To feel that the South West has been abandoned (long and ranty)

[zeezeek]

My family still live in Cornwall and they have been completely battered by the wind and the rain for weeks now. Last night they had to be evacuated from their house. The main train line down to Cornwall (in fact also half of Devon) is completely destroyed and a lot of prime agricultural land in Somerset is under water.

People are losing their livelihoods and they have been lucky that there have been no loss of life. In a region where there is already high unemployment - the impact on the farming, fishing and tourist industries will just make the situation worse. Freight trains can no longer get down past Exeter.

The EA are effectively blaming the poor buggers who are affected by this and seemingly forgetting that people and homes are also affected. The government doesn't give a shit and the Environment minister didn't even bother taking a pair of wellington boots with him on his photo opp visit. Our future King made silly comments about how a disaster beings people together while his waste of space daughter in law spends taxpayers money jetting off to the Caribbean. Comments in sensible, intelligent newspapers are also blaming people for daring to live on a flood plain (which has never flooded to this extent) and by the sea.

I know that I am BU, but tonight - when my parents are still not allowed home and my brother has had his fishing boat sunk - I am feeling very, very pissed off with the media who seems to be making such a big deal out of a 2 day tube strike - there are buses.

Sorry, but needed to vent. Have nothing against Londoners - I lived there for years.

LoveSewingBee - EXACTLY!

Zeezeek - yes, like I said I really do sympathise. It's awful for your brother, the men he employs, your parent's business, all the folk in the South West. Please don't think I am detracting from their struggles, I'm not.

I'm just a bit baffled by your somewhat venomous attack on Londoners upthread. I would never suggest that the strikes are worse - that would be ridiculous - they cannot compare. But it isn't ordinary Londoners' fault that our joke of a government can't get their act in order re flood defences or sorting out the emergency so why tear us off a strip about it? It's not our fault either that Boris/unions are at loggerheads - again it's the incompetence and bad planning of politicians. I guess my point is that getting shouty at one another about it gets no-one anywhere, and it is perfectly possible for us to feel awful for you guys in the SW and still peeved at the transport crap in London.

Having said that, I can well understand why my friends and family in SW are getting so infuriated - we're supposed to be a developed nation FFS, how can this be allowed to go on for so long.

Incidentally, if any smarmy arse loss adjusters give your poor bro grief about his boat claim, give me a shout (or an IM).... insurance is my game (for my sins)...

Whizbang - you're right, I apologise. Thank you. And I do hope Boris and the Unions sort themselves out.

LoveSewingBee - it's not a competition!!!

I haven't read the whole thread but having just watched the news tonight, I am

16 Marines sent to help in Somerset, a farmer trying to move 500 cattle. Surely there should be a major support operation in place?

YDDNBU!!

Thanks Zeezeek, I appreciate that, takes a lady to apologise imo. I in turn apologise if I ever gave the impression that I didn't think the floods were grave and I sincerely hope that it's resolved soon (although I fear that might be a pipe dream, I mean wtf are they actually doing to sort it out - not an awful lot as far as I can see, which is just unbelievable). I can really understand why your blood is boiling.

Sorry if I sound thick but it is a genuine question. Why don't the Livestock get moved on to Higher ground as soon as there's warnings. Or is it that the floods were played down?

Obviously I'm aware they need shelter etc and my heart goes out to all of you.

There might not be higher ground for miles and what higher ground there is has villages on it. Or might belong to someone else.

Common sense really.

Actually it is a competition. Who wins gets the media coverage, who gets the solution and who gets the money.

Speaking as someone who lives near a partially flooded area I have no idea how people are surviving in the SW. It's me caused massive problems getting to work and doing my job. How the heck are people coping shopping, random electricity, bathing anything. Just grim.

Thanks Hester I'm not belittling the situation. Was just simply wondering. So thanks for clearing that up for me. I hope the Govts online lurkers are reading what their lacksidaisical attitude has done :(

Revealall - you are wrong imo. Tube strikes have nothing to do with allocation of public funds - the row between TFL and the union is based on how TFL choose to spend the money they get through ticket revenue.... no flood/environmental protection funds would ever be required in association with the tube problems. Not a competition at all. Why does everyone want to fight each other all the time - it detracts attention from the people we really should all be pissed off with - the incompetent politicians and their neglect of flood defences, draining and dredging in the region.

I guess we'll have to agree to differ, but all the best to you nonetheless.

Also I think transport projects are funded in the south east based on future profit projections assuming large numbers pf people travelling, not out of concern for public welfare. (although I wouldn't rule out back handers and dodgy dealings)

The tube strike was called in protest at plans to cut 950 jobs and close ticket offices across the network.

Flood defences have been underfunded and neglected for years by both local councils, county councils, government, the Environment Agency and the EU. All these bodies would argue that there is also so much money to go around; infact the other day the EA were talking about what to save and protect and what to leave.

Infact farmers were paid at one time to dig up hedgerows whilst another EU scheme running at the same time was used to pay farmers to plant them!. There has been a complete lack of forward planning and this same problem i.e lack of forward planning can apply to all the country.

The whole situation in the SW is due overall to neglect of the waterways and lack of money being spent on proper flood prevention over several decades. Dredging of the rivers is not the only answer here.

As far as I could see, the flooding was more of a main story than the tube one. They were however right to cover the strike- over 8 million people live in london and nearly a million more commute in, so it affected a substantial percentage of the country.

Poor timing for a strike though - ARMAGEDDON!!! - and in other news a tube strike.

Many people couldn't get into London to travel on the tube anyway.

And it's all on again next week, deep joy.

FFS guys. Please leave it with the whole London thing. That is not important on this thread. We can talk about it on another thread. What is important is the devastation that is going on in the SW.

I'm sorry for swearing but I cant believe anyone would be bickering about this.

We have another very significant storm coming in over night. Severe gales across the south coast, gales right through Eng;and and Wales with more trees likely to come down. There will be further flooding. Next week there is potential for more severe storms through mid week. This is a time to be pulling together.

I find it so very very frustrating that half of mn seems to come to blows whenever we get severe weather. Severe weather is crap where ever it happens. It deeply affects peoples lives no matter who those people are. Lets be nice to each other.

The farmers are fucked. This time last year I watched the run off from the fields washing down the roads (around Frome). Land too wet to plant/crops rotting in fields. Livestock getting foot/health problems from boggy pasture. Same again this year.

Listened to a radio 4 food programme last year. They were interviewing farmers. One guy was feeding his dairy cattle on straw equivalent (barley?) because his own grass/winter food was ruined by the bad weather (couldn't grow any).

Knock on problems

• he couldn't afford to buy in feed (even the cheep stuff)
• poor quality feed = reduction in milk production = reduction in income The farmer had to apply to the farmers (NFU?) poverty fund to feed his family.

I wonder how he and all the other farmers affected cope. Year after year they take a battering, yet we all as an island nation expect food and cheaply. I really feel for the farming community, even in the 'good' years. We all know we don't really pay what we should for milk.

Come on Dave.

Stop spending criminally insane amount of money on crap IT projects and HS2. What we need may not be glamorous/gadget centred/get your mates consulting jobs, but it will earn you respect and votes.

OP - hope your brother gets back on his feet soon.

I agree about leaving the London thing to a certain extent as regards media coverage. If a situation is bad enough, the media will arrive, albeit a little late.

But as regards funding, it does matter. Maybe hugely.
When you have the likes of the environment minister saying that in the future they have to decide between town and country, then yes, it does matter. A lot.

The environment minister was referring to town and country in the flooded areas, not London and the rest of the UK - do you sacrifice farm land to protect the towns? It comes back to building/farming on flood plains. Or do you invest huge amounts of money to build flood management systems (not defences, if you need defences you already have a problem). Would flood management systems cope with the enormous amount of water? I dont know. How do you manage when you have areas a mile wide under water? Its a colossal amount to deal with.

Remember our mps come from all over the UK - they werent all born and bred in London and they should be working very very hard to lobby for their areas. Is your mp working hard enough?

They are talking about the military coming in to shoot animals that cannot be rescued to save them a lingering death. Can't believe that this is happening a few miles from where I live.

:(