Orissa reels under floods following heavy rains

From our ANI Correspondent

Balasore (Orissa), Sept 27: Orissa is reeling under floods caused by heavy rains over the past few days across the state.
The situation in Balasore district continued to be grim for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday with three major rivers still in spate, leaving hundreds of villagers here marooned.

Floodwaters have entered the Balasore municipality area and two other urban local bodies of Jaleswar and Nilagiri, inundating low-lying areas and damaging thatched houses.

"It is a severe flood situation here. I haven't seen such kind of flood in our area in my lifetime. The government has not provided any kind of help, no relief has been provided to us, no polythene bags, no food, nothing has reached us," said Bhikari Mallick, a flood victim.

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‘We must learn flood lessons’ says minister

Sep 29 2007

by Peter Collins, South Wales Echo

A MAJOR study into how to prevent the kind of flooding that devastated parts of South Wales this summer is to be carried out. The pilot study, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, will include evidence from Barry residents who were forced out of their homes by the floods on July 20. The study was announced by Jane Davidson, minister for environment, sustainability and housing, during an Assembly debate on the summer floods. She said: “The Assembly Government is directly funding pilot studies in Prestatyn and Barry from our Flood and Coastal Risk Management grant scheme. “The result of these pilot studies will assist in the development of future policy guidance and will support the spread of best practice for urban flood risk management to sites across Wales. Full Story

Expert blames city for flood

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Sutiyoso's Jakarta administration should be held responsible for the massive floods that crippled the city in February this year, environmental researcher Erwin Iskandar said Thursday.

Standing as an expert witness for flood victims at the Central Jakarta District Court, Erwin, the head of Trisakti University's research institute, said the local administration should have been able to properly anticipate the February floods.

"Jakarta has been flooded for the past 400 years. With the help of his advisors, the governor should have been able to anticipate (the floods) through a number of efforts, including fixing the flood gates built during the Dutch colonial era," he said.

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Flood-risk owners told not to concrete over gardens

HOMEOWNERS should be urged to stop concreting over their gardens to combat the threat of flooding, an MSP said today.

Labour environment spokeswoman Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, said "basic information" should be made available on how people could help prevent floods.

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M.T.A. Failed During Flood, Report Says

By JOHN SULLIVAN

Published: September 21, 2007

The Aug. 8 storm that crippled the city transit system caught the Metropolitan Transportation Authority flat-footed, according to a report ordered by Gov. Eliot Spitzer that was released today.

Transportation officials failed to foresee or prepare for the deluge of rain, which overwhelmed the capacity of the transit system’s pumps and drainage network, and the authority did not communicate with legions of stranded passengers or provide alternate means of transportation, the report said.

The authority released the findings of the report at an 11 a.m. news conference at its Midtown headquarters and made copies of the 115-page document available on its Web site.

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MMDA flood control project results in heavy traffic on EDSA
By DJ Yap
Inquirer
Last updated 05:56am (Mla time) 09/17/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Though it was a Sunday, traffic crawled at a snail’s pace in some parts of EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) Sunday as personnel of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority dug holes on the sidewalk to lay drainage pipes in line with its flood control project.

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MMDA flood control project results in heavy traffic on EDSA
By DJ Yap
Inquirer
Last updated 05:56am (Mla time) 09/17/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Though it was a Sunday, traffic crawled at a snail’s pace in some parts of EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) Sunday as personnel of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority dug holes on the sidewalk to lay drainage pipes in line with its flood control project.

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Nigeria: Lagos - Sad Tales of Flood Victims

Vanguard (Lagos)

OPINION
13 September 2007
Posted to the web 13 September 2007

Okey Ndiribe
Lagos

RESIDENTS of parts of Owode and Ketu in Lagos are currently going through hard times since a section of the bridge along Ikorodu Road caved in due to floods which occurred in the area after a heavy down pour last Saturday.

As a result of this development, motorists who ply that section of the ever-busy road have been forced to use only one side of the road, thereby leading to heavy traffic jams. It was learnt that, sometimes, motorists get trapped in the traffic gridlock for as long as three hours.

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Residents call for flood measures

By Chris

Residents living in an Oxford housing complex who were evacuated during July's floods said simple measures - overlooked by planners - would have kept them in their homes.

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Flood-hit residents' fury over drains

Roads Service blasted on litter and foul smell

Monday, September 03, 2007

By Sam McBride

Almost three months after flood waters enveloped swathes of east Belfast, drains are still filled with litter, residents today claimed.

Drains in two of the streets worst hit by the floods - Ardgowan Street and Carrington Street - contain litter, polystyrene and in one case, a large piece of wood. Several have weeds growing undisturbed.

Residents said they have not seen the drains being cleaned for year

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Climate warning raises long-term flood fears

Sábado, Setembro 1st, 2007 in global warming, climate

Plans to protect Britain do not heed the risk of rising river levels caused by global warming, a study finds

• Steven Morris and Alok Jha
• The Guardian
• Thursday August 30 2007

Scientists have urged the government to consider the full impact of global warming when drawing up plans to protect Britain from flooding. A study from the Met Office’s Hadley Centre predicts that river levels will rise higher than anticipated because existing computer models do not take into account the effects of climate change on plant life.

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Byram participates in flood program

Byram — The township planning board is seeking public input about potential flooding sites as part of a Delaware River Basin Commission project. The township joined the commission project in March along with other municipalities in Sussex, Warren and Hunterdon counties. Once potential downstream flooding areas are identified, the township and commission will jointly plan mitigation measures.

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Flood-Soaked Queens Blames Development, Lagging Sewers and Climate Change

By ELLEN BARRY

Published: August 29, 2007
The extent of this summer’s flooding damage to Queens has emerged gradually, overlooked in the drama of Brooklyn’s tornado. But politicians and homeowners in Queens warn that floods are overtaxing the sewer system. Even members of an assessment team from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that visited Woodside were “astounded by what they saw,” said Barbara Lynch, an agency spokeswoman.

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Second Thames flood barrier planned

By Melissa Kite, Deputy Political Editor, Sunday Telegraph

Last Updated: 1:42am BST 26/08/2007

A new £20 billion Thames barrier to save London from a potentially disastrous flooding threat is the centrepiece of a series of measures planned by the Government.

	The existing Thames barrier was completed in 1983

Phil Woolas, the minister for climate change, told The Sunday Telegraph that a feasibility study into a second Thames barrier, potentially required within 25 years, was due to report in a matter of weeks.

In addition, new flood defences are being planned for all major police, fire and power stations and other vital infrastructure in a bid to avoid more disastrous flooding of the kind that hit Britain last month.

Mr Woolas said that during the floods, which caused up to £3 billion worth of damage, parts of Gloucestershire came within minutes of the biggest peacetime evacuation Britain has seen. It came after a crucial electricity sub-station was nearly destroyed.

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A forgotten south, stuck in the depths of despair

August 25, 2007

Page 1 of 4 | Single page

Two years after Katrina, most are still waiting for promised aid to rebuild, writes Ian Munro in New Orleans.

THERE was a time when it seemed New Orleans truly had died. The saltwater flood that surged out of Lake Pontchartrain settled into a metres-deep inland sea for three weeks, lapping the eaves of houses and killing most vegetation. Birds and insects fled, leaving a silent, lifeless landscape.

The receding flood's last gesture was to release a coating of silt over everything that dried to grey and flipped the world to monochrome. For weeks it failed to rain, and the grey remained. It was like walking into a silent black-and-white movie, say the people who witnessed it.

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Flood report blames drainage system

Press Association
Friday August 24, 2007 9:43 AM

A independent report on why Hull was so badly affected by flooding in June said the drainage system was totally overwhelmed.

The interim report, which was commissioned by the city council, said flood protection systems and drainage plans based on a one-in-30 year rainfall event such as this, may not be sufficient for low-lying cities like Hull.

It highlighted problems caused by different agencies - including the Environment Agency, council and water companies - responsible for different areas of the drainage, which are likely to replicated across the UK.

And it urged the Environment Agency to look at expanding its flood warning system from just river-based flooding to other kinds of potential deluge.

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March against flood-plain housing

See pictures of the march

Residents of one of the worst-hit towns during last month's flooding crisis have staged a march against any plans to build on flood plains.

Thousands of people walked through Tewkesbury in the rain on Saturday to urge the government to review its policy on such development.

Organisers wanted to highlight the devastation caused by flooding.

The government has not ruled out using flood plains under plans to build three million new homes by 2020.

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Heavy rains in Orissa trigger floods in many rivers

KalingaTimes Correspondent Bhubaneswar: As heavy rains battered Orissa affecting normal life in most parts of the State during the past three days, water level has started rising in several rivers posing a serious threat of floods in different regions. The rivers that were rising by Tuesday morning include Mahanadi, Brahmani, Baitarani, Subarnarekha, Budhabalanga, Rushikulya, Vansadhara, Nagabali, Hati and Tel. Full Story

Flood travails continue

Statesman News Service
BHUBANESWAR, Aug 6: People of Cuttack continued their battle with the rain caused deluge even as a harried district and civic administration has pressed 116 high power pumps into service to flush out the water. The ministers are visiting the affected areas to oversee the relief work.
The deep depression over the Bay of Bengal resulted in unprecedented rains in coastal districts. Fifteen persons have been killed. Six had died in Cuttack district, seven in Balasore and one each at Balipatna and Jajpur, said officials while giving the break up of 15 causalities.
The depression weakened and crossed Orissa today but it did leave behind a cesspool of problems and questions reminding everybody that nothing much has improved over the years as far as drainage and sewage systems of the ancient capital was concerned.
On the flip side of the depression it was held that it helped coastal Orissa overcome the threat of moisture stress and drought like conditions.

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Heavy rains lash Orissa, Cuttack marooned

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 6 (PTI): As heavy rains continued to lash most parts of Orissa, nearly 50,000 people remained marooned in Cuttack city for the second consecutive day today.

Revenue Minister Manmohan Samal, who along with Urban Development Minister K V Singhdeo, went to Cuttack to review the 'grim' situation there, told reporters that the city had received as much as 43.7 cm of rainfall since Saturday.

"This is the highest rainfall in Cuttack in last 40 years," Samal said adding the rains had wiped away the spectare of drought in several districts.

Official sources said while a total of about three lakh people in Cuttack were severely affected in the flood triggered by heavy rains, 3146 persons living in low-lying areas were shifted to safe places.

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