'Unprecedented' Flooding Soaks UK; Thousands without Power and Hundreds Evacuated

[marmar]

After weeks of heavy rainfall, widespread flooding submerged cars and caused the evacuation of hundreds of people from their homes in parts of England, Scotland and Wales Saturday. British Prime Minister David Cameron sent hundreds more troops into northern England on Sunday to help exhausted residents and emergency workers fight back rising river waters.

Cameron said the flooding is "unprecedented" and vowed to do everything possible to protect people and their property as the damage spread to the major cities York, Leeds and Manchester. He said protective systems and contingency plans will be reviewed because the frequency of such extreme weather events seems to be on the rise.

Weeks of persistent rainfall has saturated the ground and swollen the rivers to record levels, leaving entire swathes of northern England, and smaller parts of Wales and Scotland, vulnerable. Several hundred flood warnings remain in effect.

There have been no fatalities or serious injuries reported, but hundreds of people have been evacuated from houses and apartments in York, 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of London, where 3,500 properties are judged to be at risk. Emergency crews worked extra shifts to try to restore power to roughly 7,500 blacked out homes in the greater Manchester and Lancashire areas. ..........(more)

http://www.weather.com/news/news/uk-england-scotland-wales-flooding

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. CLIMATE CHANGE, it predicts MORE EXTREME WEATHER

[RKP5637]

3. And the GOP response is DUH!!! n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Not just the GOP

[RKP5637]

5. Scary country! Many have absolutely no F'en idea what is going on. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. nope, and that is by design

[RKP5637]

7. Bred and rewarded to be stupid! n/t

[OxQQme]

2. Video

http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/video-worst-flooding-for-70-years-in-leeds-and-york-thousands-left-without-power-1-7644188

http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/w-yorks/picture-special-warning-over-danger-to-lives-as-severe-flooding-hits-yorkshire-and-lancashire-1-7643371

[MowCowWhoHow III]

8. Seems bad

[progressoid]

9. Not good at all.

[T_i_B]

10. York gets flooded quite a lot

However, the flooding has been over a huge swathe of Northern England taking in Lancashire, Cumbria, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and Northumberland.

In the case of York the flooding has been exacerbated by the failure of the Foss Barrier.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12072220/York-floods-Why-did-the-Foss-Barrier-fail.html

[T_i_B]

11. Apparently Tadcaster Bridge has partially collapsed

That bridge has been standing for hundreds of years.

[Coventina]

12. Jeepers! Hope everyone stays safe!

I've visited York and it is a lovely city.

I hope their historic sites remain intact.