The Water Rises


Well what a week in the UK, in fact what a month, or two. Hambledon in Hampshire has actually been in a flood crisis situation for 40 days, so it has been much longer than just this week. So why has it only just suddenly become a crisis situation in the eyes of the government?

Do we assume that it was not a crisis until it hit the areas surrounding London? Or is it simply that the scale of the flooding has become impossible to ignore now? I suppose it is probably a little of both, and the news is full of flood advice, pictures of the army and even the Royal Family helping out to try and stem the rising waters and protect everyone's valuable property.

This really is quite a huge event in the history of our small Island. For sure it has flooded many times before, and in fact, as can be seen from some of the names of places that are under water, such as "Lakeside Terrace" or more telling "Marsh Lane" these areas were known to flood on a regular basis in the past. So why now, is it an issue of national emergency, when in the past it has just been vaguely noted in passing place names?

Well there are many reasons of course, and all of these are being looked into and discussed at the moment. Firstly, there have been many planning applications over the last few years, to build on known flood-plains. And for some strange reason, the various councils have not had the presence of mind to say no to these developments. Secondly, we have become much more settled in our lives over the last 50+ years. At one point in time people would think nothing of just "upping sticks" and moving on, when the environment became difficult to live in, or work was easier to find elsewhere, but now, we are all much more firmly ensconced in our personal, treasure filled castles, and extremely reluctant to leave them.

The unavoidable issue of climate change has become widely accepted now. There may still be arguments over whether this has been caused by our massive overuse of the world's resources, wildly burning and burning to keep our homes toasty and bright, and our clothes sparkling clean, and our feet out of the water as we drive in our new car. Or whether it is simply an issue of the fluctuations that naturally occur on our planet over time. No matter which argument we prefer or believe, the fact is the same, that this type of extreme weather, is here to stay.

Of course everyone agrees that we need to take note and plan for more of this type of situation in the future. Usually we have more rains in the autumn, so it will not be long before the flood waters will rise again. And as the issue has gradually been worsening over the last ten years, we can assume that it might continue to do so. 

But what can be done? Is it really sane to take the King Canute approach and throw more and more money at this situation, building the walls higher and higher in the hope that we can hold back the tide?

Surely it would be more sensible to look at some form of re-location for the people who's homes have been destroyed by these floods. Perhaps the relief money would be better spent giving them a grant to do this? For it is certainly going to cost more and more as the years go by, to protect, then clean up the type of devastation that we have seen happening this week. These areas should not have been built on in the first place, so surely it makes sense to leave them, now that they are becoming uninhabitable?

I am quite sure that anyone who is living in this terrible situation, will be fiercely defending their homes, and probably have friends, jobs, families and so on who they would not wish to leave. But sometimes hard facts have to be faced. And to stay on the beach when the tide is coming in, is only a good idea if you have a boat. Trying to do it in a sandcastle, is a bad idea. Trust me, I tried it many times as a child.