Health fears triggered in Britain by contaminated flood waters
Pastor Dale Morgan
Health fears triggered in Britain by contaminated flood waters*
OXFORD, England (AFP) - - There were increasing fears for the health of
the people affected by Britain's worst floods in living memory Thursday,
as thousands were left without fresh water.
The warnings came amid expectations of further water surges in southern
England, with six severe flood warnings still in place, as tributaries
feeding the River Thames engulfed several areas in the university city
of Oxford overnight.
Of mounting concern, however, was the impact of contaminated flood
waters on the health of affected towns, with one health expert
recommending children not wade into the water.
"There are still very real health risks and hygiene risks -- it's vital
people don't become complacent," Professor Ian Cluckie, chairman of the
government-backed Flood Risk Management Research Consortium, was quoted
as saying by the Daily Mail.
"The problem is the water ... will become contaminated with raw sewage
which means that there will still be E coli in there," Cluckie said,
adding that it could lead to cholera or dysentery.
Residents of areas impacted by the flooding could also come under mental
strain, with the Health Protection Agency saying in a statement,
according to The Times: "The biggest risk is overwhelmingly from mental
stress. It is very physically and emotionally draining to deal with."
Utility Severn Trent has set up 900 bowsers -- mobile water tankers --
in Tewkesbury and the nearby cities of Cheltenham and Gloucester, while
the army has been drafted in to provide four million litres of bottled
drinking water amid warnings that water supplies to parts of
Gloucestershire could be cut off for at least two weeks.
Emergency measures have been triggered for the 140,000 homes and more
than 350,000 people affected.
Martin Horwood, MP for the Cheltenham area of Gloucestershire, voiced
the complaints of several residents of the area, however, when he said
he "checked a dozen (bowsers) late last night, and found the majority
empty."
Beer tankers have also been used to provide water to places hardest hit,
with the British Beer and Pub Association joking that it has been a
reversal of its usual job of turning water into beer.
Police warned that a small minority of people were attempting to
profiteer from the high demand for clean water by re-selling water, or
emptying bowsers with large receptacles.
"That is theft, and that is being treated as theft," said Tim Brain,
Gloucestershire police's chief constable.
County authorities said 1,300 portable toilets were being provided for
vulnerable people in places like care homes.
Despite the occurrence of localised power cuts, meanwhile, police said
widespread blackouts were not now expected.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday pledged a review of Britain's
utilities infrastructure, drainage and flood defences.
Downstream from Oxford, the London commuter town of Reading, the royal
castle city of Windsor and Henley, famous for its annual rowing regatta,
were among other places threatened as river levels were expected to peak
in the next 48 hours.
Weather forecasters predicted more rain Thursday, which could further
increase river levels.
Britain's Met Office said Thursday the three-month period from May to
July has already become the wettest in history, even before the end of
the month.
Figures released by the weather forecasting agency showed that 387.6
millimetres (15.3 inches) of rain has fallen across England and Wales,
the most since records were first kept in 1766.
The total rainfall amount is 208 percent higher than the May-to-June
average, the Met Office said.
The floods in central and western England come less than a month after
large swathes of northern England were hit by massive downpours that
caused flash floods, cut off towns and affected transport networks.
In the latest cases, rivers topped levels reached during floods in 1947.
Analysts have estimated the floods could cost the insurance industry
three billion pounds and hit farmers and food crops.