Have you battened down your hatches??

[Andy in Germany]

The big problem is the blame game everyone is blaming each other. With no one over seeing the whole thing and with the power to just get stuff done. Which is just like every other civil engineering project. If the victorians had been the same we'd have never got past the water wheel never mind everything else. Brunel would be so proud

To be fair the opinions of local people didn't count for so much in the Victorian era either.

Also, Brunel was a great one for making other people's money disappear...

 

[classic33]

To be fair the opinions of local people didn't count for so much in the Victorian era either.

Also, Brunel was a great one for making other people's money disappear...

The Victorians weren't daft enough to build on a flood plain.

 

[Andy in Germany]

The Victorians weren't daft enough to build on a flood plain.

That is especially the point. The clue is in the name really.

 

[Mike_P]

Should looking at relocating settlements be undertaken? It's happened in the past in Durham for example where settlements had planned closures. Does not seem to be particularly windy or gusty here today but I discovered after putting the replacement rear derailleur hanger on the road bike that the action of the chain as the original snapped had bent the cage so it's still grounded.

 

[Salty seadog]

Hmmm, the neighbours blue bin blew over in the night and deposited some of its contents on the path of it was resting against my back gate with several plastic bottles etc just inside my garden. It was nice to see they couldn't be arsed to open the gate and get their crap back when they rescued the bin.

Don't know what to do when I clear it up really. Put it in their bin or their driveway next to it.

 

[Smokin Joe]

The Victorians weren't daft enough to build on a flood plain.

London is built on a flood plain.

 

[Accy cyclist]

While talking to a friend the other day,she told me that a friend of her's had moved to 'posh' nearby Whalley and Billington in the Ribble Valley. She told me that her friend bought a cottage next to the river Calder that's notorious for flooding parts of the village. She knows the risks,but just had to move to Whalley as it's the 'place to be seen'.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-51491097

 

[pawl]

The local radio station was making appeals not to travel without being properly prepared with a blanket, a spare coat, first aid kit, hot water bottle, snow shovel, snow chains, jump leads, a spare gallon of petrol, distress flares, thermos flask of tea, bottles of drinking water, emergency rations of food, a small axe and a Swiss Army knife.

I felt a right twit getting on the bus to go to work this morning.

Missed the Cyanided 💊 and giant packet of jelly 👶 Substitute for Hariboes alternative option if you wish.

 

[pawl]

You can rebuild it

Quite correct.We have the technology.

 

[oldwheels]

It's pretty wild to see the ship I've spent so much time on bobbing like a cork.
Major kudos to the crew for docking successfully. If I were in charge it'd be like "ok passengers you all live aboard now"

They would never try that at Craignure on Mull as the pier is getting old and shoogly. Coming alongside like that needs confidence plus fingers firmly crossed.

 

[Starchivore]

I just can't help thinking that if I had £30+ million pounds to spend on that flood defence work, that I could get a company to commit to completing it in (say) 2 years.

I have heard lots of local people muttering about how long it is taking and that there seems to be an awful lot of people standing around not looking very busy!

I wonder how it might have gone if instead of contracting this out, the government had done the work themselves, with a sense of urgency. With the army as backup at key times. A company is always going to milk it for whatever they can.

 

[NorthernDave]

I wonder how it might have gone if instead of contracting this out, the government had done the work themselves, with a sense of urgency. With the army as backup at key times. A company is always going to milk it for whatever they can.

The public purse appears to be there to be milked for every penny, with work dragged out for as long as possible. I don't know who is working in procurement in Whitehall these days but you'd be forgiven for thinking that they're either massively out of their depth, or they have a very big house.

Look at HS2 - still being waffled about and a completion date of 2040 is being bandied about, yet the Chinese railway company reckon they can have it up and running in 5 years at a fraction of the cost...

 

[classic33]

London is built on a flood plain.

Fair enough.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

It's not been exceptionally windy in my neck of the woods but it's been rather wet. The travel reports suggest that it's not a good day for venturing out with most main routes blocked by flooding. The south of the county seems to have been hit worst and just over the county border Tenbury Wells is badly flooded.

The Shropshire Star has a photo gallery here: https://www.shropshirestar.com/news...y-shropshire-storm-dennis-flooding-in-photos/ with more detail about what's going on here: https://www.shropshirestar.com/news...-flooded-as-severe-weather-warnings-continue/

I'm keeping an eye on the river levels which will be the next thing as the rainfall in Wales works its way down. At the time of writing the Environment Agency are forecasting a peak of just over 6 metres in Shrewsbury . Their estimates often get revised lower, but If that came off it would be the highest the river has been in my lifetime.

 

[oldwheels]

Now we have lightning followed by instant thunder which means pretty close. Torrents of hail also with still very high winds. Still got electricity but my camping cookware is easily accessible just in case. If power is off can get stuff from the fridge if needed but the freezer better not opened.