BBC Midlands Today

Giles Latcham, nice guy, was on the phone asking to come down to look at the village that someone had described as a "ghost village" to him. It is hard to describe a village of around 20 houses which gets visits from David Cameron, the Bishop of Gloucester, Archdeacon of Cheltenham, National head of the fire service (with 3 crews!) and still has a lot of activity going on (people toing and froing) as a ghost village. As the decision of where to live become clear there will be less and less activity but think 4 families have made the decision to live in mobile homes so it will hopefully never become a marie celeste village (or as someone put it, the village of the damned!!! a great pun which i can not claim credit for)

The sensibility of those in the village who have not recovered well and are still understandably raw is at forefront of reasons not to invite a camera crew down, but there again if it helps raise questions with relevant authorities (be it the local BC or EA) and gets things moving it could be of some use. There are still houses that have not had their Disaster Care in and if it allows people like Cynthia to get in the house then it is surely worth a little hassle. I am sure the BBC will be sympathetic and understanding to our cause. There are undboudtedly questions that do need answering. Tune into BBC Midlands Today on Wednesday night to see Brad and other villagers on TV.

flood meeting

there will be a flood meeting at Apperley Cricket Club pavilion at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday for all residents of Deerhurst.

The agenda will be posted below as soon as possible

a more considered view of the floods (Brian Leeke)

DEERHURST VILLAGE FLOODS

Commencing July 20^th 2007.

The exceptional rainstorms of Friday 20th July, when about two average months’ rainfall was recorded in one day, resulted in the Deerhurst village ‘basin’ by the ‘T’ junction to St Mary’s Church, Deerhurst, being filled to a point where the floodwater pumps were proven hopelessly ineffective. The resultant Sunday 22nd July surge in the Severn of some 10 feet saw floods in the Deerhurst Parish basin exceeding the 1947 levels and proportions. The result was flooding in eighteen Deerhurst village houses and at least thirteen vehicles submerged under the water. The speed of the rise in the levels of the flood was amazing and a little alarming.

There were some truly outstanding endeavours to protect the village on that Sunday by increasing the height of the flood banks and the two stank gates:

a) Kenny Samuel and Marcus Smith on the tractors and trailer continuously took loads of earth to various sites

b) Tim Morris, John Cutter and Marcus Smith on three JCB & MF earth moving equipment covered the banks weak points

c) Kenny and Tim did an unbelievable amount of heavy work shoring up the weak points all round the boundary

d) Will Morris and Des Samuel gave knowledgeable and helpful advice (both of whom had experienced many floods in the past, but not of this magnitude)

e) physical spade & shovel work and determined assistance was given by Deerhurst and some very kind Apperley residents (lead by Deerhurst Flood Warden, Norman MacPherson)

f) a fourteen hour day’s hard labour was recorded on the inner flood banks and was genuinely unforgettable. Sadly, it was to no avail due to a number of reasons which need addressing – some of which are done so below:

Obvious points, generally agreed:

1. This disaster could happen again due to ‘climate change’ – and soon.
2. The present Deerhurst pumping system is not effective.

2.1 It needs increasing in capacity by supplying a parallel and permanently installed battery starting hydraulic pumping system in case of an electricity problem as experienced in 2007.

2.2 The present inadequate pumping facility needs raising two feet six inches from its present base and its capacity increasing many fold.

Note: On Wednesday 25^th July the water level in the Severn was approximately one foot lower than that inside the Deerhurst village basin and in consequence the houses had higher levels of flood water in them than they should have had i.e. due primarily to the inability of the pumps to help drain the basin quickly. At one stage the basin’s water was poring over the flood banks into the Severn. The present inadequate pumping system cuts out on overheating, which is totally unacceptable.

3. The Deerhurst 1947 level Inner Flood Banks are too low to hold back the 2007 level type floods and need increasing in height by at least two feet six inches all round the present defence boundary.
4. The new stank gates are two feet six inches too low.

4.1 They need a physical support in the middle as a worrying ‘banana’ bow was seen in them due to the pressure of the floodwater. This support could be a separate solid metal post positioned in the centre of the gate and sunk to a sensible depth into the road.

4.2 The tarmac road is leaking below the gates.

4.3 There were leaks down the sides of the gates or their structures, both of which need investigation and possibly strengthening.

5. There is a witnessed need to increase the flood bank protection in many new places (besides the increase in overall bank height):

5.1 in the church yard where major problems were witnessed (a new flood bank required)

5.2 by the porous walls on either side of the road to the church stank gate

5.3 around the area by the Apperley Road stank gate

5.4 from Mr K Samuel’s animal slurry pit to the present flood bank (a new flood bank required with provision for an animal crossing point)

5.5 on the Barn Lane road entrance into the village (an area where problems have been seen before but not satisfactorily overcome by STWA or Environmental Agency)

5.6 on either side of the road of the above para 5.5 (one new flood bank required on the village side).

5.7 access to the pumping station is needed via the banks from Barn Lane road and similar access is required from the church road to the banks leading to Deerhurst House.

5.8 land water flowing into the village down Barn Lane needs diverting into the river and not allowing to flow into the village.

6. The supply of 2500 sand bags should be given as soon as possible along with the necessary sand, to allow Parishioners to build up reserve defences should emergencies be experienced in the future.
7. The total lack of assistance from any of the authorities was to a degree understandable in the circumstances and is an omen for the future. Deerhurst village needs to be self-supporting in its defence against similar future floods. To enable such a position resources must be provided to allow those defences to be built and maintained.
8. The lack of Environmental Agency up to date communication was disturbing. The information given was questionable at most times.

The STWA or Environmental Agency can not be blamed for this disaster to our village, however, if it were to happen again with the same levels of flooding experienced, the STWA or Environmental Agency should be held totally responsible if the above recommendations have not been acted upon in a reasonable timescale. The Government has stated that financial aid is available for the communities such as Deerhurst, so there cannot be any excuses.

Following a requested visit to the village by the Gloucestershire Chief Fire Officer on Saturday and the visitor’s immediate and sympathetic reaction to our plight (when the Environmental Agency was not taking the event as a village disaster), the Gloucestershire (Cirencester), West Yorkshire (Bradford & Leeds) and Northampton Fire & Rescue Service did a truly fantastic job clearing a comparatively massive volume of water from the village basin. Without their help the water would have been in the village gardens for days longer. The Environmental Agency’s two pumping facilities (one from Uttoxeter), when they eventually began a 24 hours per day operation, were equally praiseworthy and their respective personnel remarkably courteous and excellent in all respects.

The attached map highlights those areas described above. There is plenty of photographic evidence available should it be needed and it is assumed from the squadrons of helicopters and light aircraft flying over the Parish during the flood, that there are many interesting films available for detailed examination. An in depth survey is required to allow constructive review of the total situation and recommendations for immediate action. It has been indicated that the Environmental Agency does wish to increase the level of our banks because of the down stream effects on Gloucester. Balderdash ! Our village basin is a thimble full of water when one looks at the total Severn flood basin. We must put sustained pressure on the powers-to-be to ensure that this disaster does not occur again.

Other highlights included:

a) Mr Dave Cameron, Tory Leader, and Laurence Robertson MP visiting the village outskirts on Saturday 28^th July

b) A high ranking National Fire Officer, the Bishop of Tewkesbury and the Archdeacon of Cheltenham all came to inspect the village problems. The Fire Officer was appalled and organised the Fire Service Pumping Units supply for which the affected village home owners will be eternally grateful.

On August 6^th, the village entrance with piles of earth, stagnant and sewage laden water trapped in the fields, rutted road surfaces and hedge borne flotsam had not been attacked by any authority. Tewkesbury Borough Council is apparently unable to assist us until the financial position is resolved – somewhere.

who is to blame?

the search for answers to the flood question is an interesting one and we have included 5 of the main possible culprits or depending on your POV, scapegoats. It doesn't take a detailed fishbone analysis to point the finger first at the Environmental Agency, whose own web-site puts our village at a low risk. From speaking to some of the men manning the pumps that helped clear the village, their concern is directed at the central government funding who allegedly reduced the flood defence budget last year.

It is way too easy to scream and kick about, what strikes anyone with half a brain (phew! just in), the target driven bonuses of Lady Young and her Environmental Agency cronies. Sure these are just target based bonuses that are triggered automatically - will have to sometime look up how these bonuses are set up - sure they tick all the corporate responsiblity boxes but hope that somewhere along the line there is a customer satisfaction portion in the pay formula and that we are asked about our customer satisfaction!

The poll does not include a " it is just one of those things" or "maybe the villagers could have done better" because I did not think of them at the time! In more reflective times, it is way too easy to say "it was just one of those things": there are lessons to be learned for all parties in what we hope is once in a lifetime event. As long as it is never again.

the good, the bad and the ugly

Good - work for lots of builders, restorers, assessors etc. An afternoon drive for rubber neckers. A chance to refurbish, re-arrange houses. Gets people out of houses and into a what is a village spirit that was probably not there many years ago anyway. Still haven't some people in the village yet! Politicians talk endlessly about communities and creating and fostering them - people's social networks are much more diverse nowadays with the advent of easy travel and the internet (IM, Facebook, Bebo etc) The old image of concentric circles encompassing your different network of friends/ relatives are a little less easy to categorise nowadays. Communities are based more on culture, built upon the artefacts, beliefs and the core philosophy, which is hard to change. We would like to think self-reliance is at the core of the village life, whether through necessity of lack of support or through a group wish.

Bad: - disruption, stress, loss (financial and especially personal, people's art works and calligraphy)

Ugly - the smell, the slight sleights of people trying to help, the boredom of retelling the story over and over again!

they are coming back ...

C. is back - thought it might give her a kick to see her name in print (fame at last! C = Cynthia Hall) as she is a proper silver surfer - and it raises the question of how many people will return. A house is not a house but a home and the feeling of violaton that people that experience from a burglary is being replicated, but this time we saw the burglar coming and could do very little to stop the b**tard!

E. (Emma Checkley) is determined to be back before Christmas and will be doing her neighbourhood watch all the time (think she has 999 on speed dial!) as she pays her daily visit to her stranded house. Our little caped crusader whose wearing of thigh high waders excited some interest in the older generation and sure she wore them a little longer than strictly necessary! She stayed up to watch the water seep into the house before being "dragged" away by her Brummis Chummies. Personally, could not be arsed to do that as seen enough water that day!

The choice of whether to stay or go is an interesting one for all concerned.

it hurts ...