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The UK’s Environment Agency has issued flood warnings. The alert follows days of heavy rainfall.

The Agency has a special webpage dedicated to flooding, updated every 15 minutes, and as I type this, the page states the following:

1 severe flood warning

74 flood warnings

One warning issued covers the area that includes the town of Tewkesbury. This particular town made the headlines during last year’s summer due to appalling flooding. Indeed, there are residents still living in caravans due to the summer’s extensive damage and yet now these same people must prepare for another potential disaster hitting their neighbourhood.

Rivers and settlements very often go hand in hand. Tewkesbury is positioned so that it sits where the River Severn and the River Avon converge.

One resident, Julie Irwin, is quoted in The Guardian as saying: “Anxiety levels here are very high, more so because we’ve seen very little action from the council to clear the drains or the brooks…. I just feel we are sitting ducks.”

She added that many houses in the town were inches away from inundation.

Reuters have run the story and one paragraph sums the situation up in a distressingly simple sentence:

Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire found itself at risk once again as the river Avon overflowed its banks following five days of rain.

Gloucestershire isn’t so far away from where I type this. It’s been impossible not to notice the weather. Wind and rain have lashed and howled at my windows day and night with let-ups few and far between.

In a chillingly matter-of-fact summary of the summer flooding, the Environment Agency have drafted a report that begins:

In June and July 2007, there were several periods of extreme rainfall which gave rise to widespread flooding in England and parts of Wales. We experienced the wettest May to July since 1766 when reliable records began to be collected. Approximately 49,000 households and nearly 7,000 businesses were flooded. Major infrastructure such as transport links, schools, power and water supplies were disrupted.

Flooding was caused by drains, river channels and flood defences being overwhelmed by the extreme flows of water. This often happened very quickly and in these circumstances it is difficult to predict where flooding will occur.

I now fear a summary of our winter’s weather will read all too similarly.

So this is what they mean by climate chaos, is it? The UK often jests itself about its weather. A rather damp collection of islands that is all too frequently mildly overcast. We positively enjoy moaning about the weather. But now the joke’s over.

In the meantime, the Environment Agency have a page telling people what to do should there be the risk of a flood. I hope these tips prove useful whatever country you live in:

• Identify a safe place where you, your family and your pets can keep away from the floodwater.
• Gather essential items together. These include warm clothes, blankets, regular medication, a torch, food supplies, a mobile phone and a battery operated or wind-up radio.
• Turn off gas, electricity and water supplies at the mains.
• Move electrical items and valuables to a first floor or higher position.
• Floods can kill. NEVER attempt to walk or drive through any depth of floodwater.
• WAIT for the emergency services. Follow their instructions. If an evacuation order is issued you MUST comply.

A further page on the Agency’s website discusses climate change. It states quite clearly that the UK’s weather is changing. Heavier rain, more intense storms, these two weather patterns are becoming increasingly more regular.

The problem facing us here in the UK is that there is no “flood season.” Regardless of the time of year, flooding can occur.

And with reference to the storms, these can have environmental impacts offshore also. The Guardian article referenced earlier highlighted another environmental threat. The 6,000 tonne freighter, the Ice Prince, has sunk. The ship became another victim of the storms after its cargo of timber shifted. The vessel’s crew had to be rescued. The report continues:

The Ice Prince’s fuel tanks are full of 313 tonnes of intermediate fuel oil. IFO is a blend of heavy and lighter oils which can spread thinly over a wide area. There is also diesel on board.

With this borne in mind, the RSPB remain on standby should the hull break up. The thought that in the coming days the news will fill with shots of seabirds covered in oil is frightening and of course potentially very upsetting.

Sources:

Flood Report - The Guardian

Flood Report - Reuters

Environment Agency

Image obtained from Flickr

Useful Resources:

Climate Change - a page including useful links on the Environment Agency’s website.

Gavin Hudson wrote a moving account of his cleaning up an oil spill in South Korea.