~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Great ‘UK’ Floods, Summer ’07 and NOW!
I wrote and published this post almost a year ago now.
What, if anything has changed?
——————————-
“Quote”;-
No doubt we’re all, both Shocked and in Awe of
the Scale and Enormity of the total devastation
being caused this summer by the ‘soaking’ we’ve
received from mother nature, as she tries to make
amends for the ‘scarcity’ of rain she’s allocated
to us over the last few years with a larger than life
‘flood reward’.
But to see politicians scurrying around trying to
look effective and caring is quite honestly an insult
to our intelligence. They’ve never had a clue before,
and they certainly don’t have one now. All the usual
sound-bites are being appropriately banded about,
but with ‘hollow’ intent. The word FLOOD is now
their keyword to get all and ‘any’ media employees
rushing to their side to ‘hear’ the next ‘Words Of
Wisdom’ from these buffoons.
Will lessons be learned? NO! Will they listen to those
who DO know about the problems we’ve created? NO!
Will they throw our hard-earned taxes at the problem?
YES! Most certainly in the short term to disguise their
GUILT. But in a few months this will all be forgotten,
(The Great UK Floods Will Be Distant Memories),
and another ‘Man created’ problem will take over our
hearts, leaving those poor victims in their own world,
having to get through it as best they can. On Their Own.
After all, our trusty politicians have opinion polls to
consider. They have Elections to win and finance. They
also have, (more importantly of course than our floods),
other countries problems to solve before their own
citizens get their ear.
So why is anyone surprised at all that the government
response was nothing short of ‘Totally dismal’?
A few thousand sand-bags hurriedly distributed. I’d like
to know how many homes these sand-bags saved, and
whether they could be counted on just ONE hand. Sand-
bags SLOW the water, they don’t STOP it. Who could
find the energy to stay up all night, and all day long just
baling water non-stop from their house. (Unless you have
a large fit family of course, not many).
This curse from mother nature DID of course have ONE
positive effect. It DID bring out the ‘Bull-Dog Spirit’ in
a lot of people who probably thought they didn’t have it.
Or who thought their neighbours weren’t capable of
possessing this quality. Not much compensation I know,
but a little bit at least.
Much is being said about the causes of the flooding, and
looking for someone to blame. But if we DO have to
blame someone, I’m afraid good old ‘Mother Nature’
must take full responsibility this time. What WE have
to ask is WHY she decided to give us a ‘wake-up-call’.
Was it because of our terrible ‘emissions’? You know,
that ‘buzz-word’ everyone uses these days to get any
sort of ‘funding’ or ‘attention’ for themselves? NO!
Well was it maybe because we’ve not been doing our
‘rain-dancing’ often enough, or worshipping the ‘Sun-
God’ in the sky so that he’d keep all the water at bay?
NO!
Was it because our farmers are ‘paid’ by Brussels
NOT to do anything with their land. Especially to put
it to good use in any way? MAYBE?
Or could it possibly be because of people like ME?
Who worked for one of the numerous councils country-
wide in the early 1970’s, spending all day EVERY day,
replacing huge great ditches along the side of every
‘A and B road’ in the country, with little ‘eighteen inch
diameter’ concrete pipes to take ‘All’ of this water that
almost always ‘filled’ these ditches in our winter months.
Remembering of course, that these ditches on average,
were about ‘six feet deep’, by approximately ‘four feet
wide’. They used to fill up quite quickly and easily.
When I was a kid, these ditches were great sources of
entertainment and adventure. (Probably why our Lords
and Masters decided to ‘fill them in’). But they were
also brilliant at doing what they were designed to do;
Get rid of all that excess rainwater of course.
But now we’re forgetting that GREAT 1960’s invention.
‘The Glorious Do-Gooder’. That Bam-Pot who decided
that we should ALL be wrapped up in cotton-wool just
incase we ‘hurt’ ourselves while playing. Or maybe we
would ‘injure’ ourselves if we drove off the road while
drunk, or driving ‘carelessly’ one day.
What did ‘The Bam-Pot’ do?
He decided to fill in those dangerous ditches, that’s what,
and channel ALL that water which regularly ‘filled’ our
six foot by four foot ditches each winter, into a neatly
concealed underground ‘Eighteen Inch’ concrete pipe-way.
Does a Gallon of water fit into a Pint bottle??
I think you know the answer to THAT one, but our local
and national politicians, highway officers, and most of all
‘Our Bam-Pots’ couldn’t quite grasp the maths here.
So now, 30+ years on, we’re reaping our rewards for NOT
understanding that ‘Mother Nature’ operates in a different
time-zone to the rest of us. Not only that, but she does NOT
suffer fools gladly. When she sees ‘stupidity’ on a large
enough scale as to undermine her own efforts, she doesn’t
CAUSE devastation to be inflicted on the perpetrators.
She simply allows clouds to pass between herself and her
subjects. Then whatever will be, will be. Even when it
causes detriment to her own creative work, it’s a lesson that
HAS to be endured.
Vast swathes of the UK have reaped the ‘consequences’ of
bad judgement by those who profess to have our best interests
at heart. but who in fact serve NO-ONE but themselves. The
Local and National Politicians. Heads of Business who only
see profit margins. Then the self-obsessed ‘Do-Gooders’ who
have NO life experience of their own, so they try to ‘rule’ the
rest of us with their twisted sense of ‘moral responsibility’.
So are ‘The Great Flood Waters’ of 2007 an act of God?
I think we know who caused THIS particular ‘Act’, and it
certainly wasn’t ‘God’. Although those responsible would
like us to ‘Call’ them God maybe. I know what I’d like to
call them, and it doesn’t begin with ‘G’.
It begins with a very large ‘W’.
(First published 28/07/07)
It seems, by the damage already caused THIS year of ‘08,
that our ‘all-seing, all-being’ government has done absolutely
NOTHING to combat this problem. Though some might think it’s
mother nature, nothing could be further from the truth.
Our local water authorities are a GOOD 75% to blame. They cut
corners absolutely everywhere just so that they can pay themselves
AND their shareholders, ever increasing, MASSIVE dividends at the
end of each year.
Where are the ‘Gully-Emptiers’ that used to be a common sight (and
hindrance) on our roads now? Just ONE of the many reasons the water
doesn’t drain away. We used to be scared of droping our car keys
down the kerbside drains. Not anymore, as most are filled with dirt, grime
and rubbish, where the ‘Gulley-Emptiers’ should be keeping them clear
for heavy rainfalls, most have been de-commissioned as a WASTE of
resources. Much the same way as Lock-Keepers are being done away with
to ‘manage resources more efficiently’. Of course, what it really means is
that the water authorities will be depending on computer-generated graphics
to tell them when flood waters are rising. The same computers no doubt that consistently get the weather forcasts WRONG!
Lock-Keepers are ESSENTIAL to the smooth running of our waterways. But
there again, what’s the sacrifice of a few more thousand homes and lives being destroyed by even MORE flooding, compared to the ESSENTIAL provision of ‘dividends’ at the end of each financial year??
Pete.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~