There is a record tidal surge of 3m currently heading down the east cost of
England. It is expected to hit the Norfolk coast in the early hours of
Friday morning, to coincide with high tide. Many coastal areas of Norfolk
have received severe flood warning and areas of Lowestoft have been
evacuated.
Hopefully Oulton Broad won't get hit - it is slightly inland. The though of
a flood at Hannants warehouse doesn't bear thinking about. Just imagine what
it would do to all those decals.
snipped-for-privacy@some.domain wrote in
news:FGMYi.446255$ snipped-for-privacy@fe04.news.easynews.com:
I'll raise you and sacrifice an ass and 2 atheists, which is 3 of a kind.
Frank
The danger has passed.
In the event, the tidal surge was not quite as high as it could have been.
Flood defences were breached in Great Yarmouth, although not
catastrophically. No properties were flooded, but it was touch and go for
some people living near the seafront. You may see on various telly reports
that in one village the seafront road was flooded and the waters came up to
the fronts of houses. The prom at Sheringham was also flooded, but again
the waters didn't reach any properties.
I see that the backlash has already started. Various local politicians are
criticising the Met Office and the Environment Agency for over-reacting. The
evacuations and other precautions have cost a lot of money, so the
politicians want their moment of fame.
The word from the local population is somewhat different. The people
involved in the evacuations have all spoken highly of the manner in which
they were treated by the authorities. The people involved are now making a
bit of a joke about it all. But what seems clear is that the authorities
acted in timely and considered manner and took action to minimise
casualties. The Met Office and Environment Agency issued their flood
warnings based on worst case scenarios. So what if the worst case didn't
come to pass? Can you imagine the uproar if flood warnings hadn't been
issued and a catastrophe *had* happened?
This way, even if the tidal surge had matched the worst case predictions and
there had been extensive flooding, it is likely that the casualties would
have been minimal as the vulnerable areas were evacuated. I think that the
authorities have done well and should be congratulated.
From what I hear on other froups the guys in the Netherlands got away with
it as well.
I'm convinced that this is all because civil authorities in the various
countries involved have put a lot of thought and work into preventing
possible disasters. I love it when forecast catastrophes turn out to be
damp squibs like this. Having seen a number of television reports today, it
seems that in my part of the world, disaster was only inches away. The
people who have fought so hard over the past few years to fund and build
flood defences should be feeling very proud of themselves right now.
Glad to hear that damage was minimal on your side of the puddle. The
weather guys take the heat too around here if they forecast the worst
and it doesn't happen. Must be a human nature thing.
Anybody hear anything about the Netherlands? I heard a little in German
last night on DW-TV but I understood less.
Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.
Well, on on hand I'm glad there was no major flooding or damage. On the
other hand, a few sacrificed goats and christians might not have been such
a bad thing. A few less bible thumpers would put a smile on my face.
Record high waves, but dikes pass test
9 November 2007
AMSTERDAM - 10-metre high waves beat the North Sea coast of the Netherlands
overnight, but no major problems were reported by Friday morning.
The north-west storm that raced over the Netherlands with wind speeds of
more than 100 kilometres per hour caused record-high water levels.
Strong winds of 100 km per hour are not exceptional for this time of the
year in the Netherlands, but it is the combination of wind direction, rain
and a seawater level that was already high prior to the storm that caused
the state of alert.
In Harlingen, a town bordering on the north-east coast of the country, the
seawater level rose to 3.4 metres above the so-called New Amsterdam Water
level (NAP), the standard used to ascertain the height of the water.
Near Rotterdam, the level stood at 2.84 metres above NAP while in Zeeland,
in the south-west, the sea level rose to 3.43 metres, the third highest
level since the Delta water defence system in the Zeeland province has been
built.
Late Thursday night, all Dutch water defence systems along the North Sea
coast, such as the Maeslant and Hartel defence systems near Rotterdam, had
been automatically closed due to the high water level.
The coastguard patrolled the dikes from north to south during the night, but
no major problems occurred.
The harbour of Rotterdam, which had closed down in the early evening of
Thursday, also remained closed throughout the night and early Friday
morning.
Elsewhere in the country, the first strong autumn storm of 2007 in the
Netherlands caused damage to public and personal property.
In the province of Noord-Brabant, rooftops of homes were damaged and trees
fell on cars.
In several places located near the sea, local flooding occurred. In
Harlingen, the fishery storage and processing sites were all flooded, with
water levels of up to 1 metre.
Later this morning, the water level in Delfzijl in the north is expected to
rise to more than 4 metres above NAP.
The coastal guard along the whole north-east coast of the Netherlands will
remain on high alert throughout the rest of Friday.
From the village of Petten in the province of Noord-Holland to the south
however, the high alert has been lifted.
For Friday, rain and hail are expected to continue, again accompanied with
north-eastern winds of up to 100 km per hour.
[Copyright dpa 2007]
In 1982 we lived in Inverness, CA. The weather report for January 4
was scattered showers.
Those showers were not scattered. They came from all over to dump
almost twenty inches of rain in twenty-four hours on Inverness and the
rest of Marin County. We lost sixteen homes with dozens damaged. One
fatality in Sausalito, one injury resulting in quadropedic and several
other injuries. One horse was killed.
The hillsides liquified, ending up blocking almost all lower streets
and isolating us for a week. As a firefighter/EMT I was on duty for
seventy-two hours, mostly stabilizing homes and helping remove
valuables for residents of demolished homes. The second day I actually
got to commandere a news helicopter for a call of a house in the bay.
The house was, indeed, in the bay, but people on the shore saw only
the people on the roof, not the boat on the other side of the house.
Upon return to Inverness we immediately loaded a cardiac patient and
off to the hospital. The KGO helicopter made a dozen more sorties at
their expense, bringing in needed supplies (sandbags, fuel, clean/dry
socks, etc.) and flying officials over the area to review the damage.
Scattered showers my ass!
Tom
Uh... say, there, could we borrow them for a bit? We seem to have had a
little problem with storm preparedness in the last few years.
Don H (A safe 1,000 miles north of New Orleans)
"Disco58" wrote
It's a good thing we Bible-thumpers don't feel the same way about you
Godless pagans. Fewer of you would certainly make us smile, but only if
you've joined us, not if you've been sacrificed.
May your God be with you.
RobG
(The Aussie one)
I was living in Santa Cruz then and remember it well - not having been in
the tropics before (or since), I can truly say that I have never seen it
rain so hard for so long; even after moving to the Puget Sound area.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.