For Those in the UK

[Hamish]

"Swathes of southern England are covered by water, as people are forced from their homes by the deluge.

The worst affected areas are West and East Sussex and Kent."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/968625.stm

With the greatest respect Iolaus, that report was dated five years ago, when we DID have some flooding here in the south.

Currently, we are in desperate need of rain in this part of the country, and prolonged rain at that, to restore the depleted water levels in the reservoirs, and natural aquifers which lie within the chalk of our local hills.

[Iolaus]

Oh wow, you're right!! What a coincidence that the date on that report was the day before I posted it, except years earlier. It was the first thing to come up on google when I searched "England Flooding" and I just glanced at the date. Thanks for catching that.

[Southern Breeze]

Oh wow, you're right!! What a coincidence that the date on that report was the day before I posted it, except years earlier. It was the first thing to come up on google when I searched "England Flooding" and I just glanced at the date. Thanks for catching that.

Don't feel bad,I didn't pay attention to the date either. :-?

[Sherry]

This one is up to date (13 October 2005):


A resident of Mansfield Gardens in Hawick took to his bike yesterday morning after the river Teviot burst its banks, sweeping 4ft of water into parts of the town. Picture: Neil HannaRainfall worse than monsoon level hits south of Scotland

ALASTAIR DALTON, EBEN HARRELL AND SHAN ROSS



Key points
• Borders region suffers its worst flooding in twenty years
• Fifteen other flood warnings were issued across Scotland
• More than one month's rain fell in just one day in many parts of Scotland

Key quote
"It wasn't half scary, I had ducks right in front of me. I've lived in Hawick for 29 years and I've never seen anything like this." - ARTHUR TRAN, HAWICK RESIDENT



http://awrz.net/adlog.php?bannerid=8...&cb=e1fed7649f

Story in full TORRENTIAL rain caused flooding and landslides across southern Scotland yesterday as the first major downpour of the autumn continued.

Homes and shops were engulfed in several towns in the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway, with Hawick hit by its worst flood for 20 years.

Last night an air search was launched after a report of a body seen in the swollen River Tweed. A helicopter from RAF Boulmer in Northumberland, was scouring the banks of the river at Boleside, Galashiels, Selkirkshire, but nothing had been found.

Rain caused more havoc, closing several main roads, while the west-coast main rail line between Scotland and England was shut for nearly 24 hours.

More than one month's rain fell in one day in some areas, such as 66mm (2.6in) in Hawick, 63mm (2.5in) in Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway, 54mm (2.1in) in Edinburgh and 45mm (1.8in) in Aberdeen.

Parts of Hawick were under up to 4ft of water, with some 200 buildings flooded after the Teviot burst its banks.

In places, the rainfall was even more than the 50mm daily average in a tropical monsoon.

Authorities said flash flooding occurred because of unusually high rainfall concentrated upstream of the town.

Hawick was last night bracing itself to be swamped again after a severe flood warning was issued for the Teviot by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

Emergency workers and police laid sandbags in an attempt to prevent further flooding. SEPA said pulses of heavy rain were causing river levels to rise in the Borders, while levels were falling elsewhere as rain eased.

A spokesman for the agency said: "Residents of Hawick have been warned to expect river levels similar to those last night."

At their peak, there were 15 other flood warnings for rivers across the Borders, Perthshire and North-east Scotland. These included the Water of Leith in Edinburgh following heavy rainfall in the Pentland hills.

In Hawick, floodwater engulfed riverside homes and businesses after a 150ft section of wall collapsed on Commercial Road early yesterday. Parked cars moved through the streets like scraps of debris and trees floated by. Engineers were waiting for waters to subside before installing a temporary barrier.

Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said they were "inundated" with reports of flooding in the town and at least five people had to be rescued.

A council housing officer checking on residents had to be rescued herself.

A firecrew called to a farm near the town also had to be rescued by colleagues after their appliance stalled in a huge pool.

The town's rugby ground at Mansfield Park was under 3ft of water after a boundary wall collapsed, engulfing the clubhouse and stand.

David Blair, who owns Blair and Patterson Home Improvements, said he had lost up to £200,000. Wearing waders with water up to his knees, he said: "I was woken up when alarms went off in the store. What I found when I got there was total devastation - even now that the water has receded there's silt and mud everywhere. All the inventory has been destroyed."

One resident, Ann Reide, 30, woke to find a fish flapping around on the floor of her living room. She said: "I came downstairs and saw the fish and the water on the floor. I looked outside and saw my wheelie bins floating around in the garden and I just had to laugh. What else can you do?"

Arthur Tran, 74, who found the water had reached his doorstep in Mansfield Road, said: "It wasn't half scary, I had ducks right in front of me. I've lived in Hawick for 29 years and I've never seen anything like this."

John Askew, a spokesman for Scottish Borders Council said: "We have a flood warning system that was utilised on Tuesday night to warn susceptible endangered homes of potential floods. We feel we have done everything we can do including making sandbags and emergency help and advice available.

"It's not a nice thing to say to someone knee-deep in water in their living room, but the primary responsibility to protect homes rests with homeowners. We have to focus on those in the greatest danger and need. We feel we have done that."

However, several shopkeepers only learned of the damage when they arrived for work.

Families were evacuated from their homes in Sibbaldbie and Newton Wamphray, near Moffat, while others were forced to take refuge in upstairs rooms after water levels rose to 4ft.

Nancy Copeland, 77, who was among those rescued in Newton Wamphray, was woken by police late on Tuesday night.

She said: "I was in bed when I heard a noise at the door. There was a policeman standing there and he told me I'd have to leave.

"He carried me about 200 yards along the road to my neighbour's house. It was all very frightening because I hate water and can remember all the upheaval of the last flood in 1977."

Carla Currie, 15, of Station Road in the village, said: "We saw water starting to come in the back door about 10pm and then it rose really quickly to about 4ft. We had to spend the night upstairs and we had no electricity or phone."

Houses in parts of Annan and Newcastleton were also flooded.

Landslides closed the A708 Moffat to Selkirk road in two places near the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall. Council workers took more than six hours to clear over 500 tonnes of rubble dislodged by a fast-flowing stream from the Moffat hills.

Mike Rutherford, a JCB driver, said: "These landslides happen about once a year, but this is the worst I've ever seen."

A landslide also shut the B709 near Eskdalemuir. Dumfries, Moffat, Kelso, Melrose, Newcastleton, Aberdeen, Perth and Stirling were all hit by road closures.

The driver of a refuse lorry died after his vehicle left the road in heavy rain on the A68 near Ancrum.

A burst water main at the St James interchange on the M8 near Glasgow airport caused a landslide which closed lanes.

Cross-Border Virgin Trains services and First ScotRail sleepers resumed last night after the west-coast main line reopened at 5pm, following a burn flooding tracks at Wamphray, near Beattock. Coaches had replaced trains between Edinburgh/Glasgow and Carlisle.

Neil Greig, the head of policy in Scotland for the AA Motoring Trust, said: "These events underline the urgent need for more detailed investigation of the roads infrastructure to identify worn-out culverts, poor drainage, address well-known flooding hotspots and improve information for drivers."




This article:

http://www.scotsman.com/?id=2081072005

Weather:

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=507

Websites:

Scottish forecast
http://www.scotsman.com/weather.cfm



Sherry

[Sherry]

In any case, I'm glad our forum members are not flooded out.

Sherry