Rain, Rain and more Rain

It may have escaped your notice but the last two months seem to have consisted of nothing but rain.  It rains a lot here in West Wales however its been relentless over the last few months.  In fact Egwlyswrw, a  village local to me has seen 82 days on rain and was featured on the News as the Wales’s Capital of Rain!   Storm Abigail who graced us in December caused widespread flooding with the Lake District one of the areas severely effected.  It seemed relentless and the damage was devastating to families, homes, businesses and the countryside.  Flooding is devastating at any time of the year but I think when it happens in the run up to Christmas its some how worse.

I sat watching the live broadcasts on the news from the areas affected, watched communities pull together to clean up and then days later watched the despair as the floods came again.  There just weren’t the words to describe how heartbreaking it must have been for all those effected.   Amongst all the water people where starting to ask questions, who was to blame?  could more have been done to prevent it?

Locally we did experience some flooding but not on the scale of the Lake District but I was not affected personally.   I can understand why people feel the need to find someone to blame but is it helpful?  I think there are questions that need to asked especially as this isn’t the first time flooding has affected the UK.  Could the Government have done more to prevent the flooding?  According to a survey carried out by Simpson Millar, 74% of respondents strongly believe the Government could have done more to prevent it.  The damage caused is estimated to be in the region of 1.5 millon pounds surely having preventative measures carried out such as dredging rivers would cost far less.   Surely given that floods have hit the UK several times in the last few years that something needs to be done to safeguard communities and livelihoods against the damage the flooding causes. 

Thankfully ex storm Jonah has not brought any further flooding as feared and I hope that continues to be the case.  However in the meantime its the community spirit that has been evident throughout in the communities that have been effected that will get them through. 

bridge

Disclaimer:  This is a collaborative post but the content is 100% my own

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *