Posted on 07/22/2007 6:36:57 PM PDT by blam
UK floods: More rain forecast, worst to come
By David Millward, Graham Tibbetts, Richard Edwards and Toby Helm Last Updated: 2:17am BST 23/07/2007
Gordon Brown's proposals to build three million homes in the South East could lead to even more flooding, the Government has been warned by its own planning consultants.
With vast swathes of the country underwater, the Prime Minister's new government found itself under attack not only over its handling of the crisis, but also accused by the Tories of adopting policies that could make things even worse.
Last night the Environment Agency issued 56 flood warnings across the UK of which eight - covering hundreds of villages and towns in the Midlands and Thames Valley - were severe.
The Severn, the longest river in Britain, was close to overflowing, reaching record levels in the Gloucester area.
Flood-hit areas of Oxfordshire were bracing themselves again this morning with the Thames expected to overflow its banks in many parts of the county. By last night, 700 homes in Oxfordshire and Berkshire had been flooded.
The plans for the new houses - a key plank in Mr Brown's strategy - are due to be unveiled today in a Green Paper.
Yvette Cooper, the housing minister, made clear that there would be no change of policy by the Government. "To paraphrase Bill Clinton, it's about building more homes, stupid," she wrote in a Sunday newspaper.
But Roger Tym & Partners, planning experts who were brought in when John Prescott was in charge of the issue to examine the plans, voiced doubts about the ability of the infrastructure in the South East to cope.
The consultants' report warned ministers that the addition of that many homes by 2020 could heighten the danger of flash flooding as land needed for drainage was concreted over.
Andy Arrick, whose company produced the Government-commissioned report said that building on a flood plain could be a recipe for disaster.
Even without the millions of extra homes, the country was struggling to cope with the torrent of rain.
Thousands of householders found their homes under water or without power. In many areas water supplies were interrupted, with householders advised to boil tap water before drinking it or using it for cooking.
The floods also disrupted rail travel, with scores of services cancelled in the West Country and the Midlands. On the roads there were tailbacks on the M5 around Gloucestershire.
Yesterday it was Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire and Surrey that bore the brunt of the deluge.
Tewkesbury was particularly badly hit, with 150,000 homes seriously affected. RAF helicopters were brought in to rescue dozens of people and more than 2,000 had to spend the night in emergency centres.
The army was called into Worcestershire to rescue more than 750 people from cars and caravans.
In Warwickshire, Stratford upon Avon town centre was under water and flood warnings were in place in towns and villages upstream.
People in Oxfordshire fear the worst with weather forecasters predicting more rain over the next few days.
Witney, to the west of Oxford, was under seven inches of water. David Cameron, the Tory leader, is the town's MP and his constituency office was flooded.
He described the situation as "grim" as he waded through the streets and questioned the Government's handling of the disaster.
Yesterday, Baroness Young, the Environment Agency's chief executive, insisted that there was little the Government could have done to cope with the current deluge.
"These are the sorts of rainfalls that we experience every 100 years. They're very extreme.''
However, the Met Office said that warnings were given on Wednesday, barely a week after the floodwater had receded in South Yorkshire.
There are still problems in the North. The Country Landowners Association Game Fair, which was due to take place at Harewood House near Leeds next weekend, has been cancelled because of the weather.
The Prime Minister sought to head off accusations of inertia by calling a meeting of Cobra, the government emergency's planning committee.
Dementors, again?
Building on flood plains was never a very good idea.
I Gore should not tamper with Mother Nature!
Just as building a major city below sea level was never a very good idea.
Wow!
When is this administration going to start taking Global Raining seriously?
Global Raining is real!
Keep them in prayer!
Lunar Raining, on the other hand, is not.
In Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire hurricanes hardly ever happen
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