Nandy blasts Government response after visit to town
WELSH ROCK band Manic Street Preachers have donated £3,000 to a local flood-relief fund after parts of the country were hit by flooding.
The Pontypridd flooding relief page was set up by Labour MP Alex Davies-Jones to help those affected by Storm Dennis, which left hundreds of homes in South Wales underwater.
The fund’s initial target was £5,000, but yesterday donations hit £23,500 – with 23 days left to go. The band made the £3,000 contribution on Thursday along with other famous names.
Donations of £500 were also listed under the names of Line Of Duty star Vicky McClure and her partner Jonny Owen, while a pledge of the same amount came from former Labour leader Neil Kinnock.
SHADOW SECRETARY for Climate Change and Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy has said the government’s delayed response to the floods in West Yorkshire was “poor”.
The Wigan MP’s comments come after her visit to one of the region’s flood-struck towns Sowerby Bridge yesterday, where she spoke to businesses affected by a second major flood in just over four years. More than 1,200 businesses and homeowners were hit by flooding across Calderdale after Storms Ciara and Dennis, causing devastation and economic disruption similar to that of the infamous Boxing Day floods in 2015.
Ms Nandy said: “The Government’s response to flooded areas was poor and not good enough.
“After hearing from businesses in Sowerby Bridge, it’s obviously people are tired of the disruption. The people living in this high-risk flood areas aren’t able to get insurance – this should be national news.
“A lot of people are asking ‘why aren’t we Tier 1 status’ for the next Budget meeting (on March 11).”
Razan Alsour, who co-owns
VISITOR:
Yorkshire Dama Cheese, in Sowerby Bridge, said: “The floods after Storm Ciara have cost us damages of around £30,000, which is rising everyday.
“To get insurance it would cost £12,000 a year – we can’t afford that. I’m originally from Syria but moved here because of the war. We had to give ourselves strength to recover from the loss we suffered.
“It’s heartbreaking what’s happened here – and we have absolutely lost confidence and feel our business’ future is no longer in Sowerby Bridge.”
This week, the government announced a major support package for businesses and homeowners across Calderdale.
The package includes thousands of pounds in support for residents within the worst-affected areas, including grants, and 100 percent council tax and business rate relief for three months.
But Ms Nandy said she felt the government needed to look at alternative strategies to tackle an issue she is confident is being caused by climate change. “The people of Calderdale have suffered three major floods since 2012 – this is a climate emergency,” she said.
RIVERS ACROSS Yorkshire will be monitored for flood risk this weekend as the North of England prepares for another heavy deluge, a senior Environment Agency official has revealed.
The Environment Agency (EA) Deputy Director Craig McGarvey said northern England had a higher risk of flooding than anywhere else in the country, with Yorkshire and the Pennines at the greatest risk.
The warnings come as Yorkshire braces for the third successive weekend of storms, with almost continuous wet weather over the past fortnight meaning England has seen 141 per cent of its average February rainfall so far.
Spells of heavy rain over the weekend could lead to further flooding in parts of the North and the Midlands and Mr McGarvey insisted all rivers across Yorkshire are being monitored but singled out the River Ouse in York and North Yorkshire as being at particular risk.
“The message is across England, the North of England is at highest risk with the rainfall, so Yorkshire and the Pennines is a big flood risk area this weekend,” he said.
“It’s a big, broad swathe of rain and we will be monitoring all the rivers across Yorkshire.
“We will keep an eye on all the rivers but rivers like the Ouse have still got a lot of water in them.”
The EA said there were two severe flood warnings across England, meaning there is an immediate risk to life, with 72 flood warnings and 140 flood alerts. There was also one flood warning and three flood alerts in Wales.
The highest river levels on record have been seen on the Rivers Colne, Ribble, Calder, Aire, Trent, Severn, Wye, Lugg and Derwent.
Mr McGarvey said the preparations already carried out meant
DELUGE: the North is “ready for the river levels to come back up again,” but said extra precautions have been taken, in particular at Pateley Bridge in North Yorkshire after heavy rainfall from Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis.
“We have had people up at Pateley Bridge just making sure the defences haven’t been damaged because during Storm Ciara the water level was only a few centimetres away from the top of the defences,” he said.
“We are not forecasting levels like that at Pateley Bridge over the weekend but we had to double check because we have to make sure that everything is ready for more rainfall if we get it.”
Mr McGarvey also urged Yorkshire residents near rivers, or at risk of flooding, to remain vigilant and take individual responsibility to be prepared.
“I would encourage land owners and house owners who are at flood risk to make sure that they have got their own plans for dealing with the flooding situation,” he said. “This means that they know what they are going to do and where they are going to run their belongings to, such as animals or live-stock.”
Despite the deluge parts of Yorkshire has suffered in recent weeks, Mr McGarvey stressed that Yorkshire was a priority area for receiving government help and aid in the future.