Britain hit by worst floods
LONDON: More than one million people have been affected by the worst floods in over 60 years in the UK as the humanitarian crisis in central and western England deepened today.
Thousands of people were poised to evacuate their homes with the banks of the two largest rivers in Britain, the Severn and the Thames, threatening to burst. Prime Minister Mr Gordon Brown announced an independent review of handling of the floods. The Queen sent her sympathies to all those affected, saying she was “shocked and deeply concerned” by the devastation caused.
The RAF airlifted 160 stranded people to safety in 55 operations using Sea King helicopters in its biggest peacetime rescue operation. The Army and emergency services were battling to protect power supplies for 5,00,000 from rising waters.
Up to 350,000 people in Gloucestershire could be without running water for up to two weeks, authorities said as they warned that it might be a year before some of the evacuated families could return to their devastated homes.
Up to 10,000 homes are either flooded or at risk of flooding in Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Herefordshire, Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire.
Total damages from the flooding resulting from torrential rains in June and July could cost insurers more than 3 billion pounds, the Fitch Ratings agency said today.