With the torrential rain yesterday and some rivers on alert, many people must be worried about potential flooding again. The County Council has issued the following press release here and it is worth taking a look.
At the moment, most of the preparation is happening in Oxford as the Botley area looks most at risk, as shown tonight on the television news. I noticed the Letcombe Brook was quite high yesterday in the village and thanks to local residents, some debris was moved from blocking the low archways on the bridge.
Today, I noted that the remedial ditching and gullying works at the Hanney junction appears to have stopped the road flooding there like it did last time. The A417 was closed between West Challow and Stanford-in-the-Vale this morning, but I understand that it has now reopened.
Shame we didn't see this earlier as we've spent a good part of the afternoon filling sandbags (bought with our own money - it's amazing the number of people who thought the Council had given the sand and bags to us!), we may have to work on the design in the morning!!
ReplyDeleteThe drain down our road has not been cleared, despite us being at severe risk of flooding. The stream is high, and with 4 more days of heavy rain forecast, we will be very blessed if the stream doesn't overflow again.
I'm disappointed that the Environment Agency has changed it's website. Up until yesterday we could type in "Wantage" and would be given a fairly accurate idea of whether this area was due to flood. Now, however, we are directed to the "Thames" and have to figure out which warning (if any) might apply to us. The previous system gave me some comfort - this new system just leaves me confused.
It would be extremely helpful if we knew which flood warning (on the Environment Agency website) might possibly affect Wantage and Grove. Zoé, maybe you could look into this for us. Obviously something we should have thought about sooner, and maybe you already have this information - it should be made available to every town dweller and villager, or at the very least, those of us who live in a flood risk area near the Letcombe Brook.
The sand and bags cost us over £70. A sum we can't really afford, despite the £250 compensation given by the Council, which has been quickly eaten up by other needs. What about those who can't afford to buy sand - is there help available for them? Who do we contact? Is the Parish going to do anything this time, to ensure the Village is well prepared?
Still, if it floods this weekend, I won't really mind, as we're still waiting for our house to be redecorated after the July flood. Now's a good time to flood, I just hope and pray July 2007 was a one-off. Though my heart goes out to those in Tewksbury and surrounding areas, I can imagine the horror they are going through.
And if the new houses are built on Grove Airfield, I guess we'll have annual floods like Tewksbury, won't that be fun!!
By the way, thanks for posting the link Zoé - it's some small comfort to know that at least one Councillor is out there looking after our interests at this worrying time!!
Thanks for your information Sue.
ReplyDeleteI shall report the drain to the County Highways immediately.
I shall also check your queries with my contact at the Environment Agency.
My advice to anyone asking for sandbags is to ring the Vale on 01235 520202 to check where to obtain them from.
I am hoping the Parish Council will be better prepared next time round and I have been encouraging them to be more actively involved. It would certainly be helpful to have some local sandbag stocks we could use.
Thanks for your kind comments - I do try my best!
Thanks Zoé
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify about the Environment Agency, the nearest area to us is, I think, the River Ock.
This is what it says on their website
"The River Ock from Little Coxwell to Abingdon and its tributaries"
However, I'm not sure if the Letcombe Brook comes under "tributaries"
I do understand that the EA can't list every waterway. But when a brook or stream has flooded in the past, I would expect it to get a mention. If the EA can't monitor the Letcombe Brook, who else could we contact for accurate advice?
Radio Oxford are focusing on Oxford at the moment (Botley Road and Osney Island). Abingdon also gets a mention when it's at threat from flooding (and rightly so). But Grove and Wantage seem to get forgotten till it's too late. What can we do to get on the flood map?
Will go back to my own flood watch in the morning!!
I have received notification from Highways today that according to their records the drains were last cleaned on the 25th Sept 2007.
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