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UK floods: Swollen Thames threatens thousands of homes

February 10th, 2014 | Tags: UK floods Thames
In Datchet the Thames has flooded the village. Photo: BBC
BBC

Thousands of homes along the River Thames are threatened with flooding as flood waters continue to rise.

Fourteen severe flood warnings are in place in Berkshire and Surrey, while two remain in Somerset.

Environment Agency chairman Lord Smith, has hit back at critics, saying his staff knew "100 times" more about flooding than any politician.

A minister will answer an urgent question put by Labour in the Commons on the flooding crisis later.

Speaking earlier, Lord Smith said: "I have kept my counsel up to now, but when I hear someone criticising the expertise and the professionalism of my staff in the Environment Agency, who know 100 times more about flood risk management than any politician ever does, I'm afraid I'm not going to sit idly by.

"The Environment Agency is bound by the rules that are laid down by government."

His comments came after Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said ministers had been given bad advice over river dredging.

Berkshire fire and rescue crews rescue residents whose houses have been flooded in Staines-upon-ThamesStranded residents in Staines-upon-Thames are rescued by fire crews
A man struggles to cycle in the flood at DatchetA total of 10,000 sandbags have been distributed in Datchet in Berkshire
Swans on South Parade in WorcesterSwans wander down a flooded street in Worcester

Prime Minister David Cameron is visiting Portland, off the Dorset coast, to see the work of the Environment Agency.

He said that now was the time for "everyone to get on with the jobs they have - this is not the time to change personnel", and gave his backing to Lord Smith.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who was in Burrowbridge in Somerset on Monday, said dredging should have been done over the last few years but added: "I don't think now is the time to point the finger of blame."

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson and Mr Pickles are thought to be at odds over the performance of the Environment Agency.

No 10 did not deny Mr Paterson had complained about his colleague, who is standing in for him after he had an eye operation, but said both were doing an "excellent job".

Among other developments:

  • Environment Agency has issued 14 severe warnings - meaning "danger to life" - along the River Thames, in areas including Staines, Chertsey and Datchet
  • Two severe warning are in place for the south-west of England in Salt Moor and East Lyng, in Somerset
  • Large parts of Worcester city centre could be closed for a weekbecause of flooding, the county council has said. Twenty-nine flood warnings remain in place across Herefordshire and Worcestershire
  • An earth bank has been built to protect the town of Bridgwater, on the edge of the Somerset Levels, from flooding
  • Dyfed Powys police have found a body in their search for a kayaker who went missing on the River Usk on Sunday
  • A meeting of the emergency Cobra committee will take place later. Mr Cameron will take part by phone from the South West.
  • Essex County Council says it is releasing £1m of emergency funds to tackle road flooding across the county
Map showing flood warnings and alerts in place along the river Thames

Major incident

Homes in the Berkshire village of Datchet are underwater and thousands more along the lower River Thames are threatened by flooding.

Thames Valley Police have declared a "major incident" in the east of the county.

Howard Davidson, from the Environment Agency said he expects conditions in Berkshire to deteriorate as more rain falls over the coming days.

Continue reading the main story

At the heart of this blame game is the difficult question of who gets defended and who does not.

The blunt truth is the budget has never been big enough to help everyone, so awkward decisions have to be made. The priority is to save people and property.

Calculations are done to assess the value of any flood defence scheme. First, the cost must be outweighed by the benefit - the Treasury insists every pound spent must yield at least eight in economic gain. Second, you add up households at risk and third, you count up deprived households. In all these cases, urban areas are likely to score highest. Farmland is lower in the pecking order.

There are bound to be winners and losers. If the future becomes stormier, and more people are at risk, disputes will become more contentious. And this raises the hardest question of all: how much should we all pay to keep vulnerable areas dry?

"We have issued flood warnings from Datchet down to Shepperton, and we urge people to take heed of the flood warnings. We are anticipating another three or four inches on the Thames over the next 24 hours."

Councillor Colin Rayner, from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, said: "We need help here. We need the police, we need the Army. We've got 50 volunteers here, we've got the vulnerable people out of their homes, now we need to get everyone else out."

One resident in Colnbrook, Berkshire, Asif Khan told the BBC: "The whole street is under water. We've got water coming through our house now, it's got above the air brick level. Our garage is completely flooded. The fridge just went bang. It's something out of a horror movie. So we're now going to take two small kids somehow through the street to the car which we've parked on the other road, and go to our in-laws."

Continue reading the main story

Weather information

Flooding at Burrowbridge on the Somerset Levels
  • BBC Weather
  • BBC Travel News
  • BBC Local News
  • National Rail - Latest disruptions
  • Met Office weather warnings
  • Environment Agency flood warnings
  • Environment Agency flood risk forecast
  • Severe weather Twitter list

Another resident Paul Palmer, who lives in the village of Hurst told BBC Radio Berkshire: "I've lived here for 44 years and I've never known anything like it. Every entrance, every exit to Hurst is flooded now. We've had no use of our toilets since Friday morning, our sewers are completely blocked and it's starting to back up into the toilet. The council won't offer an emergency toilet unless you're a council tenant. It's like going back to the dark ages. You'd think they could get at least one chemical toilet cubicle at the local village hall or something."

Several Thames gauges are showing their highest levels since being installed in the 1980s and 90s.

Severe delays

The flooding has also caused severe delays on several train lines, National Rail said.

Robin Gisby, managing director of Network Rail, said his team were watching "several hundred" sites across England carefully.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

It's certain to infuriate those residents affected by flooding - but the floods crisis now appears to have developed into an ugly 'blame game' among the politicians.

First Communities Secretary Eric Pickles pointed at the Environment Agency and its boss Chris Smith, suggesting he should consider his position and accusing the agency of "misjudgements."

Now Lord Smith has hit back saying his staff know one hundred times more about floods than any politician and accusing ministers of "playing politics".

At the same time, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has protested to the prime minister over Mr Pickles' bruising criticism of the Environment Agency.

No wonder then that this morning Energy Secretary Ed Davey publicly appealed for an end to the blame game.

What does it tell us? That the floods crisis has all the potential to turn into a serious political crisis - hence the reason politicians are already taking sides.

"What I think is really significant, and it has got worse overnight, is Oxford down to the Thames Valley through Didcot, Reading, Maidenhead and into Paddington.

"This isn't now just flooding, this is groundwater. The land is so saturated we have got water rising up, just as much as flowing on to it. So it is difficult."

The main rail route into Devon and Cornwall via Bridgwater remains cut off because problems caused by flooding and storm damage.

The line from Paddington to Exeter via Newbury is expected to reopen later following a drop in flood water levels at Athelney.

The line from Waterloo to Exeter via Yeovil, closed due to a landslip at Crewkerne on Saturday, has reopened.

More than 300 less serious warnings and alerts have been issued, mostly in southern England and the Midlands.

The Met Office has no rain warnings in place for Monday, but it is warning of ice across much of the UK.

But forecasters say another area of low pressure is expected to reach the UK on Monday night and into Tuesday, bringing more heavy rain.

Peter Sloss, of the BBC Weather Centre, said Monday would be the "driest day of the week" but he warned there would be 20-40mm (1-2in) of rain for many areas by the end of Thursday.

He said some showers would be wintry, with snow likely on higher ground in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.

A flooded River Thames at Staines, SurreySome residents in Staines, which borders the River Thames, were woken by telephone flood alerts
Sandbags stacked up in Burrowbridge, SomersetIn Burrowbridge, Somerset, sandbags are stacked up ready for use
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is interviewed by the media next to the flooding sites at Burrowbridge, SomersetDeputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg fields questions from reporters nearby in Burrowbridge
The floods at Datchet move across rail linesRail services have been cancelled in parts of Surrey and Berkshire
 
 

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