Extra £100m aid for areas hit by storms
PrIMe Minister David Cameron announced an extra £100 million for repairs and other “urgent work” yesterday as severe weather continued to batter southern england.
A section of a main rail line was washed away and the environment Agency revealed 328 homes had been flooded since Friday. Forecasters warned of another three days of storms.
YET more flooding is threatened across southern England from another three days of heavy rain after storms tore a hole in a main rail line and forced further evacuations.
Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday sought to seize the initiative over the worsening crisis by announcing an extra £100 million for repairs and other “urgent work” in Somerset.
The move came as another amber – “be prepared” – severe weather warning was issued by the Met Office for southern England.
Forecasters warned that heavy rain from this afternoon until Saturday would cause more flooding.
The latest damage included the destruction of part of the London to Cornwall rail line, whose foundations were washed away after a sea wall collapsed on a coastal section at Dawlish, between Torquay and Exeter.
Network Rail said the route would be closed for up to six weeks for repairs, which would be “the biggest engineering feat we have faced in the south-west for at least the last decade”.
The Environment Agency said 328 homes had been flooded since Friday.
In Scotland, a flood warning was issued for the Kirkcaldy coast last night by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency ahead of high tides and strong winds.
Three other flood warnings were in force for the River Isla in Perthshire.
A yellow – “be aware” – warning for heavy rain was in force for north-east Scotland, north of Perth.
Mr Cameron described the situation in Somerset as “unacceptable”, a day after the Prince of Wales said during a visit there: “The tragedy is that nothing happened for so long.”
Prince Charles has pledged £50,000 to support flood victims, with the Duke of Westminster providing a further £50,000.
The Prime Minister said some £75m would fund repairs, £15m for maintenance and £10m for “urgent work” in Somerset.
Mr Cameron also chaired a meeting of Cobra, the civil contingencies committee that leads responses to national crises.
He told MPs: “Whatever is required, whether it is dredging work on the rivers Tone and Parrett, whether it is support for our emergency services, whether it is fresh money for flood defences, whether it is action across the board, this government will help those families and get this issue sorted.”
The move follows growing anger over a perceived lack of government action to help flood-hit areas.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said: “Many of those affected feel the government’s response has been slow and that more could have been done sooner.”
Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Guy Shrubsole said the extra funding was “like trying to plug the leaks when the dam’s about to burst”.
He said: “The Prime Minister may bluff and bluster about cuts in flood defences, but he can’t disguise his government’s short-sighted and disastrous decisions.
“Official figures show the coalition spent less than the last government on flood defences.
“With climate change worsening flood risk, there is now a gaping half-billion-pound hole between what’s been spent on defences and what’s required.”
Residents have begged the Environment Agency to start dredging, with many complaining they are living in “Third World” conditions with “overflowing” septic tanks.
More than 128,000 acres have been deluged in the Somerset Levels, around Bridgwater, with