From BBC News: Knightsbridge this morning. In late-2001 I was living in Devon. I'd planned to ride into Exeter and maybe buy a desktop PC. But overnight it rained so much the three routes East or South-East were cut off. I had the Bonneville at the time. The first way out I tried went over an old stone bridge where the powerful flow was at the top of the arches. The road was closed. Having tried all three routes, I chose the one that simply looked like it stopped at a river. It was about a foot-and-a-half deep for about fifty foot or so. I reasoned that if I rode through it fast enough, the bow wave would keep the water clear of the carbs and electrics, while exhaust pressure would keep those clear. And it worked! When I got to Exeter I noticed strings of sodden plant-life caught in the (high-riser US Export) handlebar levers. And I stank. The next night I went for a ride on the Tiverton road and found another road flooded to about the same depth, thought I'd try it again, and conked out halfway through. It was very cold stepping off into it to push the bike back out! And then a day or two later I rode to London, where, getting through the Hanger Lane Gyratory and heading East on the North Circular, I had to bypass the underpass at Park Royal because it was flooded to the roof. Twenty years ago, possibly to the month. The way to identify the month would be to search for news archives about a section of the Tarka Line being washed away between Exeter and Crediton. For the remaining time I lived in Crediton you couldn't get to Exeter by train, either. I don't think I'll ride through any floods on the 999... even if chance'd be a fine thing!
My garage flooded Saturday afternoon and last night. The drains up on the road that ours T's off blocked and flooded into our road. My garage is at the bottom and the drain just couldn't cope. In the 23yrs we've lived here it's only ever flooded a couple of times to @1/4" half way across the floor, but at it's worst on Saturday it was 6" deep by the door and nearly that under my bench. The first I knew about it I was working at my Lathe and realised my feet were suddenly wet. Luckily all I've lost is some plywood that was leaning up against the wall ready for a job in the house. The Council are supposed to be clearing the drains today, but I'm wondering if the roadworks they did on a A3 a bit further up the hill have changed something.
Normally it copes very well considering the large catchment area, but that area was probably 20 times what it normally is due to the drain issue further up the road. When I moved in it was just three bricks in a shallow depression, but I dug it out and put what you can see in. The pipe at the end goes @10' into a Soakaway under a neighbours garden.
I can see how that could be unnerving! Here's a shot from outside the place we just sold, taken last December. The house is about 2 - 3ft higher elevation. This is halfway up a hill and I hoped that if it rose that much it would crest the next brow before reaching the house. The council had already worked on the drains to combat this... ha ha. The house is ~500 years old. You'd think it was immune; but not necessarily, if we're entering a new climate phase we haven't been in for millennia...
I live about 100m from the lowest point of my village, which, incidentally is marked by a mill stream which flows underneath the road. There are rivers and lakes on 3 sides and within half a mile of my house. When it rains hard the road and pavement in front of my house turns into a shallow fast flowing stream as the drains obviously can't cope. The house is also 2ft lower than and only 2m away from the pavement. I've been here for close to 2 years but amazingly haven't been flooded yet. However in their infinite wisdom, the local authority allowed the building of 174 (IIRC) houses on the side of a formerly wooded hill overlooking the village and they're nearing completion now, so once the waste water discharge and rainwater run off increases that may well change. I'm seriously considering moving anyway (to live on a boat, appropriately enough) and I just hope I make it out before being inundated......
