What's more current than the weather?

[Gravdigr]

It is 2:30pm, on December 26, 2015, and the temperature is 72°.

But that has nothing to do with this: How many Star Wars references does the weather bunny get in?

[xoxoxoBruce]

I keeps tellin' ya, bunnies be sneaky.

[DanaC]

Half my borough is under water right now. The river Calder has burst its banks-so most of the towns along the river's path through the Calder valley are flooded. Sowerby, Hebden, Mytholmroyd,Todmorden-all the town centres are flooded and some are being evacuated. There's flooding across much of the North of England today a 200 year old pub in Manchester collapsed earlier - it was built over a bridge and the river Irwell took out the centre of the building.

I am fortunate in that I am at the top of a hill, and also about as far from the River Calder as it's possible to be whilst still being classed as part of Calderdale. That said, my bathroom has sprung a few more leaks. I have a basin on the window sill catching the stream coming through the top of the casement window and now there's a drip coming through the ceiling.

Rain, rain and more rain.

[Griff]

That's rough Dana. Stay dry.

[fargon]

What Griff said double.

[sexobon]

But if you get wet, get wild and post pictures!

[xoxoxoBruce]

That sucks. Is there a way for you and your Mum to get supplies by going in another direction, like over toward Bradford?

We've had rain more often than not the last two weeks but nothing like you're getting. I noticed walking across the yard it's like walking on the scum of a bowl of pudding. The ground is so saturated it jiggles.

[DanaC]

Oh,we're ok- as I say, we're pretty far from the Calder,and my village is at the top of a hill anyway. But the two Js are cut off. Their house is ok, because they're up the hill a way, from the town centre and river - but the town centre where they live is under several feet of water. There's certainly no way for them to leave Todmorden right now.

Mum's house did flood a few years ago, because her house is built into the side of the hill,and the heavy rainfall meant it ran off through the hill and into the back and up through the floor- but her landlords have had the back half of the house tanked, so we're crossing fingers it doesn't happen again.

Large parts of the country are under water. Lancashire,Yorkshire and Cumbria have all been hit hard, as have parts of Scotland. Some of the flooding started a couple of weeks ago when Storm Desmond hit. The flooding in Yorkshire and Lancashire mainly started on Boxing Day



Lot of rivers and a lot of hills in Britain.

[Carruthers]

The video in the bottom right hand corner of DanaC's video can be seen here in greater detail.

I assume that the level of water inside the Land Rover must be about the same as that outside, so he wouldn't have had long to go before tragedy struck.

I'm sure that he'll be forever grateful that he chose the model with the sun roof.



I've never had to deal with flooding, and the thought of it ruining your home is bad enough, but can you imagine what it must be like to find yourself in a life threatening situation due to rising water?
'Bloody terrifying' is the phrase that springs to mind.

[sexobon]

Did Bristol Lake overflow so the fish could escape?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Go fish, make a run for it. Swim over to the killer's house and fin his ass.

Rover dude will be ready for a cuppa, he was right on the cusp of the high water and the fast water. Couple of feet either way can be the difference.

[Carruthers]

A bit more has emerged about the rescue from the Land Rover.

Trapped in surging flood waters and facing the prospect of imminent drowning, most drivers would welcome the appearance of the emergency services.

But one Yorkshire farmer refused to abandon his beloved Land Rover and fought off rescue teams as they attempted to pluck him to safety.

The elderly motorist had floated into Mytholmroyd in West Yorkshire in the heavy flood water from the River Calder.

However, rather than abandoning his vehicle, the driver remained put, with his windscreen wipers going, ignoring offers of help from passers-by, as the waters crept up the side of the vehicle.

When emergency services eventually arrived to pull him free, only a few inches of windscreen remained above the rising waters.

Rescuers had to use kayaks to reach him and struggled against the current of the surging flood water.

But when they eventually made it to the Land Rover and broke into his sun-roof, they were met with a torrent of abuse.

“He basically slagged off his rescuers for breaking his sunroof, which they had to yank off to free him,” said eyewitness Stuart Asquith, 51.

“One rescuer had even got hold of him to try and help him out and he shuck them off – he was stubborn “

The red Land Rover had floated backwards on Burnley Road, which runs parallel to the River Calder, into the centre of Mytholmroyd and nobody realised anybody was inside at first.

“I’m sure he was scared and shook up, but he was abrasive and did not want to leave his Land Rover,” said Mr Asquith.

“He was sat there for 10 to 15 minutes with the water getting higher and higher until the mountain rescue guys in the kayaks had no choice but to pull him out. His Land Rover was virtually submerged.

“He owes them his life, but he seems more concerned with his Land Rover. He told someone to go and get his keys after he was on dry land.”

The man was taken to safety on a dinghy and sent to a local hospital for a check-up.

His Land Rover was left parked in a muddy car park in Mytholmroyd. The sun roof was missing and a shepherds crook could be seen in the back, alongside animal feed bags.

People can do irrational things in moments of stress, but behaviour like that beggars belief.

Incidentally, the wheelie bin floating past at about the 4.00 mark gives a good indication of the speed of the flow.

Daily Telegraph.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yes, that wheelie bin was on the far side of the Rover where the water was really moving. The near side where men were standing in the water and paddling the inflatable around was much slower. In the first half minute there's a piece of thrash, possibly a newspaper, floating in the side street, and moving toward the camera. That means the main flow was still rising.

[DanaC]

So many people have lost so much. A lot of the properties were already uninsurable because of previous flood damage and now they're hit again. The new flood defences have failed. Even those with insurance face major losses. The businesses and shops in the town centres along the calder have been badly hit. Some will not come back from this.

http://www.theguardian.com/environme...ugh-this-again

At 3pm on Saturday, the Calder was at 5.65m, the highest level recorded and more than 3.5m above its usual peak. In the Dusty Miller Inn, landlord Christian Pollitt and his family watched with horror from their first-floor flat. Up, up and up the river rose, until it was too late to escape.

The floodwater rushed into the pub until it was well over 6ft deep, almost as high as the fire exit signs. In a matter of minutes, a £50,000 kitchen was a floating junkyard, £20,000 of festive food contaminated with sewage-laden flood water. Pollitt, trapped upstairs with three children, eight other adults and a dog, rang for help. An hour and a half later, they were rescued.

“We were stranded. We had to climb out on to the roof and were picked up by lifeboat,” said Pollitt, still in a daze on Sunday as he surveyed the wreckage of the Dusty Miller and his other pub, a micro brewery called the Libertine, which opened only two weeks ago and now resembles a windowless, muddy squat.

That's some shitty bad fortune right there.

2000+ homes and 200 businesses in the Calder Valley have been badly affected.

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by DanaC

...A lot of the properties were already uninsurable because of previous flood damage...

...family watched with horror from their first-floor flat...until it was too late to escape...



That's some shitty bad fortune right there.

I feel for these folks, but, that's not bad fortune, that's bad decision making.