Ok. This is where I put my neck on the line and upset LOADS of people!
I work in local government as an Emergency Planning Officer, and flooding in my area comes under me. I feel therefore, that I am fairly qualified to put forward several questions and "comments". For info, I hate politics, and have the same poor views of all political parties! Also, most of this is directed at homeowners, and not the poor farmers whose livelihoods are currently underwater.
1. This flooding is caused by nature, and not by any one person or group.
2. No one could have predicted that the foul weather would have gone on so long and cause so many problems.
3. As for saying that the government, Environment Agency, local council etc should have done something to prevent it, no one I know is genuinely pshycic
4. Water is water, and can only be redirected to flow where you want it to go, to a point. Even King Midas had problems.
5. We live in a "blame someone else" society. If you buy a property that has the possibility of flooding, either dont buy it, or buy it along with proper flood protection items.
6. If you could see the size of flood plans, it would take a week to read them!
7. Sandbags are basically useless, unless you fill and stack them correctly. To be of any use, you are looking at a minimum of 12 to properly fill one front door.
8. Dont keep blaming the fire brigade, police, environment agency, army, etc. we all know about how their numbers have been cut in recent years. There isnt a cupboard that we can open and pull out more as we need them.
9.Everyone wants to blame everyone else. No one wants a nanny state, but on the otherhand, many want someone else to fix their problems. Make your minds up!
10. (And last) unless you build a massive wall around the whole of the UK, we have to expect that the sea will come over sometimes, and that tidal river levels will go up and down. Question then is what do you do with the rain that falls from the sky?
Rant done. Now to wait for the onslaught of abuse!