The Stupidity of Victims

[andygates]

"Something has got to happen to stop this scale of flooding happening ever again!"

Er, like making it not rain?  A huge rainfall happened in major river catchments.  The water drained exactly where it should: down into the rivers and where the rivers exceeded capacity, they flooded into low-lying surrounding land called (the clue is in the question) flood plains.  The bolus of water is now making its steady way downstream and hydrographic boffins are predicting how it'll behave with fair certainty (bad day for Botley). 

What exactly do the whiners want?  Maybe they should try prayer.

Comments

[simoneck.livejournal.com]

There's lots that can be done, but as you say, it's in stopping the flooding having such an effect, rather than stopping the water.

3 story houses, with only a garage on the ground floor, then all you have to do is hose it down afterwards.
Raising houses a couple of feet above the gardens would stop the problem for the majority of houses (interestingly a lot of new houses don't even have a step, to fit in with disabled access laws).
More open ditches (drainage tends to silt up and open drainage is easier and cheaper, and therefore much more likely, to be cleared out)

Basically have somewhere for the water to go that isn't filled with expensive electical equipment.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Interestingly some of the footage from Tewkesbury has shown exactly those houses: ground floor garages and a nice view over the flood(ed) plain. Designs like these, which minimise the damage caused by inevitable flooding, should perhaps be required for new builds in flood-risk areas?

[simoneck.livejournal.com]

I've some friends in Southern France and they tell the tale of houses in a beautiful valley near them.
English people often buy these houses, attracted no doubt by the beauty and close proximity to a RyanAir service. Frequently they convert the groundfloor garage to an extra room, to maximise space / investment potential.
They then complain about the flood defenses, once they've been affected by the 1 year in 3 when the valley floor fills with 2m of water, that the design was supposed to mitigate against.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Heh.

My basement flat don't half feel vulnerable.

[skean.livejournal.com]

Just imagine, shake and vac + flood water + baking soda. Some kind of Ooze from 1st Ed D&D is my prediction :-)

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Citrus Ooze: Mindless, immune to bladed weapons, corrosion damage (roll vs. CON for items).

[n-decisive.livejournal.com]

It's like that here, too. Sometime in the last decade, an small town located in a major flood plain was asked to relocate to high ground, and the bill was being footed by the government and various insurance companies. Many, many of the residents refused. They were mad when the next flood came through and their insurance companies wouldn't pay for the damages.

Go figure.

[n-decisive.livejournal.com]

We've had major river flooding here for the past three years- something which normally only happens every 75 and 100 years.

My state- NJ- has not imposed rules for property preservation rebuilding. Right across the river in PA, however, they are required to build on concrete piers now.

My state is unbright to the Nth degree.

...

[n-decisive.livejournal.com]

And there was much snorting upon glancing up and noticing this running joke.