Flooding

Fine here in my area of West Yorks, but South Yorks has not fared so well at all

Some villages near me are under flood water. Others are still at risk.

We are very lucky where we live and never have any problems with flooding my heart goes out to those who are affected some who cope with the problem year after year.
My son and his wife have moved to Staffordshire not far from where the bridge collapsed a while ago they where fortunate not to be affected but I worry about them.

We live in a village on a river. When we moved here there were times every season when we were marooned but dredging was undertaken and defences built. Fortunately, there are few homes that are as far down the valley as the river.

So, although we no longer get marooned we are still on the only accessible routes out of this bit of the valley so have queues of traffic passing through.

I feel so sorry for all those people who have had water in their homes.

My heart goes out to those people whose homes are under water. No doubt those places have relied on the Victorian built drainage systems and excellent as they were they can't be expected to last forever and should have been replaced.

We have more and much heavier traffic on the roads since those drains were built so it's only common sense to realise that vibrations beneath ground would eventually crack some of these pipes and so affect the drainage as the water wouldn't escape in the natural way.

It does make you wonder what local councils do with their time and money and I would put the blame on engineers and highway inspectors working for these councils whose job it is to check drainage systems and remove slurry etc which collects in drains.

I'm not a million miles away

Debate on Jeremy Vine as to whether you should leave your home if ordered to by the council

Apparently over half are still in their homes.

I do wonder about journalists today. There was one on a breakfast show saying the houses were 'totally submerged'

They aren't

It was awful watching the poor people leaving their homes and the depth of the floods while messages are going backwards and forwards between us and my son who lives on the outskirts of Sydney. There children's school, and all the schools around them are closed until Wednesday as are all the schools around. Other granny's house is in an area where they are already getting smoke and ash.

It is so terrible seeing how people are suffering from flooding.
Especially the ones who could not afford to insure their property after the last flood in their area.

We are lucky where we live, but many years ago, we did have water about 4/5 inches deep in our back garden.

GracesGran my D and family are on the outskirts of Sydney also which their house like many is surrounded by trees. It's worrying.

GG and Ellen.
My DD and her H are sailing back to Sydney, won’t get there till just before Christmas so their home is unoccupied.
17 years ago they were on the roof of father in laws house near Sussex Inlet hosing it down when the fires down there were raging.
Like you hoping for the best.

Floods leave so much mess and damage. I do understand why people won’t leave their homes, they must worry about looting.

Ellen It isn't always water that can be taken away by drains. When most of our village flooded and when DS came very close to being flooded, the problem was that the ground was completely saturated like a large sponge and could not absorb the extra rain that came down as it would normally. It didn't come anywhere near drains just sat on the top of the ground on fields and pastures and sought the lowest level, spreading onto the village.

We were protected because the railway was between us and the excess water and because it was raised a couple of feet above the surrounding land, protected us.

We were protected because the railway was between us and the excess water and because it was raised a couple of feet above the surrounding land, protected us.
That’s lucky Monica. I’ve seen flood waters go through the ground under raised tracks like that

We’ve a little tidal river behind our fence. It’s flowing so quickly whether low or high tide and I understand it has overtopped at the sluice gates controlling the sea end. Fortunately no homes there. There’s a man made flood plain the other side to us, quietly filling and doing it’s job thank goodness. The ground is sodden, more heavy rain forecast and as MOnica says this is a danger. I feel so sorry for those with flooded homes and businesses, a worrying and frightening time for them.

oopsminty, I wonder about journalists too! I heard one the other day saying that there was severe flooding in the north of the country - Nottinghamshire in particular!!

We`ve lived on a canal bank for 34 years now, and although Boston has suffered flooding at least 3 times, we`ve never had any problems with the canal, or drain, as they`re called around here.

So sorry for those who have been flooded (again) and for those in Australia and California who have wildfires to contend with. Who says that climate change is not happening? Not those who are suffering, I expect.

I cannot imagine how awful it must be for those caught up in the floods, houses up to the sill levels with dirty water, electrics and sewerage all off, belongings sodden and destroyed. And, after this, likely no possibility of afffordable insurance. Didn't Cameron promise some sort of subsidy for those who were unable to afford house insurance? I wonder if that is still available. It really isn't a matter of drains, Victorian or otherwise; no area can absorb the amount of rain which fell in those areas in a couple of days, but undoubtedly, keeping drainage ditches clear and functioning can help.

My son has now spoken (instead of messaging) to my daughter and says it's not so bad and he wonders if we are seeing archived footage. At this point, I hope we are.

One of my friends, years ago, was flooded out and it took the best part of a year to get back into her house. It's soul-destroying for those poor people.

Summerlove The bank of earth the railway is laid on is quite substantial. We are otherwise just above the flood zone, so for us the main problem is water flowing off the fields and down the hill when the ground is saturated and the railway embankment stops that reaching us, ground water flooding is less of a problem. However our road floods as it is several feet lower than the houses and 2007 we returned from holiday and had to park our car at the local pub and walk the last 30 or 40 yards to our house because the flooded road was too deep to drive through safely.

We missed flooding by a squeak but about 50 houses in the village were flooded and several families were out of their houses for over a year. They have since built several hundred more houses on the flood plain in the village!!!!!

I’m glad Monica.

I met someone the other evening whose house had been flooded, along with the whole village. They are staying with relatives and their 94 year old mother is having to sleep on the sofa as she cannot get up the stairs there.
We offered help but they said that everyone has been very kind with offers.

There were fires all around where we were in Australia and a nearby farm lost everything except the house. It has been reported that a farmer in NSW has been fined $1m for back burning which is the traditional way to stop the fire spreading and a method that firefighters use in other states.

The floods nearby are devastating - it happened in 2007 but I think it's worse this time. My heart goes out to the poor people who have been affected - some have no insurance or their insurance doesn't cover them for flooding but even with insurance it will take months for them to get back into their homes. We have red flood alerts about a mile away and it's now pouring down again .

The surrounding communities have been amazing collecting donations and helping where they can - Tescos made a huge delivery too. The fund set up to help has raised nearly £58k so far. Sadly I think this will not be the last time we see such devastation.

Apparently we are liable to flooding. We have a tiny stream beside our house. This comes down from the hills and is usually pretty empty but is gushing at the moment. Our neighbours are responsible for keeping it clear but many have built decking over it. Fortunately our house is set a little higher than our neighbours but it is a worry.

Many of the fields between ourselves and Leicester are underwater.

I feel so sorry for all those affected by the flooding, it must be devastating to see your home ruined like that quite apart from all the health and safety issues. The infrastructure is not able to cope with current levels of housing etc. Local councils and authorities are not investing either. It's really strange the UK is flooding whilst Australia and USA are battling fires, the world is in a state of flux.