as they reported today on the BBC that it was a faulty part of the pumps that made them fail and once they got the parts in, the pumps worked and started to lower the water. If it was a flooded power supply, the pumps would not have worked.

 

The pumps failed due to lack of power as the NEDL substation on Skeldergate failed. As a result the Foss barrier had to be raised which meant that the pump house was inundated, and then there was further damage from the riverwater pouring in which needed repair. Parts have been supplied to fix that problem, some coming in by Chinook, and the power station has been sealed and is being routed around. The reason I know this is I've been ferrying NEDL about in my landrover as part of the civil contingencies that are in place for such events.

 

---------- Post added 29-12-2015 at 10:41 ----------

 

I understand why the government is getting a bit of stick but are they supposed to build flood defences for things that haven't happened and if it was that obvious why hasn't it been done years before? Or has the risk of flooding in the UK jumped up THAT much in the past 5 years.

Do they put up with it year after year? Really?

 

York does, if you go in the Kings arms you can see the flood record painted on the wall.

 

Leeds flooding would have been prevented by the defences that were planned, and then cancelled.

 

I notice that the Somerset Levels, all good blue heartlands got shedloads of cash and personal attention to solve the problem for forty - yes just forty houses that were flooded.

 

If that money had been spent on Leeds and the villages up the Calder, then we wouldn't have had 2000 homes flooded out.

 

Yorks 500 nice twee middle class houses are photogenic and get all the news, but there were twice that in Leeds alone got flooded. But they are mainly Asians so they are not deserving of sympathy as far as the BBC are concerned...