House flooded, contents destroyed, no power for 48 hours

[hybrid_x]

One news article went to a really beautiful village saying "this has the worst of it" - and went into a home where they had a £500 log burner on in a massive brick fireplace.......then the couple sat by the log burner drinking went on to moan about how hard life was.

heheh.

 

[Davemania]

No one has said its Cameron's fault. I know Cameron destroys people's lives and hopes but this was down to nature.

The residents who were flooded seem to be. Mind you they cant be the brightest bunch in the world they did buy a house on a flood plain.

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

The other bemusing comments I saw on TV were along the lines of 'why isn't the floodwater being moved away or draining quicker.....?'. Another example of the less gifted lacking the common sense to realise that flood water will flow into the lowest points in the landscape - so often has nowhere else to go......

We had the record storm and tidal surges along the Norfolk coast about 3 weeks ago and a lot of that floodwater remains trapped behind the coastline because it now has no means of flowing away. However thanks to punters heeding the warnings no one got hurt, unlike 60 years ago when over 300 lives were lost. Yes there are many flood damaged properties but thanks to the warnings many took action that prevented far worse damage.

Oh, and David Cameron turned up here too. I think most local punters appreciated him bothering because they knew it wasn't his fault, he listened to their issues and passed them on to the relevant agencies with a promise to give them 'answers'.

 

[drew]

Would the insurance companies use their old favourite to avoid paying out by saying a flood is an act of God, over which they nor anybody else has control?

You seem to know nothing about insurance other than the same old wives tales that do the rounds.

If their property was flooded in 2000 , the last time it occurred and they made a claim then the property would be uninsurable.

Rubbish.

My oh my there are some smug people on this site. Do you not feel sorry for someone who has spent money trying to make their home nice to see it all washed away?

I have sympathy but if you live in an area prone to flooding then perhaps you should be a bit more prudent how much you spend on your house, particular the ground floor. How many of these householders have actually taken some precautions, having flood barriers fitted to doors, keeping some sandbags available. There was plenty of advice the last time there was major flooding.

So you think it's all justified, like some strange form of Karma?

What are you babbling on about? My comment was that a women paid £5k for a floor and that gives an indication of her disposable income. An expensive floor is aesthetically pleasing but an insurance policy is intangible. Not sure how you arrive at the conclusion that just because someone can afford an expensive floor I think they deserve to be flooded. Stupid conclusion.

 

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

The other bemusing comments I saw on TV were along the lines of 'why isn't the floodwater being moved away or draining quicker.....?'. Another example of the less gifted lacking the common sense to realise that flood water will flow into the lowest points in the landscape - so often has nowhere else to go......

We had the record storm and tidal surges along the Norfolk coast about 3 weeks ago and a lot of that floodwater remains trapped behind the coastline because it now has no means of flowing away. However thanks to punters heeding the warnings no one got hurt, unlike 60 years ago when over 300 lives were lost. Yes there are many flood damaged properties but thanks to the warnings many took action that prevented far worse damage.

Oh, and David Cameron turned up here too. I think most local punters appreciated him bothering because they knew it wasn't his fault, he listened to their issues and passed them on to the relevant agencies with a promise to give them 'answers'.

Do you really belive that. He doesn't give a flying f**k about them really, him turning up is just a massive PR exercise.

 

[maltaseagull]

True, but I'm showing compassion which is not what Timbo was doing. Besides, I was a victim on Xmas eve and had to take on the railway in order to get to Brighton.

And just when you think Xmas cannot get any worse Cameron turns up on your door step.


Very compassionate.

 

[BLOCK F]

Do you really belive that. He doesn't give a flying f**k about them really, him turning up is just a massive PR exercise.

Oh dear,would it have been different if Milliband had turned up on the doorstep,then?

 

[maltaseagull]

"We have to learn from this" says Cameron........whose decisions on planning policy gave allowed and indeed encouraged building houses on flood plains

So Cameron decided to allow the building on the flood plains in Lewes before they were flooded in 2000?

Don't let your political leanings affect the facts will you?

 

[maltaseagull]

Difficult one really. On the one hand, it is awful for people to see their property damaged, or to be without power for long periods.

But one or two I've seen on the news seem to be demanding the impossible. It's not like the power companies have been sat around drinking Bailey's & scoffing turkey while people were at home in the cold. They've had teams out night and day since events on Christmas Eve, working non stop. I was working Christmas Eve and there were UK Power Networks guys all over the place, trying to repair damaged cables and so on. As for the flooding, it is an unfortunate side effect of living in a place like Yalding, and it's presumably a risk people take when they decide to move there.

I daresay there are some preventative measures that can be implemented, but the Government is hardly going to spend millions on a massive defence scheme for a village the size of Yalding. And does an area's political leanings make much difference to the treatment they get? I'm not so sure. Off th e top of my head, I can recall huge floods in the past in Lewes, Uckfield, Chichester (locally speaking), plus large areas of Gloucestershire, and no doubt many more. Most of these areas (Lewes being the exception I'd guess) are fairly true blue and I don't recall them being besieged with central government funds.

Can we not just agree that sometimes, unfortunately, shit happens, nature wins, and leave the politics out of it? That, and stop demanding the earth and stars when it does go a bit wrong, and accept that people are trying to help, however long it takes.

Nice to see a balanced comment! Well said

 

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

Oh dear,would it have been different if Milliband had turned up on the doorstep,then?

No, it would have been exacly the same, just a PR stunt

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

Do you really belive that. He doesn't give a flying f**k about them really, him turning up is just a massive PR exercise.

Read my post. Didn't say that I believed him, merely what I observed and heard locally within my community where flooding is a very important issue.

I'm jaundiced enough about politicians (whatever their persuasion) to know they don't do such things out of the goodness of their hearts. However the 2000 or so voters within Wells-next-the-Sea are hardly likely to earn him a landslide victory at the next election. I was surprised to see him here but I'm not going to slag him off for it.

He bothered to turn up in a tiny community in the middle of nowhere, when it would have been easier to hide behind some lame PR message from Whitehall or delegate his visit to some junior duty minister. I suggest if he really didn't give a flying f**k as you put it he would have been laying on a Caribbean beach getting blitzed over Xmas and New Year with his mobile phone turned off. Now that would have been proper old school Tory contempt for the great unwashed.

 

[severnside gull]

So Cameron decided to allow the building on the floods plains in Lewes before they were flooded in 2000?

Don't let your political leanings affect the facts will you?

Cameron's reference is to learning from past mistakes but his government continue the same policies and have actually relaxed regulation in order to try to encourage building. Right or wrong economically it can hardly be described as having learnt.......
Ah well. Perhaps we should all blame the Lib Dems

 

[wellquickwoody]

Some people just need to deal with things rather than always looking for someone to blame, a bit of water in your house is hardly the end of the world.!

Own your home, or renting?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Very compassionate.

Considering some of the smug shit in this thread I am very very compassionate in comparison. Who knows why these people chose to live where they live. It could have been economic, family or work reasons which forced their arm a little. And even if they can afford an expensive wood floor it doesn't make it okay to just dismiss and blame these people.

 

[Pavilionaire]

This shows the value of having a good solicitor and a good surveyor when you're buying a property. If one of them were to tell me a house I was interested in was built on a flood plain I'd leave it right there.

 

[maltaseagull]

Considering some of the smug shit in this thread I am very very compassionate in comparison. Who knows why these people chose to live where they live. It could have been economic, family or work reasons which forced their arm a little. And even if they can afford an expensive wood floor it doesn't make it okay to just dismiss and blame these people.

I was referring to your comment:
And just when you think Xmas cannot get any worse Cameron turns up on your door step.

Why do you need to say that?

Just I feel sorry for these unfortunate people would be enough!

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

Cameron's reference is to learning from past mistakes but his government continue the same policies and have actually relaxed regulation in order to try to encourage building. Right or wrong economically it can hardly be described as having learnt.......
Ah well. Perhaps we should all blame the Lib Dems

Most of the properties around here affected by the recent storms are right on the coast and have been there for hundreds of years. Ok its sad to see punters homes and livelihoods damaged but there seems to be more resilience and recognising 'it's an act of God' - rather than desperately trying to score cheap political points out of a natural weather and tide related event.

The only moans seem to be from second home owners who don't live locally, rather than genuine natives who recognise if you live here it will happen from time to time. Reasonable efforts have been made to contain floods and to do even more would destroy the character of the area, so the focus is on giving timely warnings ahead of likely floods - which is what happened, and was effective because no lives were lost. Most punters took reasonable precautions to fit flood guards and moved valuable possessions rather than wait for the thing to happen and moan about it after.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

You are missing the point. Politics makes the rules and regulations. Anyone suffering from floods in recently built houses should be able to get compensation from their local authority.

The National Planning Policy Framework issues guidance on flood risk. If a Local Authority Planning dept issues planning permission where obections have been made showing that there is indisputable evidence to indicate that flooding will occur, then they are negligent, not the politicians.

 

[Beach Hut]

Considering some of the smug shit in this thread I am very very compassionate in comparison. Who knows why these people chose to live where they live. It could have been economic, family or work reasons which forced their arm a little. And even if they can afford an expensive wood floor it doesn't make it okay to just dismiss and blame these people.

What I don't get is the original post is more a rather tired slant on his age old anti-Tory joke yet the minute it is turned the other way to labour it seems to be offensive.

 

[dougdeep]

If a Local Authority Planning dept issues planning permission where obections have been made showing that there is indisputable evidence to indicate that flooding will occur, then they are negligent, not the politicians.

And how is that not politics?