Anybody got a rubber boat?

Floods force thousands from homes

Thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes amid severe flooding across England and Wales that has claimed at least three lives.

 

Hundreds of families in Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Shropshire have been moved to safety.

 

A motorist is feared to have been washed away in Worcestershire.

 

On Monday, a man and a teenage boy were swept to their deaths in Sheffield and another man died after becoming trapped in a storm drain in Hull.

 

About 900 people are using emergency shelters in Sheffield, and about 700 have left villages near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, amid fears the nearby Ulley dam could collapse.

 

Up to 26 severe flood warnings are still in place, but forecasters say the worst of the weather has passed.

 

Other key developments:

 

# Police have closed the M1 northbound between junctions 32 to 34, and southbound between junctions 34 and 32, because of the risk the Ulley dam poses

 

# Rail companies including Virgin Trains, Midland Mainline and Arriva Trains Wales have announced cancellations and amendments to their services

 

# London Fire Brigade have sent two "high volume pumps" to West Yorkshire to help with the flooding problems

 

# About 20 houses have been evacuated in Ludlow, Shropshire, after the main bridge into the town collapsed, bursting a gas main

 

# A block of 120 flats in Lincoln is being evacuated by dinghy because the River Witham has begun seeping through its banks at Stamp End in the city

 

# People have also been evacuated from Worksop in Nottinghamshire, Lincoln, Louth and Waynefleet in Lincolnshire and Chesterfield in Derbyshire

 

# Environment Secretary David Miliband told the House of Commons there were no reports of flood defences failing but said the government would "consider lessons learned". Local authorities would be given financial help for the clear-up, he added.

 

'Phenomenal' conditions

 

Outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his sympathy to the families of the dead and those displaced by what he described as an "extraordinary and very serious event".

 

"The immediate thing is to make sure we get the right co-ordination with the emergency services... and that we try to make sure we prevent any further loss of life," he said.

 

The Environment Agency labelled current weather conditions "phenomenal".

 

The agency's flood expert, Phil Rothwell, said: "We've had a sixth of the annual rainfall in 12 hours.

 

"Climate change experts tell us that this is the sort of thing we need to expect for the future." (Not to mention that there has been WORST floods in the past, but of course it's climate change, we shall ignore the previous data)

 

There are currently 26 severe flood warnings in place, with 17 in north east England, seven in the east of the country and two in the Midlands.

 

The Met Office, which forecasts the weather and works closely with the Environment Agency in dealing with floods, had issued an early warning last Friday.

 

It had correctly predicted that 50-100mm of rain would fall in the 24 hours from 2200 BST on Sunday, with the worst-affected areas being Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

 

Meanwhile, finance chiefs are warning that the floods will cost small businesses millions, and insurers are expecting tens of millions in claims from homeowners.

Washed away

 

South and East Yorkshire saw some of the heaviest flooding, with thousands of homes left without power and three people dying.

 

A 68-year-old man was killed after being swept away as he tried to cross a road in central Sheffield.

 

In a separate incident in the city a 14-year-old boy, named as Ryan Joe Parry, was killed after falling into the River Sheaf at Millhouses.

 

And 28-year-old Mike Barnett died after becoming trapped in a storm drain in Hull.

 

He had been trying to help his grandfather clear the flooded drain in the Hessle area.

 

Hundreds of people have left their homes in the villages of Whiston, Canklow, and Catcliffe and Treeton, amid fears the Ulley dam could collapse.

 

Emergency services are also searching for a motorist feared to have been washed away in his car by rising water near Pershore, Worcestershire.

 

And in north Wales, fire crews have rescued a man who had been marooned on a small piece of land in the middle of the River Dee in Llangollen since Sunday.

 

BBC weather forecaster Philip Avery said Tuesday would be much quieter.

 

"There will be a few showers around but most of them will be light," he said.

 

"Long term the outlook is pretty unsettled going into the weekend but nothing of the order of what we have had."

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6239828.stm

Floody hell (again)!!:stunned: