An eerie reminder this evening of the devastating floods of 1953, which claimed hundreds of lives in eastern England and nearly 2,000 in Holland. A northwesterly storm combined with a springtide overtopped coastal defenses, drowning entire towns and villages. Today, gale force winds are lashing the North Sea and are expected to do so for 24 hours, covering two tidal cycles. Sandbags are being distributed in coastal areas of Norfolk, south of Great Yarmouth, and coastal defenses in Holland are on alert tonight. The Dutch appear to be fairly sanguine about the situation, stating that a 13 foot tide is expected, high but nothing to get unduly worried about. The dykes will be watched tonight.
Residents in a town in East Anglia saw sandbags being delivered to a depot, and proceeded to wheel them home on anything that rolled, in anticipation of the 7 am flood tomorrow morning. They would not wait for formal distribution by the council. Updates on the severe flood warnings can be obtained from this link.
They should be able to take them and not wait, with time of the essence.
ReplyDeleteOh, I pray everyone will be ok. We have so many areas here in western Washington that can flood and I'm so thankful I don't live near those areas. Be safe Guido. Linda in Washington state
ReplyDeleteWell Guido we sure have had our share of weird weather these last few months. Can't remember a year quite like it. Hope that the gales have died down with you and that it gets a wee bit warmer. I have just been out the back and it is a starry night cold and going to be a frost in the morning. But think we have missed most of the rain here in Wiltshire. Sybil x
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I saw this on the news I thought I must go to Guido's journal as I know he will have something about it. Scarey! Gerry
ReplyDeleteIt sounds chaotic with folks taking the sand bags themselves. I certainly hope it isn't a repeat of 1953.
ReplyDeleteLisa