Watching the news over the last few days it seems as though half the country has been severely affected by flooding. It would also appear that damage could have been limited had sufficient attention been paid to flood defences and to maintaining waterways, drains and canals etc. Unfortunately the councils don't have the money.
Drainage dykes in East Anglia, which were designed to take away excess water have failed because sluice gates haven't been opened to let the water out to the sea. The excessive rainfall has caused landslides in other parts of the country.
Thousands of people are without insurance, some because the premiums have rocketed in areas where there has previously been flooding. One woman on the news this morning had been told she couldn't make a claim because the damage was caused by a storm!
Yesterday a government minister said that the government had a "firm grip" and that flood defences were "working as intended" People have been told that they can claim a financial hardship payment of up to £500 which won't go far if your home of business premises have been flooded to a depth of 2 metres in some cases.
My questions are should pressure be put on the government to scrap HS2 and use that money to fund councils to do whatever repair work is necessary? Would people be prepared to contact their MPs?
