Whoops, I have just been told off for not updating my blog and letting people know what has happened to the kids!

 

Middle daughter had been stuck in Pershore, having diverted from the M5 and took the road out to Evesham, bad move.

 

I watched Sky News almost non stop and have given her updates, she has now been picked up from dry land and is on the M1 on her way here.

 

The youngest and her friend spent last night in a dry house in Stratford and are also now on the M1 on the way here. The friend will be living with me for a little while until the house dries out!

 

Sky News, as always, whenever there is a catastrophe, a trapped Whale or a Noah type flood, came into its own. It really has got the edge in terms of continuous minute by minute reporting – a great help to me over the last 24hrs. I knew more about what was happening via the Sky helicopter and reporters than my daughters who were trapped!

 

So, all is well, they will be home safe and dry in about an hour. I can’t get hold of many of my friends, phone lines are dead and I assume mobiles out of batteries. Worrying.

 

Time to start drafting commons questions.  The government was obviously unprepared for this; I suspect the Environment Agency, who has issued warning after warning about the problems which will occur if we continue to build on flood plains, weren’t.

Glad to hear that your family is all OK. Of course most of the properties affected by these awful floods were built many, many years ago when there probably weren't the sophisticated tools available to model and predict the likelihood of this sort of event. What amazes me is that the authorities are daft enough to still be building on flood plains, in some cases this happens despite the fact that local people know the area regularly floods. OK, so this is a tiny island, we don't have a lot of building space, the dynamics of today's society means we have more people living on their own and, of course, anyone who wants to seems to be able to wander into the country and take up residence without a by your leave. Consequently, we are told, we need more houses. If we must build on flood plains, why don't the planning authorities insist that they're built on stilts? Sure, access would be a bit tricky during periods of extreme weather, but it would be good for boat builders and the cost to insurers and the country as a whole would be significantly reduced. Most importantly, the personal impact of being a flood victim would be so much less than it is now. I believe they take that approach in Holland. Why not here as well?

I am so glad you posted this. I have been checking all day to see if they were ok.

Get it sorted Nadine. Floods are nothing to a woman with your talents.

Good point Mike!