Iwatched the rain get worse again. My colleague from upstairs came and informed my boss that the surface water was starting to gather in Tenbury Wells again. As the Environment Agency have refused to fund any sort of defences in Tenbury my boss is putting a case together to try and get them some flood warning instead. So off he went in a 4×4 wearing my waders and my high viz jacket. The rain continued. There were was a steady rain with some really sharp intense bursts. Bond and Dr Bob left whilst I waited for Bob to come and pick me up. He was coming from near Bodenham and had to come through a road that I had just heard was shut on the local radio. Anyway he made it and we set off.
Well I got home ok but I did have to push a poor Morris Minor out of a flood at Cotheridge, (between Bromyard and Worcester on the A44). We watched it shudder to halt as we were waiting to go through the water, this has become the common occurrence on the roads of Herefordshire and Worcestershire recently. A rare show of manners as you wait patiently for the cars coming towards you to drive through the water in the middle of the road as the middle of the road is generally higher. Then some twat in a 4×4 will overtake the waiting cars and whizz through engulfing the cars coming the other way and forcing them to deeper water. This happened when I was getting out of the car to help the Moggy. I ran towards the Moggy in me wellies to help the poor hippy chick push her beloved car out whilst the cars behind sat doing bugger all waiting for us to remove the car. Yeah thanks for that. Another chap who was behind us helped too and so did Bob but that was it. We ran up the road pushing the Moggy as the chick desperately tried to start it up. No such joy, but the other chap who had stopped seemed to know a thing or two about engines and so stayed with her. Ahh knight in shining armour.
The road from Bromyard to Worcester was nowhere near as bad as 20th July last year but the council have done quite a bit of drainage work on it since. I have been informed that the road from Burley Gate to Bromyard was awful and just as bad as last year. Now this is probably because Herefordshire council haven’t got the money to spend on drains.
We got home and I texted my mates in the local area to make sure they were ok. All were fine. TH had been out in South Wales that day but had got back ok. Mer was fine and Bond got home ok. I texted my boss who rang me getting very excited. He was still in Tenbury taking dip readings on the Kyre Brook. This is the smaller of the two watercourses in Tenbury. It was literally lapping at the banks and going to come over. The police had tried to evacuate him but he was having none of it and told them he was trying to help Tenbury so they left him. The Kyre Brook flows at one end of the high street in Tenbury and the Teme is at the other. They both flood and then meet in the middle. This is the 4th time in 18 months that Tenbury has been engulfed! I left my boss to carry on dipping. I should really text him again to make sure he is back home as the road between Tenbury and Bromyard got shut.
The flooding worries continue as the pluvial flood subside and the rivers begin to rise. Last night on our way home from the pub the Severn was lapping at its bank top outside Browns. I should imagine it is now out. Well where on earth are the Environment Agency going to put the demountable barriers. They have started the permanent barriers so the trees have been chopped down and there are big mounds of un compacted clay where the barriers would normally go. We spotted the EA out last night looking at the situation. There is no room between the Severn and the clay so basically most of this is going to get washed into the river. There you go Upton have some red clayey water. I will nip down and see what is going on in a bit. I’m such a geek!!
