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.

Troytown Farm ice cream. Yum!

Thank you everyone for posting about the SW! Just heard about this: #openforbusiness so please tell everyone!!!

I do understand how people can feel anxious about bad weather being forecast and sometimes it does seem as if it is scaremongering, especially as forecasting more than a few days in advance can be inaccurate. However, it is always better to be prepared for the worst, in my opinion.

My thoughts, tonight, are also with the people who live in the Thames Valley and who are experiencing flooding there. I may be angry and disappointed that they have already received more help than Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, but that is a political argument and won't help the poor people whose houses are being flooded. Take care, all of you in the TV.

I hear the Thames has burst its banks now, so no more boring images of the South-West in the news now. It will all be London, Londoners and all the assistance they will be given to get back to normal. Sky reporters will be drafted in to Richmond to film the middle-classes struggling to Starbucks in their Hunters.

LaGuardia

Anyone getting flooded is shitty, wherever they are.

absolutely zeezeek, it doesnt make it less distressing just because of where they live. The news do need to keep it balanced and not suddenly forget about the SW but at the same time there is a lot going on along the Thames in densely populated areas. They shouldnt be ignored either.

What a nasty & bitter post, LaGuardia.

Not everyone who lives in the Thames valles y is rich & my heart goes out to anyone who suffers flooding.

valley - fat fingers!

So we've had Paul Daniels and now Jeffrey Archer flooded. Rolf Harris was flooded out some years ago and probably will be again if he's still living there. haven't heard about Sir Elton but his place is in Old Windsor and it's flooded there.

Can't think of anyone famous in the SLs although Michael Eavis pops up occasionally on local TV.

OhYouBadBadKitten - exactly. ALL areas that have been affected need to be kept in the public eye and the people living there need to keep reminding the Govt, the EA and the rest of the people in the country of their plight because things are so easily forgotten.

Whether or not people think that this is caused by climate change or not, the fact is we are getting more and more severe weather and storms and this has an impact on all of our lives.

We also need to start looking to other countries like the Netherlands - I seem to remember that when the Pevensey levels in Sussex were drained several hundred years ago, they were advised by the people who drained the Zuiderzee. I might be completely wrong, btw!!!

Well said.

I see the SW were 'blessed' by a visit by Cameron today. not sure if that makes things worse?!

Ahh, yes. My parents (currently staying with us in the SE - not the TV!!) and my brother (currently wondering when he'll ever be able to go fishing again) feel blessed tonight lol!!

The pictures on the news are awful, it seems neverending.

Dutch specialists have attended a meeting in Downing street but from what was reported nothing came out of it.

The problem with the Dutch approach is that it is very expensive on an on-going basis. It is headed by an independent water board headed by the Dutch king and funded through direct taxation independent of the government (so change in government has no funding implications). I believe that their budget is 1 billion euros per annum. So for the UK with no real water infrastructure setting up such a system would require agreement between the various parties on an ongoing basis to ringfence the necessary budget.

However, on the BBC news most talk was about not being able to defend the whole of the UK and that it was better value for money to focus on London as that is where most people live, most jobs are, most income is generated. As long as the talk remains like that nothing will change.

Politicians and economists don't seem to realise that the situation has been created by them over time through funnelling almost all investment to London and starving the rest of the country. So it is not surprising that all the money is in London now, they have made it like that, probably a deliberate choice.

You couldn't do that in the Netherlands, there would be a public outcry. The Netherlands has its wealth, jobs, educational centres much more spread over the whole country (small as it is).

I've always thought even when I was little that some things should just be agreed upon as right, and above political points scoring. This should be one of them.

LoveSewingBee - thanks for the update. It makes me so angry that the rest of the country (outside of London and the SE) are treated in this way. Yes, I am sorry for those in the TV who are being flooded. It is the politicians - of all colours, that make me angry.

Labour hasn't even bothered to comment on the SW.

Nor have the Lib Dems - and the SW is mostly Lib Dem!!

We need to be more like the Netherlands. We can't go on concentrating all our wealth, talent etc in barely a corner of our country.

I work right next to where the forrin pumps are being set up tonight.

The Levels have been a mess for weeks. It's hard to get from A to B in Somerset because so many places are cut off.

We need to decide whether to flood the country or the towns - and accept the impact of that.

I'm about to buy a house on a flood plain. I live here! Half the county is on a floodplain!!

Don't think it would work. In the Netherlands citizens pay a lot of tax, far more than businesses. I don't think UK voters would accept that. However, that is the other side of the coin. High tax but good rail infrastructure, utilities, water infrastructure, etc. Mind you, most UK schools are way better than Dutch ones.

We can't abandon the levels, or other flood plains just because of stupid political rhetoric. Where will it end? We can't afford to lose either towns or country to the floods.

Oops sorry kittenepic fail cross post, kep your forecasts coming you are more accurate than accuweather

DH was frankly amazed I forgot Camel valley fizz, Delabole coppa ham and salami and Cornish Yarg... 3 of my favourite food groups and possibly why I am also a regular devotee of BIWIs bootcamp.

Hester I think I know where you are... And if where i think you have the most awesome butcher a Foodie friend told me today that the big supermarkets will keep stocking West Country produce... But will drive down the already poor price they pay to farmers etc. the cynic in me says they will also raise prices and protect their profit further. All more reason to shop at WI and local farmers markets.

Are you on the local threads? We need more meet ups and we do love a good Charlie-Dave rant

incidentally I was not surprised he stuck his head down here today but really..£5 off a flight.... Yes they are advertised at £39 each way, but the flights at that price are hen's teeth!!

Yes hester I agree 100% some things should be absolve political point scoring a cliche but every person on the news today affected by these floods is not a number or a statistic, these are real people with family, work, a real life that is harder to live when this is thrown our way.

sewing I lived in Belgium some years ago, taxes were very high but it was the best quality of life I have ever had, it meant evrything was accounted for and easy to budget for, so much leisure activity was subsidised: cinema, concerts , travel. Sure cafes in tourist traps and belgian chocs weren't cheap but we paid into a system that was investing in itself, so trams weren't old and knackered, roads were fixed and museums and galleries were open til 10pm at night. And we reqlly enjoyed the cheap seats and the lack of overpriced refreshments at said venue!

For those who would like to read it, I've updated the forecast thread.

According to the BBC Network Rail have come out and said that their preference is to reopen the Okehampton line, in addition to restoring the Dawlish route here.

Was interesting to hear the change in approach yesterday, re no more blame game.

Good :) I really hope that they can follow through on that. It's the logical thing to do.

Wouldn't hold your breath. The guy on the news this morning talked about it being ideal, but sounded like he thought it wasn't likely. The track is there, but they don't necessarily own the land and it would cost hundreds of millions of pounds. There are much more important things to do like the high speed rail link There was also the MP who represents Dawlish yelling about the seafront railway being really important to the people of South Devon.

I wonder if Sutton Harbour Holdings are regretting stopping flights out of Plymouth airport...

Good point sorrel....