On 09/02/2014 16:55, Sacha wrote:
On 2014-02-09 15:22:32 +0000, Bob Hobden said:

"David Hill" wrote

Well for now it looks as if the worst of the wind is over.
Here at the side of Swansea Bay we had 26 hours with the wind gusting
to 60 mph or more, of that 18 hours were gusting to over 70mph, but
with that came just 0.6 inches of rain so I suppose we were lucky,
though there is water running everywhere.
Here everything is still standing, just the ground littered with
twigs; mostly dead wood; that the gale removed, and my first daffs
are still upright, I checked the variety and they are Rijnveld's
early sensation, and are about 3 weeks ahead of the next earliest.
The first Camellia buds are just showing signs of red but a time away
from flowering.
Hope everyone else got away lightly.

Whilst we did have strong winds it's the flooding we are all concerned
about here. It's back again with the same three main roads closed as
before as the Thames has burst it bank again. They are now saying it
will be worse than 2003 locally.

Don't move to Somerset! Just a couple of days ago my daughter helped
evacuate foals belonging to HOPE. Their owner's house has been flooded
for some time and until she was forced to leave, had 9 pumps going. She
received a call at 7am telling her to get herself and the foals and her
own horses out, as they feared the River Parrett was going to burst its
banks. Frantic calls were made to try to find stabling and transport
for the animals which would otherwise have drowned. Eventually both were
sorted out and 8 went in one direction and the rest in another. One
person asked only for petrol money (the charity will pay for animal
feed) but the transporter is charging her £500 and one stable is
charging her £10 per day per foal. She daren't move them again for at
least a week as they were so unsettled (these are wild Dartmoor foals)
so she has to find a lot of money and if possible, some future free, or
much cheaper stabling. This is a little known charity saving foals that
would otherwise be shot, so they're not wealthy and their money
collection 'catchment area' is small. So the foal's owner and her
husband are now living in a caravan belonging to my daughter in one of
her paddocks, the cats are in a cattery and they have absolutely no idea
when they'll be able to get home again. I may say, that this house has
never flooded before, is not in a flood area (up until now) and she was
assured by the surveyor that it was a safe property to buy and in which
to keep horses. It's to be hoped they can get some help from somewhere
and quickly.


Might be worth them contacting

The Prince's Countryside Fund,
The Farming Help Partnership,
Somerset Community Foundation.
The Country Landowners and Business Association's