Sunday, February 9, 2014

BRITONS BRACING FOR FRESH STORM, MORE FLOODING

 
LONDON - Britons were bracing themselves for further flooding misery as a fresh series of devastating storms were forecast to hit the UK on Friday night.
Gales of up to 128km/h and heavy rainfall of up to 2cm were predicted, threatening more havoc around already overflowing rivers.
Saturday’s storms are expected to be at least as severe as those that caused widespread destruction across southern England last week. Waves of up to 10m will batter the Cornish coast, according to forecasters from surf website magicseaweed.com.
Laura Young from the Met Office said on Friday night: “The concerning thing [on Sunday] is the wind in Cornwall, Devon and South Wales in particular. We have got severe gales so we could see winds of between 80km/h and 96km/h inland, and 112km/h to 129km/h on the coast. With those winds will be a band of rain, so there will be squally showers.”
After some respite on Sunday and Monday, a “deep depression” is likely to move in from the west in the early hours of Tuesday, bringing more wind and rain, she said. Royal Marines were on Friday drafted in to evacuate residents who have been forced to abandon their homes amid the rising water. A handful defiantly stayed behind amid reports of looting in the Somerset area.
Severe flood warnings — meaning a risk to life — remained in place for the Somerset Levels last night. There were another 166 flood warnings and 303 flood alerts across south-east England, the South West and Wales.
The River Wey in Guildford, Surrey, burst its banks last night leading to road closures and problems with sewage after pipes burst.
The ground in southern England is already saturated and every 10mm of rain on a square metre of land.

Source: Agencies

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