Flooding Tales

[Werzle]

Heard a good one today from 10-15yrs ago, old boy from down near ross on wye was woken by knocking coming from the floor of his bedroom , turned out it was the kitchen chairs hitting the ceiling while bobbing in the flood water!

Also heard one from the 1930's where an young chap swam a cart horse out into swirling flood water to kick the latch on a gate to release trapped stock.

 

[kill]

There's a very narrow and steep single track road beyond my place and the night of the Lynmouth floods (1952) after hell of a rain and a long day 2 of the local councils road workers were walking up this hill and heard a loud thunder and rumbling noise and both jumped quickly up into the high hedge banks as a tidle wave of water, mud, rocks and branches came thundering down the road at them several feet deep as the pressure of the heavy flood water had ponded behind a hedge in the bottom corner of a field and it was more than the hedge could take and just suddenly let go.

 

[Princess Pooper]

Heard a good one today from 10-15yrs ago, old boy from down near ross on wye was woken by knocking coming from the floor of his bedroom , turned out it was the kitchen chairs hitting the ceiling while bobbing in the flood water!

Also heard one from the 1930's where an young chap swam a cart horse out into swirling flood water to kick the latch on a gate to release trapped stock.

had a similar experience when I 'lived in' at a farm on the River Teme floodplain. In flood, the water came right up the back lawn of the farmhouse. Farmer was out at a meeting one winter's night, I had gone up for a shower and early night. His wife of only a couple of years came knocking on my door, said she was petrified as she could hear strange noises downstairs. I went back down with her and worked out it was bottles floating around in the cellars and gently bumping into each other.

 

[unclejonsson]

Introspection. I think its time we farmers look to our share of the blame. We have taken out the hedgerows and cut down the trees. We have compacted the soil and allowed the soil to be washed off the land. Our best growing land takes advantage of river silt alluvium floodplane but we bleat when it is inundated and blame everyone but ourselves. We lobby government to point the finger away from ourselves and rubbish anything and close our ears to natural solutions. We have even started to ask for money to offer flood storage. We cause the sharp flood curves causing misery downstream. We are beginning to look very bad indeed. Are we able to look at our actions and take some blame for the problem? Our not...

 

[Spencer]

Introspection. I think its time we farmers look to our share of the blame. We have taken out the hedgerows and cut down the trees. We have compacted the soil and allowed the soil to be washed off the land. Our best growing land takes advantage of river silt alluvium floodplane but we bleat when it is inundated and blame everyone but ourselves. We lobby government to point the finger away from ourselves and rubbish anything and close our ears to natural solutions. We have even started to ask for money to offer flood storage. We cause the sharp flood curves causing misery downstream. We are beginning to look very bad indeed. Are we able to look at our actions and take some blame for the problem? Our not...

Well it sounds like “you” need to look at what your doing, if your doing all of the above!

We on the other hand have planted alot of hedgerows and trees recently. Our ditches are maintained off our own back, not by the EA or tax payer. Our land can flood during periods of heavy rainfall and high tides but we cause no flooding up stream or down stream as we manage or ditch network accordingly.
It’s a shame the powers that be haven’t done the same.
Ditch and river maintenance is almost mandatory in the Netherlands, and they know a thing or two about water management.