More flooding 'unavoidable' in UK
Pastor Dale Morgan
*More flooding 'unavoidable' in UK*
By Avril Ormsby in Gloucester
July 25, 2007 02:49am
Article from: Reuters
HEAVEY rain could bring more chaos in the coming hours after the worst
floods in decades damaged thousands of UK homes and left many without
power or fresh water, the British Government said.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said more flooding “may be
unavoidable” along the River Thames, including Henley, Reading and Windsor.
“This emergency is still not over and the River Thames continues to
cause concern,” he told Parliament.
“The weather outlook remains unsettled.”
As flood waters rose to 60-year highs, submerging vast tracts of land,
the River Severn peaked two inches below the main wall which protects
Gloucester city centre.
Thousands of people have been forced from their homes and 350,000 homes
were without running water in Gloucester, Tewkesbury and Cheltenham.
Some may be without mains water for up to two weeks after pumps at
Severn Trent's Mythe Water Treatment Works in Tewkesbury became engulfed
in flood water.
Ken Ticehurst, 41, an IT worker, said police guarded the entrance to a
Gloucester supermarket on Monday night to stop panic buying after
reports of fighting in food stores.
“There is a weird feeling of being under siege,” he told Reuters.
Army trucks helped distribute hundreds of thousands of bottles of water
in the southwest and Severn Trent said it was setting up water tankers
at 900 places.
The threat of more widespread power cuts eased after police,
firefighters and the military fought through the night to erect barriers
to protect an electricity substation which provides power for half a
million people.
The Environment Agency, which described the floods as the worst since
1947, said six severe flood warnings were still in place across central
and southwestern England.
“We are hopeful that the worst has passed,” a spokesman said.
The Met Office said the outlook for the next couple of days is unsettled.
In an updated forecast for the rest of the summer, the Met Office said
above-average rainfall was likely to continue in most areas for the rest
of July and the start of August.
Public transport in the area has been decimated with few or no train
services to Gloucester, Worcester and areas around Oxford and Reading.
Many roads have been closed and motorists have been advised to avoid
parts of the M5 motorway.