Cable Forum - View Single Post

MovedGoalPosts · 27-12-2013, 11:25

I struggle to understand what a recall might achieve apart from a lot of hot air waffle and hand wringing. Would it actually get any more resources onto the ground?

Various government ministers already have the ability to authorise contingency funds to be spent. It's actually local government, environment agency and the like who deal with flood issues, and for them it's a case of knowing they can recover their extra expenditure when their staff are out on overtime etc.

If you watched some of the BBC news reports yesterday afternoon you will have observed senior government ministers were on the ground and being interviewed whilst standing in a sea of floodwater in Byfleet, explaining just that.

Flooding is one problem, and the difficulties of homes and businesses who are affected by that will go on for months as it can take a long while to dry out buildings before any repairs. But as the various reports have made clear, this is also quite a small scale and flooding is this time affecting people are in known river floodplains in a winter time when a flood risk will always exist. Indeed certainly in the Byfleet / Weybridge area many of the properties affected today will have been at risk over the winters of 2000 and 2003/4, when some similar issues occurred.

The much wider problem is the continued loss of power to many properties. As the news reports are also explaining the difficulties here is primarily one of access. With sodden ground the machinery needed to access areas, such as cherry pickers, simply can't get there. It's no good saying use the army (I won't set people off about whether they even have any manpower to spare due to defence funding changes), electric infrastructure is a specialist task, even you average house electrician wouldn't be suited to this.

But one does need to, long term, look at the resilience of some of our infrastructure. As Climate change continues, more vicious weather is possible at increased frequency. Overground wires may be cheap but easily brought down, but would buried wires be at risk from damage by trees roots, etc? Flooding precautions are great, but do you simply channel and move water more quickly further downstream so they have a greater issue?

27-12-2013, 11:25	#23
MovedGoalPosts Inactive Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: 127.0.0.1 Age: 61 Posts: 15,868	Re: Government should be recalled I struggle to understand what a recall might achieve apart from a lot of hot air waffle and hand wringing. Would it actually get any more resources onto the ground? Various government ministers already have the ability to authorise contingency funds to be spent. It's actually local government, environment agency and the like who deal with flood issues, and for them it's a case of knowing they can recover their extra expenditure when their staff are out on overtime etc. If you watched some of the BBC news reports yesterday afternoon you will have observed senior government ministers were on the ground and being interviewed whilst standing in a sea of floodwater in Byfleet, explaining just that. Flooding is one problem, and the difficulties of homes and businesses who are affected by that will go on for months as it can take a long while to dry out buildings before any repairs. But as the various reports have made clear, this is also quite a small scale and flooding is this time affecting people are in known river floodplains in a winter time when a flood risk will always exist. Indeed certainly in the Byfleet / Weybridge area many of the properties affected today will have been at risk over the winters of 2000 and 2003/4, when some similar issues occurred. The much wider problem is the continued loss of power to many properties. As the news reports are also explaining the difficulties here is primarily one of access. With sodden ground the machinery needed to access areas, such as cherry pickers, simply can't get there. It's no good saying use the army (I won't set people off about whether they even have any manpower to spare due to defence funding changes), electric infrastructure is a specialist task, even you average house electrician wouldn't be suited to this. But one does need to, long term, look at the resilience of some of our infrastructure. As Climate change continues, more vicious weather is possible at increased frequency. Overground wires may be cheap but easily brought down, but would buried wires be at risk from damage by trees roots, etc? Flooding precautions are great, but do you simply channel and move water more quickly further downstream so they have a greater issue?