Thing is, I wonder if a change of strategy is needed, given the changing climate. Rather than spend millions of £s protecting property from water, spend the money building new homes, out of the danger areas and relocate people

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That of course makes sense to most people, but flood plain land is cheap and it costs in to developers. It's all about money.

After the Mississippi River floods in the '90s, the government bought up all the residential property in certain flood plains and told whole towns to rebuild on higher ground.

In hurricane prone states (Florida and the Carolinas for some years, and New Jersey since Sandy) houses are being raised up or just built with the main floor one story up from ground level. Any space below that cannot be used for habitation, just storage. this Old House recently showed an example of a house being built that way with the ground level siding designed to break away in a storm surge so the water can flow right through and not damage the structure. Another example had holes in the walls to let the water flow in and out.

(Now if only we in the Midwest would take a lesson from the west coast and improve earthquake standards...)

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

The whole point is, how often do these extreme instances of weather occur? OK, more often in the last 20 years than before. But do any administrations around the world have the financial resources to plough into flood defences across the board, just in case it all happens again in 5 years time.

Answer - NO!

More often in the last 20 years, yes. And if we are to believe the same administrations that tax us dearly to "help prevent climate change" then they should be doing more as this will become more and more frequent and more & more extreme - as is proving to be the case at the moment.

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Partly clouded @ 6°C. Weather is always the same lately...

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

Rain overnight, now misty, damp grey 9ºC

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Another 8mm of rain yesterday.

Additional 10 pumps have been added to the 50 on the Somerset Levels, so 60 pumps all trying to shift the water now. However; given it's only dropped a couple of inches in 4 weeks and there is an Amber warning of yet more substantial rain tomorrow it's not looking good for the residents.

Story & Pics here

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Temperature rose overnight and is already falling this morning. Snow comes in for the evening, the temp rises overnight again, and then it drops all day tomorrow. Once it gets below 0F (-18C) it will stay there until at least Wednesday. Maybe Thursday. Won't be above 20F for at least a week.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

We had a squall pass through here this afternoon, bringing 50 MPH winds. Very gusty too.

Amber alert for floods again tomorrow :-/

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Sunny Saturday morning. Same weather as past three weeks. Lows in the mid-30s, highs in the high 60s - low 70s. No chance of rain in the forecast.

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Donald
Infernal Optimist / Submariner, retired