Weather in the North West
Discussion
Sadly, a Cumbria police officer is presently unaccounted for, after a bridge collapsed near Workington.
As you can see from the picture, police and emergency services are stretched by the conditions, and you really should avoid setting off to look until the waters subside, in case you unexpectedly become a casualty of the extreme conditions.
It looks like fun - but it isn't.
I was just reading about that:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8369934.stm
Sitting here with my fingers crossed, hope he turns up safe and well soon. Judging by some of the footage being shown, the chances of that might not be so good though.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8369934.stm
Sitting here with my fingers crossed, hope he turns up safe and well soon. Judging by some of the footage being shown, the chances of that might not be so good though.
t. A body has been found by the searchers.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8369934.stm
A delivery driver informed me that cars were still trying to cross the bridge despite warnings not to.
The missing officer was a roads policing unit officer with 20+ years service.
Thoughts to his family and especially his colleagues, who had to continue their work knowing he was missing.
A delivery driver informed me that cars were still trying to cross the bridge despite warnings not to.
The missing officer was a roads policing unit officer with 20+ years service.
Thoughts to his family and especially his colleagues, who had to continue their work knowing he was missing.
My condolences to family and friends.
As a member of the driving public, it brings to home how the emergency services can and do put their life on the line in just doing their jobs on a daily basis, something which many us do not think about when moaning about other more mundane events.
As a member of the driving public, it brings to home how the emergency services can and do put their life on the line in just doing their jobs on a daily basis, something which many us do not think about when moaning about other more mundane events.
Imagine water over a foot deep - over every bit of your carpet. THAT is how much RAIN has fallen in 24 hours.
It could not soak in, as the ground was saturated already, so instead the water channelled into every single hollow and gully, until it joined up in rivers of huge volumes of FAST moving water.
That is what has taken EVERYBODY by surprise, and put such pressure on bridges etc.
Take a look at the power of the water in some of these pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/topeengraver/NovemberF...
It could not soak in, as the ground was saturated already, so instead the water channelled into every single hollow and gully, until it joined up in rivers of huge volumes of FAST moving water.
That is what has taken EVERYBODY by surprise, and put such pressure on bridges etc.
Take a look at the power of the water in some of these pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/topeengraver/NovemberF...
Mill Wheel said:
Imagine water over a foot deep - over every bit of your carpet. THAT is how much RAIN has fallen in 24 hours.
It could not soak in, as the ground was saturated already, so instead the water channelled into every single hollow and gully, until it joined up in rivers of huge volumes of FAST moving water.
That is what has taken EVERYBODY by surprise, and put such pressure on bridges etc.
Take a look at the power of the water in some of these pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/topeengraver/NovemberF...
I know...not nice is it?It could not soak in, as the ground was saturated already, so instead the water channelled into every single hollow and gully, until it joined up in rivers of huge volumes of FAST moving water.
That is what has taken EVERYBODY by surprise, and put such pressure on bridges etc.
Take a look at the power of the water in some of these pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/topeengraver/NovemberF...
We had it in 2007
Why didn't we learn from that incident and concentrate our efforts on building flood barriers and relief systems BEFORE the floods occurred elsewhere?
How many more lives are to be needlessly lost because we fail to read the writing on the wall?
I know we can't second guess Mother Nature, but we are going through a period of climate change and we must expect and prepare for these sorts of things, not wait until they happen before we act.
Sorry for the rant but having gone through this (although to a lesser extent than many I might add) I can empathise with what people are going through now in the North West.
Two years on and we still have roads and properties flooding every time we get heavy rain all because the drainage isn't kept clear or isn't of a sufficient bore to syphon the excess water off quickly enough...it's enough to make a Saint swear!
oldsoak said:
Mill Wheel said:
Imagine water over a foot deep - over every bit of your carpet. THAT is how much RAIN has fallen in 24 hours.
It could not soak in, as the ground was saturated already, so instead the water channelled into every single hollow and gully, until it joined up in rivers of huge volumes of FAST moving water.
That is what has taken EVERYBODY by surprise, and put such pressure on bridges etc.
Take a look at the power of the water in some of these pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/topeengraver/NovemberF...
I know...not nice is it?It could not soak in, as the ground was saturated already, so instead the water channelled into every single hollow and gully, until it joined up in rivers of huge volumes of FAST moving water.
That is what has taken EVERYBODY by surprise, and put such pressure on bridges etc.
Take a look at the power of the water in some of these pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/topeengraver/NovemberF...
We had it in 2007
Why didn't we learn from that incident and concentrate our efforts on building flood barriers and relief systems BEFORE the floods occurred elsewhere?
How many more lives are to be needlessly lost because we fail to read the writing on the wall?
I know we can't second guess Mother Nature, but we are going through a period of climate change and we must expect and prepare for these sorts of things, not wait until they happen before we act.
Sorry for the rant but having gone through this (although to a lesser extent than many I might add) I can empathise with what people are going through now in the North West.
Two years on and we still have roads and properties flooding every time we get heavy rain all because the drainage isn't kept clear or isn't of a sufficient bore to syphon the excess water off quickly enough...it's enough to make a Saint swear!
You can help by building levees and making mechanical barriers at strategic points, but you have to balance the need against the negative points.
In the Lake District, aside from the strict National Park planning restrictions, the Environment Agency are there to veto against developments in flood risk areas. Unsurprisingly, some senior Government officials were on the phone to the Penrith office this very week, after a development they allowed in Keswick, against the advice of the Environment Agency, ended up several feet under water.
This country seems all too eager to find blame and 'learn lessons' when the reality is, these 'freak' conditions are just that and you can't plan and live your everyday life just to cater for occurences like this. It's part of life, and life shouldn't always be wrapped in cotton wool and sanitised into extinction.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff