My thoughts are with our bloggy friends in England who are being impacted by the terrible flooding over there.
From the Times Online:
Food and drinking water shortages, panic buying and the threat of looting have followed the worst flooding to hit England in 60 years.
Amid concerns that the government-run Environment Agency acted far too slowly in responding to serious flood alerts from the Met Office, parts of the West Country woke up this morning to another day under water and the Thames Valley now faces being inundated.
An estimated 90,000 gallons of water a second was surging down the swollen River Thames last night towards Oxford, Reading and Windsor.
In the area worst affected by the floodwater from the Severn and the Avon over the weekend, some homes were left without running water and supermarkets reported panic buying of bottled water and food, which is expected to create serious shortages for several days.
Even those who escaped the floods are suffering. More than 200,000 people have now been left without drinking water. Severn Trent Water said that homes in the north of Gloucestershire would be left without supplies for the next two days after a big pumping plant near Tewkesbury was overwhelmed by the floods.
Carrie Douch, 26, a mother of two children from Gloucester, said that she had driven more than 15 miles to buy water after the closure of the water treatment plant. “We have been to three supermarkets and water had sold out in all of them,” she said. “The queues outside the supermarkets are horrendous. Everyone is desperate to get their hands on some water. We have heard stories of grown men pushing kids out of the way to get to bottles of the stuff. It is disgusting.”
I know I mentioned this in the spring when we were without water for a few days and then were under a boil water advisory for a few days after that, but I’m going to say it again:
STORE SOME WATER IN YOUR HOME.
You should have supplies in your home to last you at least a week (preferably two) without needing to shop for water and food. If something happens where you live, do you really want to drive all over looking desperately for food or water for your family? No. You want to be able to stay home and stay away from the people who will be panicking.
Get some water and easy-to-prepare-and-eat supplies this week!
And once you have done so, please encourage someone else you know and love to do the same thing.
It is a bit crazy here in England! Not that I’ve been affected by it at all, thankfully. Being on the south coast far from the north and the midlands, I’m safe for it all. Good advice you gave there Sallie, I will keep that in mind!
Thank you for your thoughts. I live in Worcestershire , UK. While our home has not been affected, the local high street has suffered dreadful flooding. The flood water was half way up the shop fronts on Saturday. The river had risen by about 8 ft, it’s usually more like a stream. The flooding was a combination of rain, drain, river and canal overflow. We’ve had my in-laws staying as they couldn’t return to their home as the access roads were several foot deep in water. We are so thankful to God for safe-keeping.
I’ve been meaning to say something about this, too.
Will link back to you.
My brother is in Cheltenham. He barely made it home from work In Gloucester on Friday evening. They are now without water and will be for 7-14 days. The army is supplying water and they have put out ‘dowsers’ full of water in various locations. However my husband told me that there are reports of people emptying the dowsers and then selling on the water. How craveb can you get?! They have plenty of water to drink thanks to the army- it is the washing adn personal things they don’t have much for. Add to this my sis-in-law was just admitted to Gloucester hospital which has no water supply and the mayhem is complete!