Flooding

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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