Flooding
We have had another 2.5 inches of rain overnight in the Welsh mountains and still pouring. Even though the Plynlymons have been reverted to blanket bog there is no hope of it retaining this vast amount of rain. Unfortunately over the next 2/3 days the Wye and Severn are going to move that water down stream. Not sure if this piecemeal attempts at flood defences will work. It seems all it does is move the flooding further down the river. Probably a fact of life with climate changes ( way beyond anything we humans can do) and flooding occurring in different places.
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Keep safe Fish! We are fully aware of how much rain Wales can get at times. We had a Summer holiday there a few years ago. Never seen rain like it in all my life, every day for a fortnight. That was South and Central Wales, we did get a bit of sun the odd afternoon, and we still had a good time, as it’s such a beautiful and interesting place, but it does now rank as our wettest holiday ever! Dreadful for all the poor folks caught up in it. The landslides must be especially frightening. Those two rivers have a lot to answer for, much like all the rivers that flow into the Ouse over here in Yorkshire.
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Commiserations Fisherman -- It's something we might have to put up with for some years yet. Even should the rain stop it can take for ever for the fields to dry, and in doing so they will just top up rivers and reservoirs etc. There has been much talk lately about dredging some of the rivers, but IMHO , all that ever does is shift the excess water, and therefore floods, further down the water course. From time to time I have read spiels about the re-introduction of otters and beavers and their effect on water retention & flow but its too complex a subject for an old Townie like me, and should it be effective it could / would take years for it to show up, and only then if we get more wet seasons like these !!
Could the Town / County councils be given stricter powers to block building on flood plains With Out Appeal perhaps ?? Too often they back down at appeals since they seem to be opposed by a good half of the Legal Fraternity { Not objecting to them 'cos they are just doing their job I suppose }
I Wonder
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< ---------------- Bleep, bleep, bleep ABM's water bill has just arrived bleep, bleep, bleep ------------------->0 -
It has taken around 200 years for us to have built our way into the problem, and it could be as long again to get out of it. We are seeing the worst problems where the rainfall, and run off down rivers, has been greatest, but this could happen anywhere in the country. Just hills seem to attract the rain more.
Dredging is only possible where the base of the river is soft material and not hard rock. Even then dredging can makes banks unstable and affect integrity of weirs and bridges, so it could make things a lot worse.
Ideas to trap water can only hold back so much and, in conditions like these, informal "natural" dams are likely to fail giving a sudden peak to the flow that could overtop the current defences.
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I guess that its too complex a problem for humanity. Apparently the main cause of the repeated storms is the Jet Stream. It moves all over the place at different times. Just stopped raining here now and could be reasonable f0r the next 2 days, but then another system appears for the week end. Here in the lee of Cader Idris we have been fortunate, its downstream where the major problem is.
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The flooding in this country is terrible for all those that have and are suffering at the present. However it pales into insignificance when compared to the suffering of people in many other parts of the world such as India and Bangladesh from seasonal flooding. Even in America at the moment there are 17 million inhabitants in eastern Texas and Tennessee under the threat of flooding.
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As wet and windy a night as we have had. Rivers and streams exceptionally high this morning. More misery to come me thinks further down the rivers today and tomorrow. Let the blame game begin but reality is nothing or no one could have done to prevent the devastation. Nature will always win.
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I think you will find the environment agency , has been asking for many years , the government in power at the time, to make local councils refuse planning permission for any building on flood plains, but who these days takes notice of those In the know ,
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It’s not a new issue, building on land likely to flood or to be lost to the sea. We had a lovely holiday in a small Welsh village just South of Fairbourne last year. Our little village was set well back, on higher ground, but we visited Fairbourne to walk on beach. It didn’t look very old, everyone appeared to be English that we spoke to and had a chat with, so I did some research. Very interesting community, but it turns out it may not be granted much more in terms of a history. A precarious future sadly awaits......
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What an interesting piece - very sad, but definitely sounds a lovely place to live.
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History is interesting, but it’s not pretty. Down by the beach it was all bungalows, and a dodgy looking shop. Back up on the coast road, Arthog, and the village we stayed in at Llwyngwril there are some lovely houses. Tragic for the people who love it and live there though.
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Not all doom and gloom in Fairbourne. No flooding or tide damage these last few weeks. Remember Harlech Castle just up the road was serviced by sea In Edward 1st time. Now a golf course a, school and housing between it and the sea with no artificial barrier created. The west coast is rising, the East is sinking. However not in the short time scale that we all demand.
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Official position does seem somewhat defeatist when one considers that half of the Netherlands is below sea level. They just get on and do something about it.
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That’s good Fish, it obviously means a great deal to the people who live there, and it’s a lovely location. Heck of a trek around via Dolgellau to get round estuary (we did do the wooden toll bridge😁). It’s a part of Wales we had never visited before, but Cader Idris is simply beautiful. We drove all over, up into hills, OH had a ball on his bike.
A huge part of Lincolnshire wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the Dutch, and I think parts of Cambridgeshire. Now they really do know how to manage water!
The real issue is building on known flood plains, just asking for trouble. I am astonished folks actually buy the properties to be honest (new build). All I can think is that they simply don’t get a basic assessment done by a solicitor🤷♂️
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