Gordon Brown's Katrina: England flooding, 350,000 in Glouster without water!

[KoKo]

Flood crisis grows as rivers rise

The flooding crisis in central and western England continues with thousands of homes losing water and electricity supplies.

Up to 350,000 people in Gloucestershire will be left without water within the next 15 hours, as the River Severn and the Thames threaten to overflow.

People were being urged not to panic buy and to do all they could to conserve water.

No electricity

Peter Bungard from Gloucestershire County Council told BBC Five Live bottled water was being provided and a number of water bowsers being deployed to the area, he said.

Elsewhere in Gloucestershire, 15,000 homes were left without power after a major electricity substation was turned off because of the rising water.


Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would set up a review of the crisis.

Mr Brown flew by helicopter over Gloucestershire, the worst-affected county, before heading to the police headquarters where the emergency response is being co-ordinated.

He said the government would set up a review focusing on drainage and how Britain could protect itself against further flooding.

Extra funding would also be given to local authorities to help pay for essential emergency work in the aftermath of the crisis, he said.


The Environment Agency said water levels on the River Severn and Thames could reach a "critical" level in some areas.

Severe flood warnings are in place for the Midlands, Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire.

A spokesman for the agency said the River Severn and the Thames would continue to swell until Tuesday and that levels on both rivers could increase beyond those of 60 years ago.

In March 1947, millions of pounds of damage was caused in the south of England, the Midlands, East Anglia and North Yorkshire when many of the country's rivers burst their banks.

Other main developments include:

* Environment Agency chief executive Baroness Young told the BBC that about £1bn a year was needed to improve flood defences.

* Environment Secretary Hilary Benn defended the government's flood response, saying there are lessons to be learned but denying flood defences had not been maintained properly.

* Meanwhile, the Association of British Insurers has said the total bill for the June and July floods could reach £2bn.

* Sir John Harman, the chairman of the Environment Agency, warned summer floods could become more frequent in the future.

* The RAF said it is carrying out its biggest ever peacetime operation, with six Sea King helicopters rescuing up to 120 people.

Severn Trent Water said 150,000 homes in Gloucestershire were without water after a treatment works was flooded.

But it warned all residents in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury - an estimated 350,000 people - they would lose their supply within the next 15 hours.
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6911226.stm

[babylonsister]

1. I saw pics on the news last night; it's really bad in southern England, and

they expect more rain. Pics did remind me of Katrina, and their water sources have been compromised. Happy summer. :(

[enid602]

2. Katrina

The Brits have spent billions in recent decades shoring up the Thames. Would that we have done the same before Katrina. Somehow, I don't think the pictures coming from England will be quite so bleak. 350,000 without water? Try an even larger number (in the Gulf Coast) without water, food, homes, jobs, hope, . . .

[RB TexLa]

3. except Americans don't care about those on the Gulf coast

[CatWoman]

9. let's compare, shall we?

http://www.rolandrhoades.com/levees.htm

I think England will be ok.

[jwirr]

4. There was a documentary featuring Baroness Young in which she

talked about the threat of flooding in England. One of the problems is that their flood protection is old and flawed. Mainly along the Thames. In the past they built walls to stop the water and the walls are no longer high enough to stop what is expected in the future. They also used these walls to do what was originally done by wet lands areas. I am assuming that this allowed the wet lands areas to be built up and now there is no real workable flood basin.

I think the program was on Sundance Channel and was called Disasters Waiting to Happen.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

5. I have some elderly relatives that live just outside Tewkesbury.

I just got off the phone with my sister, who visited them last summer, and she seems to think that they'll be OK. I hope so.

I was looking at the pictures posted on the Guardian's website and they remind me of what happened during Katrina. However, it does seem the Brits have a better handle on things, at this point, than Bushco ever had before, during and after Katrina.

[JCMach1]

6. Brown was stumbling and bumbling on the BBC from his office this morning

giving a soundbite about compensation for municipalities... If he doesn't wake-up soon, the Tories will string him up... Oh yeah, and the British people too.

Brownie II ?

[karynnj]

7. Wow, I hope they get things under control soon

It does look like England's Brown is far mor engaged than our Brown and his bos were. This really does highlight what the potential problems could be as global warming intensives.

The CSPAN coverage of the Kerry/Feingold amendment to Boxer's water resources bill that would have required all future "water" construction projects to consider the requirements of global warming. All our dams, bridges, etc are all built to withstand 100 year floods - that won't be enough. The amendment fell short of getting 60 votes - so it is close - and could be reintroduced.

The SFRC held a hearing on how these problems will become national security problems - especially in Delta areas. At that hearing, even the Republicans conceded the ramifications of global change.

[LeftishBrit]

8. It's not quite on the Katrina level...

not likely that hundreds of people will die, or that people will be stranded in such horrendous conditions.

It's not a good thing, however; and it's exasperating that the UK government and services (and private businesses too) are so bad at dealing with any sort of weather extremes. In particular, water management and conservation is awful; we can easily get floods and 'droughts' in rapid succession, due to leaky pipes and appalling water conservation.

(I am in an affected area of Britain, but my home and workplace are not affected, luckily.)