Will the UK get aid?

£10 million isn't going to go far in Somerset - I read earlier that there is 170,000 acres affected by floodwater, all of which are presumably going to need some sort of remedial work after everything drains. By my very rough maths, that works out to be just over £58 per acre.

 

What really beats me is the fact that we seem to be suddenly incapable of planning and building in this country. Lets wind the clock back to the start of 2012 - by the end of March or beginning of April, we had hosepipe bans imposed upon us as we were running out of water. For the rest of the year, we were inundated with rain and there was flooding galore that we couldn't cope with because it was 'extreme' weather.

Last year, after a drawn out cold winter, we had a reasonably nice summer, and thankfully not as hot as some of those that we had ten or so years ago; summer seemed to give way to winter almost overnight (anyone else noticed how spring and autumn seem to have disappeared?) and then the rain started and we are deluged once again.

Now, that tells me (and I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer) that we have a two water related problems - we get a whole load of it all at once and we can't cope with it, and we then find ourselves at a later date with not enough. Now, if only we knew how to build large areas that we could pump the water to, and store it..... lets call it a reserve, or maybe a reservoir..... Hmmmmm.....

Take a look at this Street View - this is quite close to my house. To the left of the view linked, you will see a bank, and to the right you will see another - they are ruddy great reservoirs that serve a pretty substantial chunk of London. No leaks, no streams running down the banks, nothing - that tells me we DO know how to build somewhere to store water.

Now, I am not for one second suggesting that reservoirs are the only solution, but surely they have to be a part of the bigger picture? Even taking into account that the demand for water in the South East is far greater than that of the South West - why can't it be temporarily stored in reservoirs in the South West and then pumped around as needed? Helps cure flooding in the SW, and helps water supply in the SE?

And how about this for an idea? What you are looking at on that map is Loch Awe and Cruachan Reservoir above it - in the rock of the mountain in between is one of the first reversible turbine power stations to be built. Water surges down from the reservoir to produce electricity when it is needed, and the water discharges into Loch Awe - when there is slack in the grid, it draws power back to pump it back up again. More info here

I appreciate that the whole thing with the Somerset Levels is that they are, well, level - but surely it is not beyond the wit of man to build a drainage system where water can be pumped to a reservoir somewhere, and build a similar power generating facility at a lower level?

Flood relief, power generation, water supply - and guess what, there would be loads of jobs created building and maintaining them, and all those workers would be paying tax instead of claiming benefits!

 

I'm sure that I read somewhere that the floodwater is teeming with bacteria, way above the levels that would be classed as normal or acceptable - surely they will be present in the silt at the bottom of the rivers?

 

Isn't it amazing how they barely gave two hoots, but now its getting closer to London........

Absolute shower of S**** (rhymes with white)

Besides, they should be taking it seriously - - its getting close to me now


From the left, Dachet - Wraysbury - Staines - Fat Controllers house; Shepperton is just off the bottom of the map, Chertsey is similarly close, and Lower Sunbury/Hampton/Hampton Court is just along the road...... and there is more rain to come.

 

Guildford has already been flooded at Christmas, some of the shops haven't re-opened yet due to the damage, ironically one of them being Superdry.

I've got my staff on full alert and my ocean going yacht readied in the duckpond just in case.