quote:HUNDREDS of travellers spent the night stranded after storms brought heavy flooding to many parts of the UK.
Three RAF helicopters rescued dozens of people overnight, including stranded motorists sitting on an upturned car and on car roofs, and others who had taken refuge in trees.
A man who was reported to be clinging from a lamppost had yet to be found and is currently listed as missing.
A helicopter from RAF Kinloss, on the Moray Firth, went to help around 60 stranded residents in Worcestershire at 5pm yesterday. Holidaymakers were also airlifted to safety from caravan parks after the River Isbourne burst its banks.
A pregnant woman in an ambulance was among 40 people rescued from rising floodwater on the M5.
Hundreds more have spent the night stranded by the side of the motorway.
Many rail passengers across the Midlands also had to spend the night away from home, including 150 who were put up in a school in Oxford.
Aeronautical Rescue Centre controller Barry Neilson said: "It was non-stop all night, but it's starting to wind down."
He said a request was received this morning to help people trapped by flood water at Stratford-upon-Avon and there were still between ten and 15 people waiting for help.
Mr Neilson said crews were being changed over as they had been flying all night, while two helicopters have been flying since 6am from Anglesey and Lee-on-Solent in Hampshire.
An RAF spokesman added: "The weather's not very good. It's cold and wet out there. I wouldn't say it [the rescue] was dangerous but it's quite a demanding task."
The worst affected areas were in southern and south west England but there were problems across the country.
Some areas saw twice the average rainfall for the whole of July fall in a matter of hours.
Flights were cancelled, rail and Underground services were severely disrupted and roads became impassable the wet weather swept up across the Channel from France.
During the worst of the weather, 141 flights were cancelled in and out of Heathrow Airport and 25 Underground stations in London were closed due to flooding.
In Edinburgh, tonight is expected to be cloudy during with some outbreaks of rain with a minimum temperature of 9°C.
The temperature is forecast to rise up to 17°C tomorrow, but will also be cloudy with showery outbreaks of rain.
quote:Op zaterdag 21 juli 2007 14:22 schreef andre347 het volgende:
En ik ga volgende week op vakantie naar Engeland:(:')
Er komt dus nog meer regen aan ........quote:Floods Cause More Misery Across Britain
Updated: 20:01, Saturday July 21, 2007
The emergency services are taking the strain tonight as many parts of Britain remain under water.
It is more than 24 hours since storms swept across the country, dumping huge amounts of rain on already saturated ground, leading to widespread flooding in dozens of towns.
Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire have been worst hit counties. But other areas have also suffered.
The Prime Minister has praised the emergency services, and insisted no one could have predicted the extent of the deluge.
Gordon Brown said the emergency services and armed forces were doing all they could to help the victims and are doing a "superb" job.
The Environment Agency has issued five flood warnings for the River Avon - people stranded in Stratford-upon-Avon have had to be evacuated by helicopter.
Around 200 people are still in emergency accommodation in Gloucester after being stranded by the flood waters. That figure is down from 2,000.
[bWorcestershire and Herefordshire have been badly hit, with the fire service receiving more than 1,000 calls in the past 24 hours. Lifeboat crews were called in to help with the rescue operation.
[/b]
Local officials in Evesham have appealed for volunteers to help fill sandbags to hold back floodwater that forced 800 people from their homes.
Hundreds of families who spent the night in their cars on the M5 should soon be on the move after the motorway finally reopened.
Train passengers were stranded in Oxford and Banbury and flooded residents were moved into council offices.
Seventy homes and offices have been evacuated in Buckingham because of rising waters.
Emergency services in Gloucestershire have confirmed that one month's rain fell in just two hours.
They received 1,600 emergency calls in nine hours - five times the normal amount - and a "major incident" was declared.
Baroness Young, chief executive of the Environment Agency, told Sky News: "These are the sorts of rain falls we experience in the past every 100 years, every 150 years, sometimes every 200 years - they're very extreme."
Across Lincolnshire, minor roads and villages have been blocked off because of the floods. In Louth, flood sirens have sounded, warning people of the rising waters.
Lifeboatmen have been carrying out flood rescue operations in Worcestershire after being called in by the local authorities.
They helped in operations in Droitwich, Kidderminster, Wick, Pershore and Hawford, where many people were trapped on top of caravans.
There are severe delays on the transport network with rail and roads suffering as well as many airports.
Passengers were taken off trains at Oxford and Banbury on Friday night. They were forced to sleep at Cherwell School in north Oxford. And First Great Western are "strongly" advising people to avoid Paddington, Bristol and Oxfordshire stations.
The Environment Agency has issued dozens of flood warnings.
A Coastguard rescue helicopter was called in to help with the evacuation of people in Tewkesbury and Evesham.
RAF helicopters worked through the night to rescue people in the area.
At Heathrow, it is one of the busiest weekends of the year as the school holidays begin, and there are warnings of yet more hold-ups.
Sky weather forecasters say more rain is on the way, adding to concerns for many areas.
quote:De 142,6 millimeter regen die vrijdag in Worcestershire neerkwam was slechts een beetje vochtigheid vergeleken met de 279 millimeter van 18 juli 1955 in Martinstown, Dorset. De 43 millimeter regen die vrijdag in één uur tijd in het zuidelijke deel van Londen viel was evenmin een record. In juli 1901 viel in één uur tijd meer dan twee keer zo veel, 92 millimeter in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
6 feet is meer dan 1,80 meter .....quote:The main developments include:
- Parts of Worcestershire are under six feet of water. In Evesham, more than 30 guests and staff are still trapped on the upper floors of the Northwick Hotel
- The Gloucestershire town of Tewkesbury remains cut off - and Severn Trent Water is warning householders in the north of the county water supplies could run out by early on Sunday evening because a treatment plant has been flooded
- Sutton and East Surrey Water has warned 80,000 households and businesses in Sutton to boil tap water before drinking it after the firm discovered rain had leaked into a tank of water which had gone out to customers
- RNLI lifeboats are rescuing people in Gloucester, Tewkesbury and other areas. Some emergency service staff have been working for 48 hours without sleep.
Shoppers in Droitwich, Worcestershire, stop to look at the flood watersquote:Op zondag 22 juli 2007 22:57 schreef Fredo55 het volgende:
Zitten die mensen op de laatste foto nou opgesloten of zie ik dat verkeerd?![]()
Hm, dat is zelfs voor Ierse begrippen langquote:Op maandag 23 juli 2007 02:10 schreef static het volgende:
Was afgelopen week in Dublin en daar heeft het 40 (!) dagen achterelkaar geregend.
En met de verwachte buien van de komende dagen zullen de dijken en andere plekken die verzwakt zijn 't alsnog begeven... Ben benieuwd. Dik 30.000 personen zitten inmiddels zonder drinkwater...quote:Op maandag 23 juli 2007 02:02 schreef Drugshond het volgende:
En het minder leuke is..... de kans op regen voor Z-England de komende dagen blijft onverminderd hoog.
Ik zag aantal overzichts opnames van CNN van een aantal dorpjes.... de vergelijking met New Orleans ligt zeer voor de hand liggend.
Met een beetje pech loopt heel Engeland dus onder ....quote:Op maandag 23 juli 2007 02:06 schreef Drugshond het volgende:
Dit kaartje zegt ook wel wat
[afbeelding]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/6910559.stm :quote:LATEST: 43,000 homes in Gloucestershire without power after sub-station shuts. More soon.
quote:Drinking water will be in short supply for about 72 hours in the worst-hit areas of Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury.
The pumping plant at Mythe near Tewkesbury was put out of action by the scale of the flooding.
Emergency crews have also been trying to stop an electricity substation which feeds 500,000 Gloucestershire homes from shutting down.
Instances of panic buying of drinking water have also been reported.
The RAF said the scale of its operation to remove stranded people from their homes was the biggest it had ever undertaken in peacetime.
In an attempt to bolster drinking water supplies, about 600 water tanks have been drafted in with military help while 150,000 homes in Gloucestershire are now without fresh water.
The Rivers Severn and Avon which join in Tewkesbury have burst their banks and flooded much of the town and surrounding area.
Warning signs ignored
Meanwhile, West Mercia police said their rescue operations were being hampered in some cases by flood sight-seers. A number of abandoned cars had also been broken into by thieves.
A spokesman said: "Not only are drivers stopping on the roadside to look at and photograph flood scenes, but some are driving past clear flood warning signs."
He said they were "endangering themselves and their passengers, and possibly causing more work for over-stretched emergency services".
Car owners are being urged to collect their vehicles as soon as possible to avoid opportunist thieves.
At Stroud Hospital doctors have accepted 11 patients from Tewkesbury Hospital.
RNLI crews were in the town centre checking properties for stranded people.
Alan Head, of the RNLI, said his team in Tewkesbury had rescued about 20 people who were caught out by the rising waters.
Gloucester has been put on a severe flood warning with water just 30cm (1ft) short of flood defences.
Nearly 500 people in the dockside area of Gloucester are preparing to leave their homes in preparation for the Severn bursting its banks.
BBCquote:350,000 to lose water supply. All homes in Gloucester and Cheltenham will lose their water supply within 15 hours because of the floods, Severn Trent Water says.
Nee... dat is het 'probleem'... ze blijven daar hangen...quote:Op maandag 23 juli 2007 21:24 schreef venomsnake het volgende:
Maaruhh, komen die regenbuien nu onze kant op?![]()
Ah oke, dan hoef ik dus nog geen kano aan te schaffen.quote:Op maandag 23 juli 2007 21:26 schreef Frutsel het volgende:
[..]
Nee... dat is het 'probleem'... ze blijven daar hangen...Ze lijken wel rondjes te draaien boven het eiland
bron:quote:FOOD and drinking water shortages, panic buying and the threat of looting have followed the worst flooding to hit Britain in 60 years.
Amid concerns that the government-run Environment Agency acted far too slowly in responding to serious flood alerts from the Met Office, parts of the West Country woke up yesterday to another day under water and the Thames Valley now faces being inundated.
An estimated 400,000 litres of water a second was surging down the swollen Thames River yesterday towards Oxford, Reading and Windsor.
The Environment Agency fears the Thames Valley area will now suffer a similar fate to Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire, where flooding has brought misery to thousands of people.
Opposition MPs were seeking an emergency statement from the Government overnight.
Brown under attack
With vast swaths of the country underwater, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's new Government found itself under attack over its handling of the crisis.
The Ministry of Defence was unwilling to supply trucks and drivers without being guaranteed payment for their services. As a result, there appear to have been delays in securing the use of high-sided vehicles that could deliver sleeping bags and flood parcels to the stricken communities.
The Environment Agency yesterday issued 56 flood warnings across Britain, of which eight - covering hundreds of villages and towns in the Midlands and Thames Valley - were severe.
In the area worst affected by the floodwater from the Severn and the Avon rivers at the weekend, some homes were left without running water, and supermarkets reported panic buying of bottled water and food, which is expected to create serious shortages for several days.
Staple food items, including fresh vegetables and salad, are in short supply because supermarket trucks have been unable to make deliveries.
There will be fresh calls for more funding to cope with flood defences.
quote:Groot-Brittannië kampt met een enorme wateroverlast door de aanhoudende regen.
In het midden en zuiden van het land staan grote gebieden onder water. De overstromingen zorgen voor veel overlast. De schade is enorm, mensen moeten worden geëvacueerd en honderdduizenden huishoudens zitten zonder water en elektriciteit.
Vooral het gebied ten westen van Londen, Gloucestershire, is zwaar getroffen. Doordat een waterzuiveringsinstallatie is ondergelopen, zitten hier 150.000 huishoudens zonder water. Daardoor is een run op flessen water ontstaan.
Hamsteren
De overheid probeert vruchteloos de mensen van hamsteren te weerhouden, maar zowel in Gloucester als in Cheltenham zouden de winkeliers al door hun hele watervoorraad heen zijn.
De autoriteiten zijn begonnen met op verschillende centrale punten gekookt water uit te delen. Trucks met grote watertanks zijn op weg naar de getroffen regio's.
In dit gebied zijn ook meer dan 40.000 huishoudens afgesloten van elektriciteit.
Hulp
Premier Gordon Brown bracht maandagochtend een bezoek aan de zwaarst getroffen gebieden. Hij beloofde hun extra geld en hulpmiddelen. Hij liet zich in een helikopter over de overstroomde landerijen vliegen.
Brown zei dat de regering zich de komende dagen vooral zal concentreren op het afvoeren van het water en het beschermen van de infrastructuur. Op diverse plaatsen is geen treinverkeer meer mogelijk en ook de bussen die het vervoer hadden moeten overnemen, kunnen op veel plaatsen niet meer rijden doordat de wegen onder staan.
Brown kondigde aan het budget voor overstromingspreventie met 300 miljoen euro te zullen verhogen. "We gaan investeren in de bescherming van de kust, de bescherming tegen overstromingen en in de evacuatie-infrastructuur voor de toekomst", aldus Brown.
Ingesloten
Honderden mensen bevinden zich nog in benarde situaties doordat hun huis in het water staat. Ze zijn ingesloten en wachten tot ze door de brandweer of het leger worden gered.
Het stadje Tewkesbury, zo'n 15 kilometer ten noorden van Gloucester, is door het water helemaal van de bewoonde wereld afgesloten. De politie vaart hier met zes boten op en neer om inwoners uit de stad te helpen.
Groot-Brittannië heeft tot dusver een rampzalige zomer achter de rug met veel regen. In Engeland en Wales viel vrijdag een hoeveelheid water die hier normaal gesproken in een maand valt.
Theems
En voorlopig is er nog geen zicht op verbetering, want de voorspellingen zijn dat het blijft regenen en dan dreigen ook de grootste rivieren van het land, de Theems en de Severn, te overstromen.
De Theems en de Severn lopen dwars door de steden Oxford en Gloucester. De situatie is hier kritiek. De bewoners van deze steden treffen voorbereidingen voor het geval de rivieren overstromen en barricaderen hun huizen met zandzakken.
De autoriteiten hebben bouwbedrijven opgeroepen zoveel mogelijk zandzakken ter beschikking te stellen.
Kritiek
De kritiek op de overheid neemt toe. Men verwijt dat de autoriteiten totaal niet op het wateroverlast waren voorbereid. Tal van hulpmiddelen om overstromingen tegen te gaan, zouden niet beschikbaar of ter plaatse geweest zijn. Minister van Milieu, Hilary Benn, heeft dat tegengesproken. Hij zei dat niemand zich op een dergelijke extreme situatie kan voorbereiden.
Volgens de Britse Bond van Verzekeraars loopt de schade inmiddels op tot twee miljard euro.
Volgens mij komt er nog heel wat water richting Londen ook via de overstroomde Thames dus ik denk dat het water daar aardig nog gaat stijgen maar hoe hoog het daar nu staat bij de Big Ben enz. Kan ik ook niet vinden.quote:Op maandag 23 juli 2007 09:28 schreef Roel_Jewel het volgende:
Hoe zit 't eik met het centrum van Londen? In het zuiden van Londen is wel veel gevallen, maar heeft 't centrum van Londen ook met overstromingen te kampen? Daar loopt ook een bepaald geen kleine rivier, zeg maar ....
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