Leave It To The Marines
This is a good story from the floods in Cornwall. Especially, when the Marines’ involvement started on a suggestion of a ten year old boy.
I suspect though the locals were friendlier than some of the idiots the marines have dealt with lately.
New Houses That Get Flooded
In the recent heavy rain and resulting floods, I’m surprised to see how many new houses have got flooded.
My father told me never to buy a house that could be flooded and I have followed his advice and never bought a house that has ever suffered a flood.
Governments are pussy-footing around the problem, as this article shows. There should be a law, that means if any new properties flood, then the developer is responsible for fixing the problem. This would probably mean, houses were built, that were much suitable for our climate. They would probably be unsaleable to many punters, who prefer Pete Seeger‘s Little Boxes.
But hey! We have some of the best and most innovative architects in this country! The trouble is we also have a lot of very conservative people and especially politicians and planners, who think inside the box!
Incidentally, Pete Seeger is still alive at 94. Hopefully, his music is still making us think!
The Floods In Central Europe
A few weeks ago I was in Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna and Southern Germany.
Now it seems that much of the area is under water, as the BBC reports.
I know it was only luck, but I certainly got my timing right.
I’ve never ever been flooded out in a house and I don’t ever want to be.
My hearts go out to all of those who are suffering.
The Warning That Was Ignored
On the BBC web site, there is this article about the sinking of the ferry Princess Victoria on the 31st January 1951.
The BBC article gives a full time-line of the sinking of the ferry until she sent her last radio message at 13:58. But it leaves out anything of what happened later.
As a child for a few years I lived in Felixstowe and I can still remember the dark marks on the walls of the houses in Langer Road, showing how high the North Sea Floods of 1953 rose later on that fateful day, killing some 38 people in that end of the town.
Many more died in The Netherlands and Flanders.
Sad that the sinking of the Princess Victoria was, it seems inconceivable today, that the warning wasn’t heeded and so many deaths and damage occurred.
I hope we have learned from what happened that night.
Should We Build Floating Houses?
The BBC web site muses about floating houses in this article. After all our floods, it could be one of the answers to building in areas likely to flood.
But myself, I’d prefer to live well away from water. I can’t swim and after what I’ve been through, to drown would be complete failure.
My Father’s Advice
My father always said that you never buy a house where it can flood. He never did and I haven’t. I suspect my son is fine on the high hills of Walthamstow. So he’s following the family tradition.
The only house of the seven or so, C and I lived in, that was on low-lying land, was our holiday home at Antibes. That was close to the sea, but you don’t get very high tides in the Mediterranean.
More And More Floods
They just keep coming as the BBC reports here.
There have been times in my life, when I can remember lots of floods, including the massive and tragic North Sea Flood of 1953.
But they do seem to be getting more common, even if not as bad as those of 1953. And then we had superstorm Sandy in New York.
i can’t prove it, but I do think that two man-induced factors don’t help.
I was taught at school, that in rain forests there was constant circulation of the water by evaporation and rain and it was a stable system, that calmed our weather. So what are we doing, destroying rain forests!
And then there’s the burning of fossil fuels, which certainly increases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Local flooding in some places of the UK, could well be caused by the passion for concreting everything, without giving the water anywhere to run.
If we looked after the planet better, we might get a few less problems.
We could also take a lead from the Dutch and build proper defences, often paired with large much-needed infrastructure.
As an example to increase the size of Heathrow is complete folly. If we do build a new airport in the South East, it should probably be built in the Thames Estuary and paired with a very large tidal barrier for London.
Problems
Looking at the weather over the last few days, I suspect that coeliac disease and my stroke are small problems compared to what some are enduring.
At least I’m snug in a newish warm house in Central London, with buses everywhere. I’ve even got a cafe opposite and a pub next door.
I also think of the problems I don’t have, like a car, a smart phone, and wondering where my money is coming from.
Problems are relative!
Why No Flooded Prisons?
In all the rain we’ve had lately, I can’t remember any cases of prisons being flooded.
Does this mean that we are more careful where we site prisons than new homes?
Surely the same rules should apply.
The Anonymous Widower 