Thames flooding
 

"Sacha" wrote

Hope all those urglers in or near the area of the flooding are okay and NOT
flooded!


We keep hearing how sandbags are being delivered, well we got a delivery of
sand to a local church by "The Sun" newspaper, saving the day as they will
say, and it was a free-for-all getting some to make your own bags with
no-one in charge. Useful only if you had anything to put it in, most seem to
be using their wheelie bins to collect it but what do they put it in when
they get it home. Carrier bags have holes.
A friend from across the road evacuated her disabled Dad down to Yeovil,
Somerset last night (another daughter) and is about to be on her way back
with lots of waders and sheet plastic.
It hasn't reached any further up our road since yesterday although it's now
coming up out of the ground in some back gardens opposite. Our biggest fear
is that it floods over the A30 at Egham from Runnymede meadow (now lake), if
that happens the whole of Egham will be gone with no way of road escape from
this whole area except through Staines which has water fountaining out of
the drains along the London Road, one of only two roads out of the town
still open.
I can actually smell the sewage in the water now when I walk down the road
every couple of hours to see how far it's got!
If anyone mentions drought later this year they will rightly be lynched!
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

Thames flooding
 

In article , says...


I can actually smell the sewage in the water now when I walk down the
road
every couple of hours to see how far it's got!

From childhood experience of living in a house on mains sewer services
in a flood area; one of the worst effects is sewage backing up through
toilet bowls especially in ground floor lavs. With luck you can prevent
this by plugging the U-bend . Double up some waterproof soft plastic
carrier bags and stuff them with rags, then ram the plug down the flush
hole of the toilet.

Janet.

Thames flooding
 

"Martin" wrote in message
...

On Wed, 12 Feb 2014 16:14:18 -0000, "Bob Hobden" wrote:

"Sacha" wrote

Hope all those urglers in or near the area of the flooding are okay and
NOT
flooded!


We keep hearing how sandbags are being delivered, well we got a delivery
of
sand to a local church by "The Sun" newspaper, saving the day as they will
say, and it was a free-for-all getting some to make your own bags with
no-one in charge. Useful only if you had anything to put it in, most seem
to
be using their wheelie bins to collect it but what do they put it in when
they get it home. Carrier bags have holes.
A friend from across the road evacuated her disabled Dad down to Yeovil,
Somerset last night (another daughter) and is about to be on her way back
with lots of waders and sheet plastic.
It hasn't reached any further up our road since yesterday although it's
now
coming up out of the ground in some back gardens opposite. Our biggest
fear
is that it floods over the A30 at Egham from Runnymede meadow (now lake),
if
that happens the whole of Egham will be gone with no way of road escape
from
this whole area except through Staines which has water fountaining out of
the drains along the London Road, one of only two roads out of the town
still open.
I can actually smell the sewage in the water now when I walk down the road
every couple of hours to see how far it's got!
If anyone mentions drought later this year they will rightly be lynched!

If you do use sandbags put them on a plastic membrane with the rest of the
plastic on the side facing the flood. On TV I've seen some being done like
this,
but most aren't. You can use black PVC sheeting.

I shall be using pond liner and sealing it against the house with silicon
sealer, I'll worry about getting that stuff off the house and woodwork
later. So far it's not advancing up our road but with this storm over the
coming weekend due to dump a months rain, the Thames will rise more next
week which may be when we go under. As you say, some precautions I've seen
are worse than useless, some with just sandbags and others with gaps around
the edge or the plastic the wrong side of the sandbags or just loose and not
against boards for strength and some have forgotten their air bricks. I
think genuine panic has caused some non-thinking and there has been no sign
of anyone advising the residents except one policeman saying we were next to
go under. Some sand bags and a knowledgeable official adviser with a few
army helpers would be nice!
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

Thames flooding
 

In article , says...

"Martin" wrote in message

If you do use sandbags put them on a plastic membrane with the rest of the
plastic on the side facing the flood.

If your flood is from a river that's broken its banks, the force of
fast-flowing water current (and debris it carries) can tear dislodge
or wash away any plastic sheets laid that way. When we lived in a flood
area in Hereford we always laid the sandbags as the outer defence to
protect the waterproof plastic sheet, while pressing it as tight as
possible against the building fabric to protect the points where water
(and suspended mud) could enter.

Place the plastic with a flat strip on the ground (will be pinned
down by sandbag weight), rising up folded into an L against the outer
wall of the building. Build a wall against it with sandbags, kicking
them in hard so they compress the plastic tight against the building to
block the airbrick holes, door frames etc.

At school, whenever there was a city flood alert all the pupils living
near the river/over the bridge would be sent home PDQ, while we could
still get there, so the school wouldnt get lumbered with us. Usually I
arrived home to see local removal pantechnicons lined down the street,
hurriedly loading the ground floor furnishings of some neighbours into
safe storage. We got busy with the sandbags, plugging sewage U-bends,
rolling up carpets, stacking furniture as high as possible and filling
the bath with clean water.

Janet.

Thames flooding
 

On Wed, 12 Feb 2014 19:03:27 -0000, Janet wrote:

From childhood experience of living in a house on mains sewer services
in a flood area; one of the worst effects is sewage backing up through
toilet bowls especially in ground floor lavs.

Apart from building on land that floods being a bit daft, having a 4"
dia hole to the outside world only 18" or so above floor level seems
even dafter. Planning regs, eh?

With luck you can prevent this by plugging the U-bend . Double up some
waterproof soft plastic carrier bags and stuff them with rags, then ram
the plug down the flush hole of the toilet.

I wouldn't like to be near by when it let go... you can get one way
flood valves for the drains but to be honest most is a waste of time.
Bricks are pourus, after a week the water will just be coming through
the walls. Deeper than about 600 mm and a non-flooded building may
collapse due to the weight of water pushing on the walls, so you have
to let the water in.

Don't build in flood risk areas is the answer or if you do take
precautions like no power, no timber, no gypsum plaster less than 1 m
above the floor level. Have a plan of action, shifting everything
upstairs, backup cooking, heat and light. Trouble is these days
everyone is so used to all the services always being present most
people haven't even thought of a backup plan let alone equpiment.
More fool them IMHO likewise those that wine "we didn't know it was a
flood risk area when we bought". Didn't their solicitor check? It's
not difficult the maps are on the EA website FFS! Wouldn't insurers
refusing flood cover be a bit of a clue. Maybe not for the
clueless...

--
Cheers
Dave.

Thames flooding
 

On 13/02/14 12:52, Janet wrote:
In article , says...

"Martin" wrote in message

If you do use sandbags put them on a plastic membrane with the rest of the
plastic on the side facing the flood.

If your flood is from a river that's broken its banks, the force of
fast-flowing water current (and debris it carries) can tear dislodge
or wash away any plastic sheets laid that way. When we lived in a flood
area in Hereford we always laid the sandbags as the outer defence to
protect the waterproof plastic sheet, while pressing it as tight as
possible against the building fabric to protect the points where water
(and suspended mud) could enter.

Place the plastic with a flat strip on the ground (will be pinned
down by sandbag weight), rising up folded into an L against the outer
wall of the building. Build a wall against it with sandbags, kicking
them in hard so they compress the plastic tight against the building to
block the airbrick holes, door frames etc.

People could do worse than look at how the "professional" flood
barriers are constructed, e.g.
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/picture...ictures.html#2
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/picture...ctures.html#26
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/picture...ctures.html#29
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/picture...ctures.html#43
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/picture...ctures.html#50

I suspect that if agencies gave "too precise" instructions then
some people might have a claim against them if other forms of
damage occurred.

One thing that springs to mind is that if
an outer leaf is used to hold back a flood, then if the water
is too deep it will simply be pushed inwards causing significant
structural failure. If, OTOH, the water had not been kept out
of the house, there would be not pressure differential and no
collapse.

No, I don't know what "too deep" means, and undoubtedly it
varies between properties.

Thames flooding
 

Tom Gardner wrote:

People could do worse than look at how the "professional" flood
barriers are constructed, e.g.

Or read the official pamphlet, available he

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk...ods/31644.aspx

Sandbags and how to use them properly for flood protection (PDF, 390KB)

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.