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Hello, this is Machie reporting from Tewkesbury. At the moment the town is still in chaos after 2 days of almost constant rain. Although it has since stopped, the disruption caused by the floods continues.
Flooding in Tewkesbury is nothing new. Infact it's one of the reasons it never became more than just a market town. Since I've lived in Tewkesbury for the last 27 years, I've only seen the fields around the rivers flood at their worst. What I saw over the last 2 days, I can only describe as surreal.
On Thursday the sun was out and I had a pleasent walk along the river. Later in the afternoon I went to Great Malvern (few of you will have been there) with my mum. We walked by the shops and then into the park by the Theatre. Kids we're playing, adults were sunbathing and most were enjoying a delicious icecream.
On Friday it rained. I waited and waited for many hours for it to stop so I could go for my walk but it just kept coming. Around lunch time we had a power cut. I was stuck in the house, I couldnt watch TV, I couldnt go on the internet, so I picked up my umbrella and braved the harsh rain and went outside.
Immediately as I turn the corner to head down the road towards the town centre, I see lots of cars. As I got closer I noticed that all the roads were filled bumper to bumper with cars, vans and lorries. It was insane. It looked just like any disaster movie like
'Here too?', I looked around and saw shops blacked out by the power cut. The doors were open but it was hauntingly dark inside. The staff standing alongside the customers looking out the windows as it continued to rain down on the the stationary traffic that filled the streets.
As I approached the river, I noticed it was a lot higher than it was yesterday. Some of the path was already blocked off by pools of rain water so I decided to head back home. The traffic had improved, some cars had moved a whole 10 metres since I last saw them 20 minutes earlier.
On Saturday I woke up to a very loud noise. I wrapped my duvet around me to cover my modesty and ran towards the kitchen window to see what was going on. I looked up and saw a helicopter flying right above us [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/helicopter.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. Some people across the road were being airlifted, we're still unsure why, but we think last night a baby was born and it along with the mother were taken to the hospital. When the helicopter came back a second time I ventured outside and felt the force of the helicopter right above me. It was incredibly strong, while outside I noticed some damage [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/damage.jpg][PIC][/LINK] caused by the immense winds it created. Poor little Pringles (our cat) was cowering under the kitchen counter crying.
After the drama had ended I went back to bed. It was coming up to 6am and I wanted to be up and out the house by 8am to pick up my Harry Potter book. When I awoke I quickly got dressed and collected all the recycling I was going to drop off on my way to Morrisons. It's only a 2 minute walk away so I thought it wouldnt be long before I was back in bed reading my book for the remainder of the day. Boy was I wrong.
A woman smoking a cigarette aproached me with a look of both worry and confusion on her face. "Are you heading to Morrisons? It's all flooded, it won't be open today. I just spent all night there with 90 other customers who were stuck." . I stood open mouthed as she continued. 'What about my Harry Potter book?' I thought to myself but dared not say to a woman who spent all night trapped in a Morrisons cafe.
Curious, I decided to head down anyway and see for myself what had happened. My first sight of the flooding was the small free car back at the back of Morrisons. Several cars were surrounded by the water [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/carpark1.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. I continued around to the front of Morrisons and saw what the lady had told me. [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/carpark2.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/carpark3.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/carpark4.jpg][PIC][/LINK] Inside the cafe I could see a baby asleep next to it's mother [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/cafe.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. The entrance was sealed and blocked, probably to deter looters rather than hold the water back [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/entrance.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. Eventually they allowed some customers in, but only for essentials and even then you would be guided round. Unfortunately for one old lady, lottery tickets weren't considered essential enough.
After returning home I was told by my mum to go into town and pick up some bread and milk. On the way there the roads were empty. Nothing like they were yesterday full of cars, vans and lorries. Although I did notice a large number of caravans parked in the car park by the swimming pool [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/caravans.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. Their number had fallen by the time I took this picture but what you should know is this car park should be filled with market stalls selling vegetables and other goods.
Just before entering Tescos I pass another fire engine [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/fire.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. Upon entering the store I notice huge queues for the tills, not normal weekly queues but the kind you only ever see at Christmas. I decided not to bother as the wait would be too long. Besides, it looked as though others had had the same idea on stocking up on bread [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/bread.jpg][PIC][/LINK] and milk [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/milk.jpg][PIC][/LINK].
Walking through the high street almost every shop was closed, some even closed early yesterday to allow staff to get home, promising to open again the following morning.... They didnt. [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/closed.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/closed2.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/closed3.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/closed4.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/closed5.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/closed6.jpg][PIC][/LINK]
Quickly popped into Somerfields, again there were long queues and just like Tescos, milk [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/milk2.jpg][PIC][/LINK] and bread [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/bread2.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/bread3.jpg][PIC][/LINK] had all disappeared.
I ventured down to the river front to see how much the water had risen since I last saw it yesterday. [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/stage.jpg][PIC][/LINK] Tonight there was going to be a water festival, with fireworks and a band. As you can see the stage is completely surronded by water. I carried on along the river and discovered several boats being pulled under water [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/boats.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. I had to turn back because this road towards the high street was flooded aswell [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/blocked.jpg][PIC][/LINK].
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/ham.jpg][PIC][/LINK] No this isn't a lake, this is the Ham, a very large field between two rivers. Yesterday it didn't exist.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/abbeymill.jpg][PIC][/LINK] Here is a picture of the Abbey Mill that I took last April. [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/abbeymill2.jpg][PIC][/LINK] Here is what it looks like today.
Both the Ham and the Abbey Mill being flooded isn't really new, it's almost a yearly occurrence. What is new is the series of photos I'm about to show you.
There are 4 main roads to get in and out of the centre of Tewkesbury.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/exit1.jpg][PIC][/LINK] Here is one of them.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/exit2.jpg][PIC][/LINK] This is another.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/exit3.jpg][PIC][/LINK] And another.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/exit4.jpg][PIC][/LINK] And finally this one, which was closed not long after.
Perhaps a map can display better to you what has happened. [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/map.gif][PIC][/LINK] The main centre of Tewkesbury is on the left. I've highlighted where I live in blue and all the red lines show the roads that are flooded and closed by the police. There is one road marked in green that can still be used to get in and out of Tewkesbury, but it is part flooded and goes through a residential area. Here's another map showing you where all the water is [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/map2.gif][PIC][/LINK]
As I mentioned at the start of this thread, I have found the whole thing incredibly surreal. You have cars going around in circles trying to find a road that isn't closed. You have travellers who have been stuck in town and cant leave. There's hundreds of people walking around in the roads, wearing wellies, talking on their mobile phones, taking photos, standing around in groups talking about everything that's going on. Add to that the two dozen helicopters flying over us (while writing this over a course of 4 hours a further 3 more helicopters have gone by), the fire engines, the police, the rescue boats, the ambulances, etc. It really has been an extraordinary weekend.
At the moment we're barely surviving. I've had to use the local paper to find out what's on TV because there werent any newspapers with telly books today. We're down to our last 20 packs of crisps and I've had to open 1 of my 4 packs of Special K cereal. =( I'm not sure how many more hours I can stay alive. I'm tempted to have another bowl of cereal, but I know I should ration what I eat. I just hope everything goes back to normal before I have to resort to cannibalism.
So far I'm guessing the total death toll to be in the millions and with each passing hour that figure could even double.
This has been a Machie report. Thanks for watching.
-------
Here are some additional photos;
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/rivercottage.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Cottage by the river.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/anotherhelicopter.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Another helicopter.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/andanother.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - And another
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/watchers.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Lots of people looking at the floods.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/newspapers.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Newspapers dumped outside closed newsagents.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/papersgone.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Newspapers all stolen =O
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/sandbags.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Sand bags
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/walkers.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - People walking in the road
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/rescue.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Womans house all flooded
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/pub.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Some guys going to their pub
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/penny.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - LOL
Flooding in Tewkesbury is nothing new. Infact it's one of the reasons it never became more than just a market town. Since I've lived in Tewkesbury for the last 27 years, I've only seen the fields around the rivers flood at their worst. What I saw over the last 2 days, I can only describe as surreal.
On Thursday the sun was out and I had a pleasent walk along the river. Later in the afternoon I went to Great Malvern (few of you will have been there) with my mum. We walked by the shops and then into the park by the Theatre. Kids we're playing, adults were sunbathing and most were enjoying a delicious icecream.
On Friday it rained. I waited and waited for many hours for it to stop so I could go for my walk but it just kept coming. Around lunch time we had a power cut. I was stuck in the house, I couldnt watch TV, I couldnt go on the internet, so I picked up my umbrella and braved the harsh rain and went outside.
Immediately as I turn the corner to head down the road towards the town centre, I see lots of cars. As I got closer I noticed that all the roads were filled bumper to bumper with cars, vans and lorries. It was insane. It looked just like any disaster movie like
War of the Worlds or The Day After Tomorrow. 'Where are they going?' I thought to myself. I held my brolly tightly against the rain and made my way to the high street. 'Here too?', I looked around and saw shops blacked out by the power cut. The doors were open but it was hauntingly dark inside. The staff standing alongside the customers looking out the windows as it continued to rain down on the the stationary traffic that filled the streets.
As I approached the river, I noticed it was a lot higher than it was yesterday. Some of the path was already blocked off by pools of rain water so I decided to head back home. The traffic had improved, some cars had moved a whole 10 metres since I last saw them 20 minutes earlier.
On Saturday I woke up to a very loud noise. I wrapped my duvet around me to cover my modesty and ran towards the kitchen window to see what was going on. I looked up and saw a helicopter flying right above us [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/helicopter.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. Some people across the road were being airlifted, we're still unsure why, but we think last night a baby was born and it along with the mother were taken to the hospital. When the helicopter came back a second time I ventured outside and felt the force of the helicopter right above me. It was incredibly strong, while outside I noticed some damage [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/damage.jpg][PIC][/LINK] caused by the immense winds it created. Poor little Pringles (our cat) was cowering under the kitchen counter crying.
After the drama had ended I went back to bed. It was coming up to 6am and I wanted to be up and out the house by 8am to pick up my Harry Potter book. When I awoke I quickly got dressed and collected all the recycling I was going to drop off on my way to Morrisons. It's only a 2 minute walk away so I thought it wouldnt be long before I was back in bed reading my book for the remainder of the day. Boy was I wrong.
A woman smoking a cigarette aproached me with a look of both worry and confusion on her face. "Are you heading to Morrisons? It's all flooded, it won't be open today. I just spent all night there with 90 other customers who were stuck." . I stood open mouthed as she continued. 'What about my Harry Potter book?' I thought to myself but dared not say to a woman who spent all night trapped in a Morrisons cafe.
Curious, I decided to head down anyway and see for myself what had happened. My first sight of the flooding was the small free car back at the back of Morrisons. Several cars were surrounded by the water [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/carpark1.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. I continued around to the front of Morrisons and saw what the lady had told me. [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/carpark2.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/carpark3.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/carpark4.jpg][PIC][/LINK] Inside the cafe I could see a baby asleep next to it's mother [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/cafe.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. The entrance was sealed and blocked, probably to deter looters rather than hold the water back [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/entrance.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. Eventually they allowed some customers in, but only for essentials and even then you would be guided round. Unfortunately for one old lady, lottery tickets weren't considered essential enough.
After returning home I was told by my mum to go into town and pick up some bread and milk. On the way there the roads were empty. Nothing like they were yesterday full of cars, vans and lorries. Although I did notice a large number of caravans parked in the car park by the swimming pool [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/caravans.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. Their number had fallen by the time I took this picture but what you should know is this car park should be filled with market stalls selling vegetables and other goods.
Just before entering Tescos I pass another fire engine [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/fire.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. Upon entering the store I notice huge queues for the tills, not normal weekly queues but the kind you only ever see at Christmas. I decided not to bother as the wait would be too long. Besides, it looked as though others had had the same idea on stocking up on bread [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/bread.jpg][PIC][/LINK] and milk [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/milk.jpg][PIC][/LINK].
Walking through the high street almost every shop was closed, some even closed early yesterday to allow staff to get home, promising to open again the following morning.... They didnt. [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/closed.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/closed2.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/closed3.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/closed4.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/closed5.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/closed6.jpg][PIC][/LINK]
Quickly popped into Somerfields, again there were long queues and just like Tescos, milk [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/milk2.jpg][PIC][/LINK] and bread [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/bread2.jpg][PIC][/LINK] [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/bread3.jpg][PIC][/LINK] had all disappeared.
I ventured down to the river front to see how much the water had risen since I last saw it yesterday. [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/stage.jpg][PIC][/LINK] Tonight there was going to be a water festival, with fireworks and a band. As you can see the stage is completely surronded by water. I carried on along the river and discovered several boats being pulled under water [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/boats.jpg][PIC][/LINK]. I had to turn back because this road towards the high street was flooded aswell [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/blocked.jpg][PIC][/LINK].
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/ham.jpg][PIC][/LINK] No this isn't a lake, this is the Ham, a very large field between two rivers. Yesterday it didn't exist.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/abbeymill.jpg][PIC][/LINK] Here is a picture of the Abbey Mill that I took last April. [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/abbeymill2.jpg][PIC][/LINK] Here is what it looks like today.
Both the Ham and the Abbey Mill being flooded isn't really new, it's almost a yearly occurrence. What is new is the series of photos I'm about to show you.
There are 4 main roads to get in and out of the centre of Tewkesbury.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/exit1.jpg][PIC][/LINK] Here is one of them.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/exit2.jpg][PIC][/LINK] This is another.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/exit3.jpg][PIC][/LINK] And another.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/exit4.jpg][PIC][/LINK] And finally this one, which was closed not long after.
Perhaps a map can display better to you what has happened. [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/map.gif][PIC][/LINK] The main centre of Tewkesbury is on the left. I've highlighted where I live in blue and all the red lines show the roads that are flooded and closed by the police. There is one road marked in green that can still be used to get in and out of Tewkesbury, but it is part flooded and goes through a residential area. Here's another map showing you where all the water is [LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/map2.gif][PIC][/LINK]
As I mentioned at the start of this thread, I have found the whole thing incredibly surreal. You have cars going around in circles trying to find a road that isn't closed. You have travellers who have been stuck in town and cant leave. There's hundreds of people walking around in the roads, wearing wellies, talking on their mobile phones, taking photos, standing around in groups talking about everything that's going on. Add to that the two dozen helicopters flying over us (while writing this over a course of 4 hours a further 3 more helicopters have gone by), the fire engines, the police, the rescue boats, the ambulances, etc. It really has been an extraordinary weekend.
At the moment we're barely surviving. I've had to use the local paper to find out what's on TV because there werent any newspapers with telly books today. We're down to our last 20 packs of crisps and I've had to open 1 of my 4 packs of Special K cereal. =( I'm not sure how many more hours I can stay alive. I'm tempted to have another bowl of cereal, but I know I should ration what I eat. I just hope everything goes back to normal before I have to resort to cannibalism.
So far I'm guessing the total death toll to be in the millions and with each passing hour that figure could even double.
This has been a Machie report. Thanks for watching.
George Bush doesn't care about Tewkesbury!-------
Here are some additional photos;
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/rivercottage.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Cottage by the river.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/anotherhelicopter.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Another helicopter.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/andanother.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - And another
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/watchers.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Lots of people looking at the floods.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/newspapers.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Newspapers dumped outside closed newsagents.
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/papersgone.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Newspapers all stolen =O
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/sandbags.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Sand bags
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/walkers.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - People walking in the road
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/rescue.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Womans house all flooded
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/pub.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Some guys going to their pub
[LINK=http://www.markstravelguide.com/freeola/penny.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - LOL
Page:
Been raining like mad here this morning and probably half the night too. We're about 40-50 miles NE of Tewkesbury, so I hope it's not going to cause more problems for you Machie.
[edit: More like 35-40 actually]
[edit: More like 35-40 actually]
Perhaps the cinemas should have been showing Singing in the rain, Hard Rain or even Posideon?
Hopefully the waters don't start creeping back up the next sign of rain, as there seems to be more to come.
Seems ok here, though. We've just started getting a bit more rain now, after the lovely sun of yesterday, but we're in a town that doesn't really get flooded, save for when the sea front manages to go over the flood defences. The only flood problems I've ever seen down here were when the rivers burst their banks at work back in 2000, my old car ended up half submerged.
Hopefully the waters don't start creeping back up the next sign of rain, as there seems to be more to come.
Seems ok here, though. We've just started getting a bit more rain now, after the lovely sun of yesterday, but we're in a town that doesn't really get flooded, save for when the sea front manages to go over the flood defences. The only flood problems I've ever seen down here were when the rivers burst their banks at work back in 2000, my old car ended up half submerged.
Click - #2 Most Read on the BBC website is sadly about my "On Saturday I woke up to a very loud noise." part in the original post.
We're slowly running out of water. I've just been carrying 2 x 5lt bottles around town. There's lots of water stations all over town where you can take a bucket and fill it up. The town hall is handing out M&S bags of 4 1lt bottles and in the car park by our swimming pool they're giving out these 5lt bottles.
The floods are going down which is good, but the best news is at our Roses Theatre. Right now or at 4pm you can go and watch Spider Man 3 for free. =) Yesterday they were showing Mr Beans Holiday.
There's still lots and lots of helicopters and we walked passed loads of news crews who finally managed to get into the town centre. Keep an eye out for me in a blue tshirt and shorts in some of the footage. ^^
We're slowly running out of water. I've just been carrying 2 x 5lt bottles around town. There's lots of water stations all over town where you can take a bucket and fill it up. The town hall is handing out M&S bags of 4 1lt bottles and in the car park by our swimming pool they're giving out these 5lt bottles.
The floods are going down which is good, but the best news is at our Roses Theatre. Right now or at 4pm you can go and watch Spider Man 3 for free. =) Yesterday they were showing Mr Beans Holiday.
There's still lots and lots of helicopters and we walked passed loads of news crews who finally managed to get into the town centre. Keep an eye out for me in a blue tshirt and shorts in some of the footage. ^^
UPDATE
It's weird seeing all the live coverage in Tewkesbury on the late night news and news channels. Most of the reporters are outside the town centre as they can't even get in. I hope Gorden Brown pays us a visit though. =)
Still at threat of losing water and electricity. The flood in our road has gone down, but it's been raining heavy all morning and we're a bit concerned about the drain outside our house which could overflow at any minute.
Went for a walk last night around 8pm checking all the roads and high street. This time there were no cars moving apart from the emergency services. People were walking in the middle of the road. Kids were playing football and every flooded exit looked worse than earlier in the day.
Here are some more photos;
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/pump.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - They sit ouside their flooded homes as a hose slowly pumps out all the water.
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/empty.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Usually full of cars, the high street is now empty.
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/benches.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - These are the benches I pass on my walks. They're usually filled with tourists eating fish and chips.
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/feet.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Some people were a little more laid-back about the chaos (or drunk)
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/oldhomes.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Many old people live in these buildings, now they're trapped by water.
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/cross.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - The heart of Tewkesbury. Kids playing football, lots of people standing around, especially outside the pub with their drinks.
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/alley.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - A flooded alley. I talked to the man who built the sand barrier. He wanted to help protect his neighbours. He also kept a sandbag with him, to drop on anyone stealing any bags. =)
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/wayout.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - This way to the M5 and Morrisons, which is still surrounded by water.
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/priorspark.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - This was the last road in or out. The water is now over a foot high. My brother is on the other side, visiting his friend. He's carrying some spare clothes as he'll have to walk waist high through more flooded roads.
-------------------
UPDATE AGAIN
Just went to buy some things from Morrisons. They have a bouncer outside guarding the door which has quite a queue. I waited about 10 minutes before a short young girl with a basket was free to lead me round. I told her the things I needed and I followed her all around Morrisons (which is pretty large). Normally there would be a few hundred shoppers in there at this time. Instead there were only 4 and each had their own staff member with them. There were two more at the tills.
I went into the high street to see what other stores were open. I was being a rebel and walking right in the middle of the road. Not a moving car in sight. I passed several camera crews, they must have walked for an hour just to get into town.
Tescos, Marks & Spencers and Somerfield were all open. Though they were running out of stock fast. You're only allowed to buy 2 x 2lt bottles of water.
A bookshop had a sign out front saying they were open because there was nothing else to do. Apart from that, all other stops were closed.
Still no newspapers or post since Thursday. It's a good thing I never ordered my Harry Potter book from Amazon. It looks as though those that did won't get theirs till later in the week if they're lucky.
Additional pic;
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/rescued.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Some people being rescued from their homes in the high street.
It's weird seeing all the live coverage in Tewkesbury on the late night news and news channels. Most of the reporters are outside the town centre as they can't even get in. I hope Gorden Brown pays us a visit though. =)
Still at threat of losing water and electricity. The flood in our road has gone down, but it's been raining heavy all morning and we're a bit concerned about the drain outside our house which could overflow at any minute.
Went for a walk last night around 8pm checking all the roads and high street. This time there were no cars moving apart from the emergency services. People were walking in the middle of the road. Kids were playing football and every flooded exit looked worse than earlier in the day.
Here are some more photos;
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/pump.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - They sit ouside their flooded homes as a hose slowly pumps out all the water.
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/empty.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Usually full of cars, the high street is now empty.
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/benches.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - These are the benches I pass on my walks. They're usually filled with tourists eating fish and chips.
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/feet.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Some people were a little more laid-back about the chaos (or drunk)
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/oldhomes.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Many old people live in these buildings, now they're trapped by water.
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/cross.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - The heart of Tewkesbury. Kids playing football, lots of people standing around, especially outside the pub with their drinks.
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/alley.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - A flooded alley. I talked to the man who built the sand barrier. He wanted to help protect his neighbours. He also kept a sandbag with him, to drop on anyone stealing any bags. =)
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/wayout.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - This way to the M5 and Morrisons, which is still surrounded by water.
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/priorspark.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - This was the last road in or out. The water is now over a foot high. My brother is on the other side, visiting his friend. He's carrying some spare clothes as he'll have to walk waist high through more flooded roads.
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UPDATE AGAIN
Just went to buy some things from Morrisons. They have a bouncer outside guarding the door which has quite a queue. I waited about 10 minutes before a short young girl with a basket was free to lead me round. I told her the things I needed and I followed her all around Morrisons (which is pretty large). Normally there would be a few hundred shoppers in there at this time. Instead there were only 4 and each had their own staff member with them. There were two more at the tills.
I went into the high street to see what other stores were open. I was being a rebel and walking right in the middle of the road. Not a moving car in sight. I passed several camera crews, they must have walked for an hour just to get into town.
Tescos, Marks & Spencers and Somerfield were all open. Though they were running out of stock fast. You're only allowed to buy 2 x 2lt bottles of water.
A bookshop had a sign out front saying they were open because there was nothing else to do. Apart from that, all other stops were closed.
Still no newspapers or post since Thursday. It's a good thing I never ordered my Harry Potter book from Amazon. It looks as though those that did won't get theirs till later in the week if they're lucky.
Additional pic;
[LINK=http://markstravelguide.com/freeola/rescued.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Some people being rescued from their homes in the high street.
Now there are even more news reports about Tewkesbury on the news. Apparently we're going to lose all our water by the end of the day and we wont be able to get any more for atleast several days.
The RAF have been rescuing people all over Tewkesbury. The Red Cross are going to be evacuating people from the Tewkesbury hospital. Severn Trent are doing all they can, but it looks as though both Gloucester and Cheltenham will also be without water today.
Soon we'll all be going to pick up points to get emergency supplies and water. Unlike other parts of the country which have been severly hit by flooding. We're completely cut off and unable to help ourself. We're being told to keep calm, help our neighbours and do all we can to help.
EDIT: Just spent 20 minutes watching reports on BBC News 24. They're flying all over Tewkesbury, talking about the our water treatment plant which is now completely flooded. Even worse is that the floods are going to get higher. All the water fallen from up the country, is coming this way and it'll make our situation even more worse.
EDIT: Another BBC aerial photo of Tewkesbury [LINK=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/uk_enl_1185113686/html/1.stm][PIC][/LINK]
The RAF have been rescuing people all over Tewkesbury. The Red Cross are going to be evacuating people from the Tewkesbury hospital. Severn Trent are doing all they can, but it looks as though both Gloucester and Cheltenham will also be without water today.
Soon we'll all be going to pick up points to get emergency supplies and water. Unlike other parts of the country which have been severly hit by flooding. We're completely cut off and unable to help ourself. We're being told to keep calm, help our neighbours and do all we can to help.
EDIT: Just spent 20 minutes watching reports on BBC News 24. They're flying all over Tewkesbury, talking about the our water treatment plant which is now completely flooded. Even worse is that the floods are going to get higher. All the water fallen from up the country, is coming this way and it'll make our situation even more worse.
EDIT: Another BBC aerial photo of Tewkesbury [LINK=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/uk_enl_1185113686/html/1.stm][PIC][/LINK]
*Throws rock at Machie*
Biggie Little Jr wrote:
> This is why the Weather thread gets scapegoated, because there
> are 3 topics now to discuss the rain in, all Machie threads ;)
Atleast it's better than the 3000th thread =)
> This is why the Weather thread gets scapegoated, because there
> are 3 topics now to discuss the rain in, all Machie threads ;)
Atleast it's better than the 3000th thread =)
This is why the Weather thread gets scapegoated, because there are 3 topics now to discuss the rain in, all Machie threads ;)
[LINK=http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6910000/newsid_6910600?redirect=6910698.stm&news=1&nbram=1&bbwm=1&nbwm=1&bbram=1][VIDEO][/LINK] - Blimey we're even making the news. Here's a 3:21 min video showing you how bad it is here. Send help! =(
[LINK=http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44014000/jpg/_44014086_glo_sun_aerial.jpg][PIC][/LINK] - Here's an aerial photo showing one side of Tewkesbury. My house is more to the left, which is also surrounded by water. The large body of water at the bottom is the "Ham" that I mentioned in my first post.
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