Re: the flooding north of England

[MrsSocks]

Living in a small village that is now essentially an island having been cut off by water, I just want to say what amazing community spirit and support I have witnessed in the last few hours! People coming together and help eachother out in the most extreme of ways, businesses opening to offer overnight shelters, emergency services working tirelessly, and strangers offering to go above and beyond to help those in need. Thank goodness we can still have some faith in humanity

Aw! Doc marten, I hope they agree.

I wish I could do more. We are too far away but am certainly coming for a visit next year.

THank you for the update himh and for telling it like it really is. Just seen the news where they showed people jigging around to a band and businesses in a marquee selling their wares. Good to see life is still going on but not much about the true situation.

I hope that taxi driver gets boycotted and that letting agency....well he wouldn't be letting my home out that's for sure.

We were caught up in the London bombings and had to stay another night in the hotel as we couldn't get home and they charged us what we'd paid for the night before ...£80 . Others we heard were making a killing.

What is it with disasters that some would give you the shirt of their backs while others can only see pound signs. Disgusting. They wouldn't see a penny of my money.

Politicians cannot hide from the Internet. They can so easily be named and shamed on big forums like this.

Hold their feet to the fire...not just the Cumbrians . There's other areas that are flooded too.

Hope you have somewhere where you can be warm and cosy tonight.

I suspect the BBC in particular are under instructions to show positive images to keep morale up. They are a goverment led organisation.
But I think when the true situation of distress and disruption is downplayed this is not helpful for either the communities affected or for the rest of the country who could be affected in the future: There are other floodprone areas
There needs to be publicity
Also the MP's need to get funding for repairs and regeneration from G Osborne. The disaster relief committee needs to cough up. Something needs to be in the disaster relief plan to assist private householders like HITH and the small businesses which are the heart of these communities not just leave them to the loss adjusters
As to the profitmakers screw them. What they do must be made illegal.

I'm in Malham (Yorkshire) and my living room is flooded for the second time in a week thanks to yesterday's rain. Getting very tired of it all now. It started as snow yesterday so I was relieved but then turned to rain and then coupled with snow melt from the hills and the fields being saturated that was it.

Oh Chrome how awful. Whenever it's started raining this week I've thought oh no not again and we weren't even flooded , can't imagine how awful it is to those who have.

I had a jovial email from in a friend in the SW the sort who would always be there for me no matter what - completely and utterly oblivious to what had REALLY been going on.

I got a OMG reply when I filled her on it!!!

Could you imagine the outcry if the powercut had been the city of London or they had half the flooding???? It is true that outside of the SE people count for less...

Dh is a southerner and is totally defensive of the North now. I could understand this week people going to Carlisle as its easier to get to than say Cockermouth (people don't like to get far from the M6 ) but Kendal is easy too & Lancaster is a city, it has 2 universities and has been run on generators all week yet barely a mention in the news.
My Preston friends only knew what I'd shared on FB.
Cumbria barely had hospital access last weekend too. Lancaster (on generators)is A&E for Kendal since WGH had that removed, Barrow was cut off from the rest of Cumbria with flooding in the A590 , West Cumberland is under threat and Carlisle was on generators. so many ways that Cumbria has had cuts that could have lost lives.
I read the other day that the Lyth valley ( underwater at this time last week) is already using pumps to prevent flooding but they are being withdrawn at the end of the month.

MIL and SILS in Lancaster reported some flooding round the quay but mainly just the inconvenience of the electricity being off and the bridges being closed. They realise how lucky they are compared to the people further North. Glad to hear your daughter is ok Funny but nothing to worry about really.

Saw there was train problems with Morecambe and Carlisle yesterday in the rain, tracks flood easily in some places.

the Drsdocmartins My MP is Blue as a blue arsed monkeys Arse.( courtesy of Black Adder) But to be honest he has been very helpful to me up to now. I have been fighting the agencies since the last flood here in 2012, for something to be done about our flood defences.

He just put his other responsibilities as a Minister first.

He might regret it now he has seen the extent of the feelings in the villages.
He also applied for one of the highest expenses in Parliment. Although he was one of the first to declare them, the amount was still breathtaking. Sighs, as they are all out for them selves, (sighs again. )

Oh well, more flood warnings today. I feel a mixture of physical and mental pain.
I do actually have a lot to be thankful for. Things are just shite at the moment.

St Michaels has had a meeting of residents and agencies already. The Agencies are falling over themselves to look concerned. ( too bloody late and it won't last) As soon as the media attention has waned we will back to a fight for compensation. Sorry to be so cynical.

Flood so called experts, need lessons from the Dutch.

I was thinking of asking( after this situation has eased) if we could be twinned with a potentially flooded Dutch town. At least we could go there when we are under water!

No shop in the vicinity stocks waders! Ours had perished. There is a opening for someone. I know a load of residents who would buy some.

I am not sure that the residents here can assess the overall damage as yet, as MDF swells.
The architraves of my doors are shot, and the skirting are throwing them selves off, like oranges peeling themselves. OMG the doors won't close. I wonder if there is a market for laminate that looks like bubble wrap?

Please excuse my Grammar etc. I know I am writing garbage ATM.
Thanks for the sympathy, much appreciated.

I'd wondered where that MP was considering most of his constituency was under water, he may regret his decision when it comes to election (shame it's so far off) , not seen either of the red ones speaking up either. Tim Farron has been very vocal on behalf of the whole county though.

Just lost what I'd written, so here I go again.

Basically I said that idbeen posting as much to give the thread a bump as I was disappointed that it was attracting so little traffic which surprised me as mnetters are known to be a generous bunch.some of the comments have got me thinking of how little we know about each others areas.

Divide and conquer springs to mind. We are all divided up into regions . We get regional news like we are separate countries not counties. Only when something is big is it flashed on the main news and then only for a couple of days, if you're lucky. I love it when we travel around and see what is happening in other parts of the country.

At least thanks to the Internet, there's no hiding place. People can get their stories out and can name and shame .

Apparently there was a muslim march against Isis the other week that was never shown onthe main news.makes you wonder why. Yet Donald trump got plenty of airtime. We are continually manipulated through that box and the media . I think I should have used the word brainwashed.

Most of us are aware and can spot what is going on, but there are lots who take everything at face value.

I'm so sorry to hear that chrome. N Wales has had it bad too...but again very little onthe news.

There should've a flood line appeal flashed up witheachbulletin to help all areas.

Part of me regrets saying that charities are often excuses for fat cats to get huge salaries out of people's kindness....I'm thinking of you oxfam.

No one expects anyone to work for free but to have volunteers working in shops and pay directors eye watering salaries is just greed. I won't give to any big charity now. I'd rather buyfoodfor the homeless person onthe street.

Sorry I'm ranting again.

I might have been a bit unfair with oxfam . VHF paid their chief exec £168 k.

However you look at it , it's still a lot of dough.

Right I'll stop derailing this excellent thread before I'm forcibly removed.

It's brightened up in the east. Let's hope it's the same in the north west.

Dowser I'm posting for the same reason, people aren't aware, and judging by the response to this & the other thread, aren't even bothering to read it.

I am reading. My sil is in Cockermouth, thankfully not personally flooded but she and her family are devastated for the the town itself, again. It IS saddening indeed that the media only seems interested in the dramatic scenes and that so much is going unreported.

Well done for naming Cumbrian Properties for their despicable actions. We are considering buying in the area in the near future. They are off the list.

for everyone affected. Keep telling your stories. People do care and want to hear it.

They've not even covered half of the drama though. There was a full day before Carlisle flooded and nothing until the media flocked there. I do feel for those people but it needs to be shown in the media what a vast area was affected. Whole of Cumbria to some extent, plus N Lancs, into Yorkshire and the N.E. Plus southern Scotland ( I read on here that the Forth Bridge diversion was affected so pretty big area of Scotland).

Sorry, but as our MP is blue I can't comment on the red ones, hereabouts. I expect them all to be the same. I am fair!

I have been briefly elsewhere, other than Tsunami land and mentioned the floods. The young waitress serving us hadn't even heard that there were floods in the UK. Mmmm c'est la vie.

The media will always concentrate on the worse hit.

Anyway, in a couple of weeks nothing at all will be heard about floods on the TV, except maybe a documentary, in a years time. There will be a ' let's revisit the misery of the North West and see if they are still living in caravans' etc.

Gosh, I am so tired.

I've a red one. Hardly seen him lately. Thought he would have been spouting off about this, he's usually quite vocal. Not a big fan , he was ok at first but now...

Malham is such a beautiful place.
Journalists and the media have a lot to answer for these days. They don't do a great job. But then they are led by people wanting to read about celebs and war. Films and computer games. Not ordinary people in their own country being flooded out.That is too much like real life.
The MP sounds useless
Write to Osborne. Ask questions on BBC question time. Name and shame the MPs

chrome I love Malham. I am so sorry that you have been flooded. Horrible isn't it.
So depressing.

Is anyone collecting aid for the flood? I HAVE CLOTHES nappies and sanpro if anyone collecting?

Giving this thread a bump.

Just hoping the weather. ( wind and rain) has settled down today and you are getting some respite.

Please if you are affected keep posting. Many of us don't think you are getting a true representation in the press and tv news and the only way to get the truth is if you represent yourself and tell us exactly what is going on.
The extent that you are suffering. The effect it's having on you, your family and your mental and physical health

It's the only way if you feel government agencies are not doing enough. Mumsnet is fantastic but can be a victim of its own success and on a busy traffic day especially at this time of the year important threads like this can quickly get buried.

I also suggest you post on the
Storm Desmond thread
maybe their should be a link to each in the thread from time to time or maybe they should be joined.

Holeinmynheart is doing a Stirling effort to keep lobbying relevant people and departments but if it's not happening in your area then join forces. Don't let anyone wriggle off the hook. Your homes and lives are at stake .

I love this country with every fibre of my being . Husband and I spend a lot of time each year travelling around it and I'm furious on all your behalves that this has happened to you all and I know that this is a case of there but for the grace of god go I but I would like to think that as this is a rich first world country if it did happen to me I could access help and aid very quickly.

I'm afraid that might not happen for you. I still have not seen a national flood appeal help line and this is a huge disgrace and we should all hang our heads in collective shame.

There are such a lot of areas affected. I know of Cumbria, parts of northumberland, Scotland , north east , west Yorkshire and parts of north Wales and Ireland but I bet I don't them all and I've been bothered enough to try to find out. We need you all to keep educating us.

Please tell us:-
Who with any clout has been to visit you
What was the result of their visit
Which insurance agencies have handled your claim with sympathy and generosity and who hasn't
If you've found yourself without insurance or under insured....have you received any help from government agencies, charity funds

Please. Keep us informed . Help us to help you. Next week, next year. It could be us.

GeekLove - in our town one of the churches was collecting and spreading the word via Facebook. It might be worth googling your local churches and see if they are involved.

Kendal food bank is coordinating there.

There is a Cumbria flood support FB group too.