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.

[CatAmongThePigeons]

I am Suprised that the Dawlish line has lasted this long, but I am seeing that this is mentioned because the line is shut from LONDON Paddington.

The news is SE centric, it has taken a long while to get the SW mentioned anywhere, it has always been said that the SW is the poor relation.

My family are in London and are using the 1/3 of the tube network that is working along with buses and trains. It's not comparable

[Doristheduck]

Frog watcher I did point out that my own family live in the south west.

My point is that having a go at people affected by the tube strike is unfair.

Misery isn't a competition.

[mateysmum]

As someone who lives in the village that Prince Charles visited yesterday, I can say that his visit was much appreciated here. He listened, he understood and met the people affected - more than any government or EA big wig has been prepared to do. So OP I absolutely share your frustration and anger, but I think in HRH you are directing at the wrong person. Try the EA who still can barely admit they made mistakes.
He was absolutely correct that the disaster has brought people together. The community spirit here is amazing. Through the flood action group website (FLAG) people are offering everything from chicken sheds to spare rooms. THey are willing to go out in the wet, dark night to help with sandbags.
Somerset now has the attention of the world, but it's all too late and even now the authorities are all running around but nobody has actually got a grip on directing the operations on the ground. There is heartbreak going on all around.
IKEA - insurance!!! After last years floods many people were not able to get insurance or only with a ridiculous excess £35000 in one case. Many of these houses are 100's of years old and have never flooded. The River Tone is currently 10cm below its record ever level and rising 2-3cm an hour. And as for not wearing wellies because it's dangerous to walk in flood water.... wellies are standard footwear here for everyone, because everywhere is wet.

I really feel for all of you in other parts of the south west. The coast has really had a hammering today.

[IndridCold]

YANBU! This weather is almost unprecedented, but it has brought to light the many, many problems that people have been complaining about for years and the council has done nothing about. The communities that have been badly hit are mostly ancient settlements that are nowhere near flood plains either.

It has got a lot worse since they made Cornwall council a unitary authority (which no-one in Cornwall wanted!), all the money goes to the pretty parts of Cornwall, not to the areas that really need it. Their current answer to all Cornwall's problems is to cover it with 50,000 new houses (which hardly anyone in Cornwall will be able to afford BTW).

[TheXxed]

Don't worry ZeeZeek, David Cameron is taking personal control of the situation.

Its going to be fine

[Twighlightsparkle]

I really feel for these people. However these sort of events of devastating weather are " normal" at this time of year in some parts of the UK and there is no media coverage .

I think what te issue is, is that the south west are used to being high media priority and the fact that until recently this hasn't been is upsetting to them

[Doristheduck]

Frog watcher no problem, hope my reply wasn't too arsey.

[Waltonswatcher1]

Merry mouse - me likes his new nick name -'Dance Party Prince Charlie' is so much quicker to write than 'Money Grabbing Theiving Prince Right Royal Waste of Space Charlie'.
I hope me Mam has her buoyancy aid on when she goes to bed tonight ,without harbour defences she's likely to be taking a dip.
IMHO we are all responsible for this .We have been warned about climate change .Few of us are willing to alter our lifestyles .
Good luck to everyone with the sand bags pilled high.

[RubberBullets]

I think a lot of people in places like London that have really good public transport don't realise how bad it is in rural places. It is so cheap and frequent in London whereas it is really expensive and infrequent down here. It's a real novelty when visiting on holiday to know that you can just go out at any time and only have a few minutes to wait. Down here you have to plan your journeys around the bus timetables, that's if you are lucky enough to have buses go to where you want. Many of us run cars because there isn't any other option, we drive as there is no other way to get to where we need to.

This of course is the situation normally, I saw a double decker bus in a field this morning on the way to college and there were a lot of people who couldn't get in today. We have been told by the council that they cannot afford to mend our roads so they are going to abandon them completely. We are going to find it even harder to get around with great chunks of the road network missing.

[frogwatcher42]

Doris - no problem. It was positively restrained!!!

[zeezeek]

IndridCold - I completely agree. The bits that the tourists don't go to will be ignored, as usual. And more houses are the last thing that the county needs, especially as local people won't be able to afford them.

mateysmum - I'm glad that his visit helped, tbh, and it kills me, as a republican, I can see that he is a better person than our politicians and definitely the EA guy. his daughter in law is still a waste of space though!!!

TheXxed - hmm, that's what's worrying me!!! I guess he thought he was doing his bit for Cornwall when his youngest was born there!!

[mateysmum]

Twighlight - you don't know what you're talking about. High profile?? Only now because it is a disaster zone and local people have pushed and pushed to get this on the agenda. It hasn't just happened by chance.

[frogwatcher42]

I think the abandoning the road issue is a national problem. We are not in the SW but the pot holes are craters, the sides of the roads are breaking away and they are becoming positively dangerous. There is no money to repair them apparently.

[zeezeek]

Merry mouse - me likes his new nick name -'Dance Party Prince Charlie' is so much quicker to write than 'Money Grabbing Theiving Prince Right Royal Waste of Space Charlie'. - I prefer the latter.....

[Rissolesfortea]

I totally agree with you OP. Our airport has been closed down and now we have lost the train line, the only way in and out of Cornwall is by road. Instead of wasting all that money on HS1 the government should spend some of it improving the access to the SW and sorting out the flood defences.

It sometimes seems to me that the only time we are given a thought is when people want to come for a holiday.

[zeezeek]

The pot holes in some of the roads in the SW haven't been filled in since they had all the snow and ice just before Christmas a few years ago. Some are getting seriously dangerous and I'm sure that driving through one damaged my Dad's car last month.

[Twighlightsparkle]

Mateysmum, I think you've misunderstood me, my fault, I'm not good at explaining.

I think you probably have to live where I do to see what I mean.

Move on and ignore me.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I don't think that the news has been neglecting the SW over the past week or two. It has been headline news repeatedly. However it did ignore it for the few weeks between Christmas and recently until somebody noticed that people were still cut off.

The EA slow reaction to the Somerset Levels is a travesty.

The mainline train line needs a proper sea wall and really should not be the only line down through there, it didnt used to be.

However, this weather is extreme. It comes to the point where you can have all the will in the world and you still can't prevent a disaster.

It is becoming a disaster and the government need to move beyond cobra meetings and treat it as it should be, mobilising everything they absolutely can. Unfortunately the cut backs are biting back and there isn't the spare capacity of troops and disaster relief that is required. It highlights the shortsightedness and finger crossing that has gone on over the past few years.

I have enormous sympathy for you all down there.

[BarbarianMum]

Well that's one more thought than people living in a lot of places then, eh?

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I live in central southern England and you could lose small children down our pot holes. Our gutters weren't cleared for weeks, greatly exacerbating road flooding. Tree works have been neglected leading to more trees coming down in dangerous places than should be. And the council keep boasting they haven't put up council tax - that's because they've chosen to cut back essential services instead.

[Neverhere]

I don't think your bu to be upset by the lack of media attention - but it happens everywhere outside of London. Scotland/the north can get a couple of foot of snow but it isn't mentioned until it hits the capital.

Their isn't much anyone can do but hold out hope it will get better soon!

[Starballbunny]

Finger crossing is all rural areas ever get Bad kitten. Finger crossing that the roads will not fall apart, finger crossing it won't flood badly again, so they don't need to redesign the bridges that were damaged in 2007. They are of course flooded again

Fingers crossed that some how with no money the real, non comutting, locals can keep cars running and therefore hold down jobs on NMW with no public transport.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Not just rural areas though, the cracks are literally showing throughout the system.

I can understand your anger. It seems to me that the government didnt get involved until the media highlighted the plight. Too little too late.

[PrincessScrumpy]

I have a relative in Canada and last year they had serious flooding - an area the size of the UK was under water including the centre of Calgary. It didn't make national news over here. It really makes me wonder what other major things happen in the world that we have no clue about?!

[piratecat]

oybbk, what other line has there been? I live down 'there' and the one that's hovering above the sea is ancient!