The Great Norfolk flood - didnt happen
Discussion
C4 news had this story as their lead item tonight. They were reporting that apathy was rife throughout a significant proportion of those instructed to evacuate, with many not heeding the advice to run for the hills simply because they've heard authorities cry wolf too many times in the past.
Cold said:
C4 news had this story as their lead item tonight. They were reporting that apathy was rife throughout a significant proportion of those instructed to evacuate, with many not heeding the advice to run for the hills simply because they've heard authorities cry wolf too many times in the past.
Damned if you do and damned if you don't.I was in Gt Yarmouth yesterday and obviously there was potential for flooding.
The sea level and River Yare was very high and fortunately the wind had dropped by the time high tide came around.
Had it been blowing like a bd from the North, the results would have been very different.
The local authorities had sand & sand bags out for collection by 10am yesterday morning, set up various "refugee" centers and the Police & Army were going door to door in affected ares offering to evacuate people to said centers.
Personally, I thought it was an excellent response by all involved.
The river was only a few inches from breaching the walls and had it come over and nothing had been done, it could have been a very different result.
HD Adam said:
Cold said:
C4 news had this story as their lead item tonight. They were reporting that apathy was rife throughout a significant proportion of those instructed to evacuate, with many not heeding the advice to run for the hills simply because they've heard authorities cry wolf too many times in the past.
Damned if you do and damned if you don't.I was in Gt Yarmouth yesterday and obviously there was potential for flooding.
The sea level and River Yare was very high and fortunately the wind had dropped by the time high tide came around.
Had it been blowing like a bd from the North, the results would have been very different.
The local authorities had sand & sand bags out for collection by 10am yesterday morning, set up various "refugee" centers and the Police & Army were going door to door in affected ares offering to evacuate people to said centers.
Personally, I thought it was an excellent response by all involved.
The river was only a few inches from breaching the walls and had it come over and nothing had been done, it could have been a very different result.
powerstroke said:
Iva Barchetta said:
So why is it necessary for a thread about something not happening ?
Because it's part of a wider problem of weather stupidity wild forcasts of bad weather that worries people in the winter and wrecks outdoor events in summer , see also the man made up climate change st that's fking up the economy ....
Offshore wind from NWN 20kts, gusting over 35kts aided keeping the flood tide from breaching defences.
I was on duty in 2013 when the last surge occurred, coupled with light winds allowing the high tide to flood. I can assure you when it breaches barriers there is a mad roar and the level rises in an instant. We were in full drysuit, etc and at one point I recall thinking we might get carried off our feet, such was the force of the water. Planning wasn't in place in 2013 to cope with the situation. It was a long night.
So, I wholly agree with OP, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Overall,they were right to have a plan in place. Well done to all emergency crews involved - , especially volunteer RNLI flood crews who left their civvie daytime jobs 12:00hrs Thursday to stand-to probably until first thing this morning.
I was on duty in 2013 when the last surge occurred, coupled with light winds allowing the high tide to flood. I can assure you when it breaches barriers there is a mad roar and the level rises in an instant. We were in full drysuit, etc and at one point I recall thinking we might get carried off our feet, such was the force of the water. Planning wasn't in place in 2013 to cope with the situation. It was a long night.
So, I wholly agree with OP, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Overall,they were right to have a plan in place. Well done to all emergency crews involved - , especially volunteer RNLI flood crews who left their civvie daytime jobs 12:00hrs Thursday to stand-to probably until first thing this morning.
MarshPhantom said:
HD Adam said:
Cold said:
C4 news had this story as their lead item tonight. They were reporting that apathy was rife throughout a significant proportion of those instructed to evacuate, with many not heeding the advice to run for the hills simply because they've heard authorities cry wolf too many times in the past.
Damned if you do and damned if you don't.I was in Gt Yarmouth yesterday and obviously there was potential for flooding.
The sea level and River Yare was very high and fortunately the wind had dropped by the time high tide came around.
Had it been blowing like a bd from the North, the results would have been very different.
The local authorities had sand & sand bags out for collection by 10am yesterday morning, set up various "refugee" centers and the Police & Army were going door to door in affected ares offering to evacuate people to said centers.
Personally, I thought it was an excellent response by all involved.
The river was only a few inches from breaching the walls and had it come over and nothing had been done, it could have been a very different result.
The wind direction changed during the day (unpredictable at the time) and had it not changed, it certainly would have flooded.
Over 300 people were killed in the 1953 floods and although the flood defences have been built up since then, there's plenty of infirm, elderly, disabled and idiotic who live in what would be the flood zone.
Yarmouth is a narrow spit of land at best one mile wide between the river & the sea and basically at sea level.
Had there been a 9 ft tidal surge as predicted, a lot of it would have been underwater again.
The local authorities get enough stick if they don't send the gritters out on a frosty night so can you imagine the response if it had flooded and nothing was in place.
Like I said, damned if you do and damned if you don't.
kurt535 said:
powerstroke said:
kurt535 said:
Are you taking the piss or just lacking a brain?
Neither, think about it and then post when you have come up with an opinion !!! Edited by powerstroke on Saturday 14th January 09:16
kurt535 said:
Offshore wind from NWN 20kts, gusting over 35kts aided keeping the flood tide from breaching defences.
I was on duty in 2013 when the last surge occurred, coupled with light winds allowing the high tide to flood. I can assure you when it breaches barriers there is a mad roar and the level rises in an instant. We were in full drysuit, etc and at one point I recall thinking we might get carried off our feet, such was the force of the water. Planning wasn't in place in 2013 to cope with the situation. It was a long night.
So, I wholly agree with OP, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Overall,they were right to have a plan in place. Well done to all emergency crews involved - , especially volunteer RNLI flood crews who left their civvie daytime jobs 12:00hrs Thursday to stand-to probably until first thing this morning.
I imagine you've slept with one eye open ever since?I was on duty in 2013 when the last surge occurred, coupled with light winds allowing the high tide to flood. I can assure you when it breaches barriers there is a mad roar and the level rises in an instant. We were in full drysuit, etc and at one point I recall thinking we might get carried off our feet, such was the force of the water. Planning wasn't in place in 2013 to cope with the situation. It was a long night.
So, I wholly agree with OP, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Overall,they were right to have a plan in place. Well done to all emergency crews involved - , especially volunteer RNLI flood crews who left their civvie daytime jobs 12:00hrs Thursday to stand-to probably until first thing this morning.
HD Adam said:
Because there was a need.
The wind direction changed during the day (unpredictable at the time) and had it not changed, it certainly would have flooded.
Over 300 people were killed in the 1953 floods and although the flood defences have been built up since then, there's plenty of infirm, elderly, disabled and idiotic who live in what would be the flood zone.
Yarmouth is a narrow spit of land at best one mile wide between the river & the sea and basically at sea level.
Had there been a 9 ft tidal surge as predicted, a lot of it would have been underwater again.
The local authorities get enough stick if they don't send the gritters out on a frosty night so can you imagine the response if it had flooded and nothing was in place.
Like I said, damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Can't remember if it was Frinton or Walton, but I was there one day and the place was talking an absolute pounding, water coming over the sea walls. That certainly wasn't the headline news of the day.The wind direction changed during the day (unpredictable at the time) and had it not changed, it certainly would have flooded.
Over 300 people were killed in the 1953 floods and although the flood defences have been built up since then, there's plenty of infirm, elderly, disabled and idiotic who live in what would be the flood zone.
Yarmouth is a narrow spit of land at best one mile wide between the river & the sea and basically at sea level.
Had there been a 9 ft tidal surge as predicted, a lot of it would have been underwater again.
The local authorities get enough stick if they don't send the gritters out on a frosty night so can you imagine the response if it had flooded and nothing was in place.
Like I said, damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Marvtec said:
kurt535 said:
Offshore wind from NWN 20kts, gusting over 35kts aided keeping the flood tide from breaching defences.
I was on duty in 2013 when the last surge occurred, coupled with light winds allowing the high tide to flood. I can assure you when it breaches barriers there is a mad roar and the level rises in an instant. We were in full drysuit, etc and at one point I recall thinking we might get carried off our feet, such was the force of the water. Planning wasn't in place in 2013 to cope with the situation. It was a long night.
So, I wholly agree with OP, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Overall,they were right to have a plan in place. Well done to all emergency crews involved - , especially volunteer RNLI flood crews who left their civvie daytime jobs 12:00hrs Thursday to stand-to probably until first thing this morning.
I imagine you've slept with one eye open ever since?I was on duty in 2013 when the last surge occurred, coupled with light winds allowing the high tide to flood. I can assure you when it breaches barriers there is a mad roar and the level rises in an instant. We were in full drysuit, etc and at one point I recall thinking we might get carried off our feet, such was the force of the water. Planning wasn't in place in 2013 to cope with the situation. It was a long night.
So, I wholly agree with OP, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Overall,they were right to have a plan in place. Well done to all emergency crews involved - , especially volunteer RNLI flood crews who left their civvie daytime jobs 12:00hrs Thursday to stand-to probably until first thing this morning.
Damned whatever they choose, but the problem of calling Armageddon every time is that people will learn to ignore it. You can argue that a lot of it is media hype, but they are simply reporting what the agencies have told them. One day they will be right and someone might drown.
Probably better to have a good plan, persuade people "at risk" to have their mobiles on a database, and hit the dialler when, about 3 hours before the event there is a clear view that it is getting very bad. Some people might get a bit cold, or have to spend the night in their cars ... hardly the end of the world.
Probably better to have a good plan, persuade people "at risk" to have their mobiles on a database, and hit the dialler when, about 3 hours before the event there is a clear view that it is getting very bad. Some people might get a bit cold, or have to spend the night in their cars ... hardly the end of the world.
HD Adam said:
Because there was a need.
The wind direction changed during the day (unpredictable at the time) and had it not changed, it certainly would have flooded.
Over 300 people were killed in the 1953 floods and although the flood defences have been built up since then, there's plenty of infirm, elderly, disabled and idiotic who live in what would be the flood zone.
Yarmouth is a narrow spit of land at best one mile wide between the river & the sea and basically at sea level.
Had there been a 9 ft tidal surge as predicted, a lot of it would have been underwater again.
The local authorities get enough stick if they don't send the gritters out on a frosty night so can you imagine the response if it had flooded and nothing was in place.
Like I said, damned if you do and damned if you don't.
all well and good, the problem these days is the met have a global warming causing extreme weather narrative to follow to try and justify the 90 odd million quid of public money they have spent on their forecasting super computer. so we now have all this fancy forecasting technology that really doesn't work. they log the number of severe weather warnings issued to justify their position , not the actual severe weather events that have been less frequent in recent years.the prevalent conditions of the last few days are nothing like those that caused the historical flooding you mentioned.The wind direction changed during the day (unpredictable at the time) and had it not changed, it certainly would have flooded.
Over 300 people were killed in the 1953 floods and although the flood defences have been built up since then, there's plenty of infirm, elderly, disabled and idiotic who live in what would be the flood zone.
Yarmouth is a narrow spit of land at best one mile wide between the river & the sea and basically at sea level.
Had there been a 9 ft tidal surge as predicted, a lot of it would have been underwater again.
The local authorities get enough stick if they don't send the gritters out on a frosty night so can you imagine the response if it had flooded and nothing was in place.
Like I said, damned if you do and damned if you don't.
anyone that spends a lot of time in or around the sea should have known the likelihood of what was forecast was almost non existent. high pressure to the south of the country, low pressure to the north, offshore wind and a peak high tide well below the maximum height possible.
there really is no excuse for this . regardless of forecasting the actual monitoring of real time conditions in the hours leading up to high tide should have been enough to put peoples minds at rest .
rxe said:
Damned whatever they choose, but the problem of calling Armageddon every time is that people will learn to ignore it. You can argue that a lot of it is media hype, but they are simply reporting what the agencies have told them. One day they will be right and someone might drown.
Probably better to have a good plan, persuade people "at risk" to have their mobiles on a database, and hit the dialler when, about 3 hours before the event there is a clear view that it is getting very bad. Some people might get a bit cold, or have to spend the night in their cars ... hardly the end of the world.
spot on.Probably better to have a good plan, persuade people "at risk" to have their mobiles on a database, and hit the dialler when, about 3 hours before the event there is a clear view that it is getting very bad. Some people might get a bit cold, or have to spend the night in their cars ... hardly the end of the world.
HD Adam said:
Over 300 people were killed in the 1953 floods and although the flood defences have been built up since then, there's plenty of infirm, elderly, disabled and idiotic who live in what would be the flood zone.
You're right about the idiotic; one genius jumped into the river around 21.00. Fished out by a WPC....Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff