LL-L "News" 2007.07.24 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L  -  24 July 2007 - Volume 01

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From: "heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk" <heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "News" 2007.07.23 (03) [E]

Reinhard/Ron wrote:  This morning I saw a report from Tewkesbury on CNN.
That isn't too far from our Heather, is it?

Heather writes after a long rainfree sunny day here in sodden Worcestershire

"Today it stopped raining for the first whole day since last Thursday. And
that had been the first dry day for over 10 days!

Friday's rain was something out of the ordinary. It never let up once from c
10 p.m. Thursday evening to late Saturday afternoon... although it must be
admitted that saturday's rain was a mere drizzle besides Friday's.

We live in an old cottage just below the brow of the road, with a brick
courtyard that falls from the road to the front door. Needless to say once
the intensity of the rain passes a critical point, all the drains start
backing up and we flood! At first the water just seeps under the door and
through the single brick walls and once upon a time it used to come in over
the doorsill. But thanks to some canny work by the brickie who laid the
courtyard, at the exact moment the level of water reaches the doorsill, it
finds the main kitchen drain instead and the water pours into that. So all
we are left with is a large puddle across the hall & kitchen floor - but
nothing that a lot of mopping and some newspaper can't control.

However on the roads round about the effects were immediate and devastating
- and these rains came in the wake of floods a fortnight previously.
Landslides, gravel 9 inches thick, trees down loosened by the rain, rivers
of water pouring over the roads as the drains gave up coping with the
quantity of water. Pershore ( about 15 miles away) fared the worst - a whole
month's rain in a little over 4 hours! Tewkesbury is very bad because it has
taken the brunt of both the Severn and the Avon simultaneously flooding.

The bridge over our little babbling brook has lost both banks supporting its
downstream side, when the water rose c 10-12 ft above normal and spread
about 20ft across the road. Impassable! The other exit road was the same -
fast and furious water about 3-4 ft deep and this time about 30ft across (
the road is shallower there) Our last exit to the main roads lies below the
level of the adjoining fields so the water uses the road as a drain. As this
happens regularly, the inhabitants there are used to looking at a new river
of water but on Friday it beat its own record and rose c 5ft and poured into
the nearest house! So we were cut off for approx 24 hours and could not move
out or people get back home. A friend spent a chilly night in his underpants
in a car trying to get back from Wales. He got so wet trying to work out
depths of water than when he eventually gave up and pulled off the road for
the night, he had the option of sitting freezing in wet clothes or sitting
in his underpants. He chose the latter!

All these streams then go down within 24 hours but the rivers they have
poured into in their turn flood and this has meant that driving further
afield - or getting back home from wherever you were stuck - is still
difficult and partways dangerous. The old bridge past Martley on the Clifton
on Teme road has been closed as they fear for its structure, such is the
rush of water coursing through it.

Worcester main bridge can be approached by one road only and all its other
entrances/exits are under water. The bridge on the ring road was closed
Monday for fear of damage - it has now re-opened and provides a spectacular
drive of approx 1½ miles on a causeway above floodwaters stretching as far
as the eye can see.  In other places bridges have been washed away.

Post didn't get through on Saturday so piles of the Harry Potter latest had
to wait until Monday to be delivered! Sunday there was no bread or milk but
some of the Sunday papers made it.
And today's blissful calm is the prelude to bad weather again tomorrow. Our
sandbags made out of compost/peat filled rubbish bags have stayed in place
in front of the door to delay even the seepage and we have all dashed out to
shop and get in basics before the rain hits us again tonight and tomorrow
Wednesday. Unfortunately south Worcestershire and Gloucestershire are having
to rely on the emergency services and the army to bring them water and
supplies; they say 350,000 people have no water except the 9l handed out on
Monday and some of that did not get to the outlying farms and hamlets. So we
cannot complain about being cut off for a mere 24 hours. Down there it will
take months to restore order.

Let's hope tomorrow's weather  proves not to be so bad as last week.!
Heather
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