Monday, January 28, 2008

Rain and Wind and Floods...Oh My!

That's right, Toto. Most of Britain as been deluged with what seems to be endless rain, coupled with many of the country's rivers bursting their banks and flooding adjoining communities. Here in the northwest of England, these weather conditions have been magnified by the addition of near-freezing temperatures and gale force winds.

This past week, the River Calder, which flows through the Ribble Valley and our otherwise tranquil village of Whalley, burst its banks as well. With above-average volumes of water flowing from the river's source, miles away in Yorkshire, coupled with the lunar-driven tides of the nearby Irish Sea, the "perfect conditions" for the type of flooding that would get Noah excited with anticipation were set into motion. Many of the homes within our village, along with the historic ruins of Whalley Abbey found themselves partially submerged. Fortuantely, our home lies on higher ground and we were spared the fate of many of our neighbours.

With service suspended along key passenger rail lines, and millions of pounds in financial losses to residential, commercial, and agricultural property, enquiries are once again being directed towards London regarding the investment (or lack of) into the country's flood control infrastructure. Questions are also being raised (again) as to the overall ecological effect of the construction of new housing in this country, and the lack of forward planning for associated side-effects such as the wide-spread flooding just experienced.

In the meantime, Sarah and I are doing our own forward planning. In a few weeks time, we will be attending the Focus On Imaging photographic industry trade convention, at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), in Birmingham.