Floods, again.

I spent most of my youth near Hereford and did a lot of canoeing around there and South Wales. The current flood is 50cm higher than the worst in 1998.

Places like Crickhowell, which has been flooded, I used to be a regular visitor to. We used to check the Welsh Water automated river level lines to pick the best river to paddle after a downpour. I did a trip down the Usk to Crickhowell with a friend once, we left our dry clothes in a bin bag in the rubbish bin at the lay-by next to the bridge. We drove up to the start and paddled down. Nick then hitched a lift back up to get the car. Even after big storms factoring in flooded roads and lay-bys never came into the equation.


Anyone want to buy a luxury flat near the river, recently reduced to £328,000.

They look hideous from the outside, but at least they built them on stilts.



www.stookehillandwalshe.co.uk/property-details/15793802/hereford/greyfriars-avenue

I used to go to St. Mary's RC High School in Lugwardine during the '80s and the Lugg flooded every year.

The problem with most flood defences is that it moves the water further down stream from what would have been a natural flood plain, which in turn cause problems for those areas without adequate protection; these plains are now populated by shopping centres, housing estates and car parks, covered in concrete and asphalt.

Bloody hell. Hopefully it wont happen again. Are you in the same house now?

I used to go fishing at Mordiford on the Lugg. 

I was thinking that at places like the village in Yorkshire maybe they need to sacrifice some land upstream in the catchment area and create some reservoirs. But looking at Pontypridd area, the Taff has 2 reservoirs on the 2 main tributaries and Pontypridd still flooded.

The old shopping centre next to the river was demolished in 2011 and they are building this.  www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-39480638

3rd Feb they said they needed to close some roads to do some essential drainage work, starting 17th Feb, I wonder how that is going! Hopefully they raised the ground level somewhat before building it.

Feb. www.rctcbc.gov.uk/EN/Newsroom/PressReleases/2020/February/EssentialdrainageworkforLlysCadwyndevelopmentinPontypridd.aspx  

I feel for everyone who gets flooded as my town got mega-fucked in 2015 and a few of the local businesses never reopened. Luckily not too much of the flood area is residential but it's shit for some of the businesses.

Ironically being insured fucked some of more than not being insured as insurers wouldn't let local volunteers in to drain and tip out until assessors had been and by the places were even more fucked.

When these stories pop up sometimes the place is one I recognise from my canoeing days. Ironbridge is one of those. I've done long distance races starting from there down to Bridgenorth. Just below Ironbridge is Jackfield rapid, where they held lower division slalom on the rapid. 

I have sympathy for people who have been flooded but.......


www.shropshirestar.com/news/politics/2020/02/19/call-for-increased-50m-flood-defences-to-protect-ironbridge/




Vic Haddock, who was forced to evacuate his home at Ladywood and had seen a £100,000 renovation destroyed, said homeowners on the Jackfield side of the town had been "forgotten about".



He said: "There’s at least three houses underwater there. We’re completely forgotten about by the council and the Environment Agency.



“If you’re putting a barrier on one side of the river you’re duty bound to put one up on the other side, especially when we’re paying the same amount of council tax and business rates as anybody else – we’re entitled to it.”



Mr Haddock, who also owns Ironbridge Canoe Hire Ltd and Atcham Canoe Hire, added: “I understand that if you live next to a river, expect to get wet, don’t whinge about it – however, if they’re doing something for one side of the river they should do it for us."  

The other side of the river which has some temporary flood defences is called Wharfage. Presumably for loading/unloading boats carrying iron and coal, Ironbridge was the in the centre of the industrial revolution after all. There are quite a lot of houses and businesses along it. His place on the other side also has low access to the river for his canoe hire business. Why spend that much restoring an old house and kit it out with expensive agar cooker etc? 


goo.gl/maps/gK6a3BkQjcFooQwJ9

Thats his house, right next to the river. Flood defence? Look behind his house at the back. Fuckin huge flood defence, protecting the, er, car parks. Maybe swap land with whoever owns the car park and build on that and leave car parks (for the busy tourist season) on the floodplain.