A large area of low pressure was rolling up the west coast of Britain, bringing serious flooding to all areas from Cornwall and Devon to Wales and the Lake District, and on up to the North East. The South West was one of the worst hit areas, with more than two weeks of rain falling in a twenty four hour period on the Friday.
By the next night, when I was enjoying the luxury of a dry duvet and a roof that didn’t flap, the Environment Agency had issued thirty four flood warnings. People were being rescued from rising flood waters, roads were closed, events cancelled and motorists were being injured by falling trees as winds gusted to over 60mph. Several roads were under water in Gloucestershire, where the Thames rises and a road in Gwent was closed due to a landslide. Two people died in Plymouth when their car hit a tree in blinding rain.
The head of flood risk management at the Environment Agency said: “After a wet summer the ground is already saturated and as a result the rivers and streams are responding very quickly to even small amounts of rain.” Red warning boards, which indicate that at least 50% of the weir sluices at a lock are open, remained on the upper reaches of the Thames until the 16th of September. The river flow doubled in three days from 18.3 cubic metres per second (cumecs) on the Wednesday to 35.1 cumecs by Saturday.
By the end of the weekend, two days after I had returned home and my tent was still drying out in the garage, the headlines were declaring:
‘100 flood alerts as 2 weeks’ of rain fall in a day’
- The Daily Telegraph, Sat 6 Sept 2008
‘Five die as storms rage across Britain’
- The Sunday Times, Sat 6 Sept 2008
‘Killer storms leaves a trail of devastation as they swept north through Britain yesterday’
- The Sunday Times, Sat 6 Sept 2008
‘Six dead in flood chaos’
- The Mail on Sunday, Sun 7 Sept 2008
‘Death toll from two days of fierce storms rises to six as heavy rain continued to batter Britain’
- The Mail on Sunday, Sun 7 Sept 2008
‘High waters end river trip’
- Maidenhead Advertiser, Thu 18 September 2008
Nevertheless, I had achieved more than I had expected. I had succeeded in planning and setting out on an expedition that was exclusively mine. I had succeeded in creating memories that were new and unique. I had succeeded in getting to Osney lock. I had succeeded in surviving to live another day.
- end -
5 days
· Teddington
33 species of birds:
· Mute swan
3 paddlers
- end –
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