Mass disruption due to flooding - December 2012

[whole diary]

[swrural]

Just to reply to The Grecian and others, stopping trains at reduced length platforms is old hat to SWT^▸ (South West Trains) and pax are herded (very nicely) into front portions if needed (e.g. Tisbury).

So my suggestion seems to have been taken up.  If this gets prolonged, it would seem sensible to have the 'flighting' of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) trains to Yeovil Jcn put in as a 'temporary' institution, including training of staff?

On the Plymouth to Exeter route, I am sure old lags like me remember when WR and SR^‡(resolve) staff trained via Teignmouth and Okehampton?

[John R]

Just noticed a curiosity on the Temple Meads departure board. Two trains departing at 1500 for Paddington, the usual service from platform 15 , and from Platform 7 one calling at Reading only (from Tiverton Parkway.)  I can't recall that happening before.

[Exeter]

I took full advantage of that 15.00 additional non-stop to Reading. It was a diverted service due to flooding between Taunton and Castle Cary. Just caught it at Bristol where we left alongside the other 15.00 and I stepped off it at Paddington at 16.20 - it was quite a "lively" run - never been through Chippenham that fast before! Seriously though, only 80 mins to Paddington shows what can be done!

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Devon and Cornwall floods continue to cause disruption

About 30 homes have been flooded in a Devon village as heavy rain continues to cause problems in the South West. Twenty-five people were led to safety by emergency services in the village of Stoke Canon, Exeter, after the River Exe burst its banks.

One severe flood warning remains in place in Cornwall and around 170 flood warnings in England and Wales.

Another band of bad weather is expected from Sunday evening into the early hours of Monday, Cornwall Council says.

In Stoke Canon some residents were evacuated from their properties and taken to a rescue centre and 11 people, including a baby, were rescued from an isolated farmhouse. All were unharmed.

Resident Lucy Kirk said: "Obviously you've lost your home, you've lost all your belongings and obviously you're never going to replace some of the valuables that you've had. It's upsetting."

Sgt Andy Squires, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "It's tragic, it really is, but you have to take some comfort from the fact there's been no loss of life or serious injury. You've got people's Christmas presents washing around in the room with Christmas trees, it's just very sad"

Overnight, 12 people in the Cornish town of Lostwithiel were taken to a rescue centre by RNLI lifeboat.

In Umberleigh, Devon, a woman was rescued from a river after she was swept away from her car in flood water. A police helicopter, using thermal imaging equipment, found her clinging to a tree on the banks of the swollen River Taw, shortly after 03:00 GMT. It is believed she had been in the water for up to 50 minutes and was treated for exposure. Robin Goodlad, from the RNLI said: "She's extremely lucky. How she managed to hold on in that flow for that amount of time, I have no idea." A man and a child who remained trapped in the car were rescued by firefighters.

Elsewhere, four people and two dogs trapped in two flooded properties in Bishops Tawton, near Barnstaple, were rescued overnight by a fire crew and RNLI in-shore boat.

In Lostwithiel, fire crews stayed overnight amid fears that further flooding would occur at high tide at 01:00 GMT but the rain eased off. The BBC's John Henderson said the River Fowey had dropped by about 1.5m on Sunday morning and the clean-up operation had begun. A high volume pump, capable of clearing a tonne of water a second, was used to clear flood water from the town. The pump will be used later in Helston, Cornwall, where dozens of homes were flooded when the River Cober broke its banks on Saturday.

Train services throughout the region have been severely disrupted with services between Plymouth, Exeter St Davids and Taunton suspended.

Network Rail said one of two plastic dams set up to protect the railway line at Exeter to minimise flood damage is itself now under water.


One of two plastic dams set up to protect the railway line at Exeter to minimise flood damage is itself now under water.

First Great Western said the Exeter to Tiverton Parkway line would not reopen until Friday 28 at the earliest and it was hoped the Exeter St Davids to Barnstaple and Liskeard to Looe lines would reopen on 29 December. The company said where possible it was operating replacement bus services.

Residents in Pilton, near Barnstaple, may have to be evacuated if flood water from the River Yeo reaches their homes, the council has warned. Emergency accommodation is being provided at Pilton Community College.

With more rain expected, rivers in the South West will struggle to cope, the Environment Agency warns. Nick Ely, from the agency, said: "Wherever the rain falls, the rivers will respond quickly. We have problems with 'flashy' rivers in Cornwall... where the rivers respond very rapidly with lots of run-off. We also have these problems with the catchments being so wet, that our bigger rivers... are also filling up and rising very rapidly".

In Braunton the clean-up operation has started after about 30 homes and 20 businesses were flooded on Saturday by more than a metre of water. Business owner, Jason Little, said: "I'm devastated. I was hoping to go and see my parents and family in Kent, so we'll have to wait and see what happens. People are trying to get back on their feet as soon as possible."

Hugh Griffith, from Devon County Council, said it was due to inspect several bridges which had been damaged by floodwater. He said: "Collard bridge in Snapper near Goodleigh has gone down and we've got a number of other bridges that have been under water. We've got people looking at the foundations. A lot of our bridges are on rock so they should be fairly safe but a lot of damage can be caused by different tidal situations and debris within the water."

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said it had attended 68 flooding-related incidents on Saturday and seven on Sunday.

Residents in Pilton, near Barnstaple ...

Erm, no, BBC: In Somerset, I think, is where you'll find Pilton. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

A further update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Flood fears heightened by new downpours

Rain has returned to south-west England, bringing flooding and high river levels to areas already saturated by heavy downpours. Christmas Eve was wet in parts of England, Wales and Scotland, with Wales and the South East of England set for a very wet Christmas Day.

The rail network in the South West of England suffered major disruption. Operator First Great Western advised customers not to attempt to travel west of Taunton in either direction.

The Environment Agency has issued about 160 flood warnings and more than 260 flood alerts for all regions in England and in Wales, with most in place across the Midlands and south-west England. Up to 30mm of rain was expected on Monday in south-west England, where some 57 of the flood warnings remained in place into the evening.

Christmas Eve on the rail network saw services from London Paddington towards Exeter and the West of England terminating at Tiverton, with limited road transport continuing to Newton Abbot via Exeter St Davids.

First Great Western said trains were unable to operate between Tiverton Parkway Station and Exeter St Davids, and between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot.

Services from Penzance and Plymouth, towards Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington, are terminating at Newton Abbot, again with limited road transport on to Tiverton via Exeter. It says the road replacement service is limited "as this is being hampered by flooded roads and only a reduced number of vehicles being available". The closed section of line is not expected to reopen until Friday.

There are delays to journeys between London and south Wales, with a diversion to avoid flooding at Swindon adding about 45 minutes to travel times.

Flooding Minister Richard Benyon told BBC Radio 4's The World At One: "I'm really impressed with the way the emergency services, the Environment Agency, the local authorities are working together, and humbled by the incredible community spirit in places like Braunton (in Devon). There are going to be houses flooded in the future, we have just got to be better at warning people, we have got to be smarter at how we build defences (and) what defences we build. Government is doing a lot better, we have always got to learn from every single flood and realise it's the most miserable experience for people to have their homes flooded, and it's very damaging to the economy as well," he added.

Professor David Balmforth, a flooding specialist at the Institution of Civil Engineers, told the programme: "We know in the future global warming will make the sorts of flood events we have seen here become much more frequent and much more severe so some of the older (flood) defences which might have been fit for purpose at the time may not be quite so effective in the present day."

Environment Agency director of operations David Jordan said: "Flooding is devastating at any time of year, but it is particularly hard at Christmas time, and our thoughts are with those who will be out of their homes over the festive period. Although the rain is set to ease a little in the coming days, the ground is still very wet and river levels remain high, so we would ask people to keep up to date with the latest warnings and stay prepared for flooding."

He also reminded people not to walk or drive through floodwater.

A number of other key routes - including the A1(M) in Hertfordshire, the M6 in Cumbria and Staffordshire and the M5 near Bristol - were also struck by weather-related delays.

Reduced train services were operating on the West Coast line, and flooding had also disrupted CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains, First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)), First TransPennine Express and ScotRail services.

[TonyK]

Residents in Pilton, near Barnstaple ...

Erm, no, BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page): In Somerset, I think, is where you'll find Pilton. 

Strangely, I was in Pilton on Saturday, and I was definitely in Devon. It is a suburb of Barnstaple on the way to Braunton. I think Mrs FTN and I must have got out in the nick of time.

There is, of course, another Pilton, on the island of Avalon.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Strangely, I was in Pilton on Saturday, and I was definitely in Devon. It is a suburb of Barnstaple on the way to Braunton.

It is indeed.  My apologies to the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page): I should have referred to my extensive range of Ordnance Survey maps before posting. 

[TerminalJunkie]

Strangely, I was in Pilton on Saturday, and I was definitely in Devon. It is a suburb of Barnstaple on the way to Braunton.

It is indeed.  My apologies to the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page): I should have referred to my extensive range of Ordnance Survey maps before posting. 

And, in case this happens in other parts of Barnstaple, we have bits called Newport and Derby as well!

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Christmas Day showers add to flood risk


2012 looks set to be one of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)'s wettest years since records began

Wet weather is set to continue until at least Friday, potentially bringing further flooding to parts of the UK, weather forecasters have predicted.

Heavy showers and gusty winds will move eastwards across England and Wales on Christmas Day, but parts of central and eastern Scotland should stay dry. The Environment Agency (EA) said many places will stay on flood alert despite a slight easing of weather conditions. More than 470 properties have been flooded since Wednesday, the EA said.

Water levels are still rising on some of Britain's longest rivers, such as the Thames and the Severn, the agency added.

At Ironbridge in Shropshire, temporary flood barriers have been put up along the Severn to keep householders dry on Christmas Day.

Dorset is the area most likely to experience more flooding on Christmas Day, due to rising groundwater levels, officials have warned.

The agency has issued more than 160 flood warnings and 260 flood alerts for England and Wales, with most concentrated in the Midlands and southern counties of England. In Scotland, which is expected to see some respite from the rain on Wednesday, there are 12 flood warnings and 7 flood alerts. More than 18,000 calls have been made to the EA's Floodline service in the past six days.

David Jordan, director of operations at the agency, said: "Although the rain is set to ease a little in the coming days, the ground is still very wet and river levels remain high, so we would ask people to keep up to date with the latest warnings and stay prepared for flooding".

Most rail operators do not run services on Christmas Day, but disruption to train services caused by flooding and landslides is set to continue.

Trains will not run between Manchester Oxford Road and Liverpool Lime Street until Thursday due to a landslip at Glazebrook.

Meanwhile the railway line between Exeter St Davids and Tiverton Parkway will not reopen until Friday at the earliest, while only a limited replacement bus service will operate.

On the motorways, the eastbound carriageway of the A27 is closed at Chichester in West Sussex and is not expected to reopen until Boxing Day.

In Wales, the A487 is closed in both directions between Machynlleth and Derwenlas due to flooding but should reopen later on Christmas morning.

Met Office figures suggest 2012 is set to be one of the wettest years since records began in 1910. Before December, the average rainfall for the year so far was 1,202mm - placing it 13th in the list of wettest years. Due to the deluge of rain in the run up to Christmas, forecasters say 2012 is now likely to finish with one of the highest rainfall totals on record. The year 2000 remains the UK's wettest year, with an average rainfall of 1,337mm.

BBC forecaster Matt Taylor said: "The weather is lacking a little bit of festive cheer at the moment. On Boxing Day, more wet weather will push in from the south-west. While any rain is not welcome at the moment, at least the strong winds will push the rain away from the south-west quite smartly".

He concluded: "It really doesn't end."

[phile]

Residents in Pilton, near Barnstaple ...

Erm, no, BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page): In Somerset, I think, is where you'll find Pilton. 

Strangely, I was in Pilton on Saturday, and I was definitely in Devon. It is a suburb of Barnstaple on the way to Braunton. I think Mrs FTN and I must have got out in the nick of time.

There is, of course, another Pilton, on the island of Avalon.

There is a Pilton near to Swindon where, I think, there may have been a station on the former Cheltenham to Southampton route.

[bobm]

Think you might mean Purton.

[TonyK]

And, in case this happens in other parts of Barnstaple, we have bits called Newport and Derby as well!

There are two Filleighs within 10 miles.

[phile]

Think you might mean Purton.

Yes. My mistake.   Bad one as I have actually been there.

[ellendune]

What's this with the former Cheltenham to Southampton route.  Had to think twice about that.  Thought initially you were thinking about the closed MSWJ line, which went from Cheltenham to Andover.  Then, when bobm pointed out it was Purton I remembered that the two direct Southampton trains a day from Swindon come down from Cheltenham. 

So you could call it a Cheltenham  to Southampton route, but certainly not the former Cheltenham to Southampton route though.

We normally think of it as the Swindon to Gloucester line, but if you wanted to call it the former anything it is the former South Wales main line. 

Happy Christmas

[phile]

Was thinking of the former MSWJ Line.  Did not some trains runthrough to Southampton beyond Andover ?   Straying off topic now though so AFAIK^▸ (as far as I know) an close this subject re Purton.