While politicians are duking it out about whether the current UK flood defences are sufficient or not; with Cameron defending avidly and others calling for a total rethink, locals in various areas of the UK are counting their losses from the recent floods.
In the middle of Longworth Road stands a huge skip where villagers can dump their ruined, waterlogged possessions. It was not long before the strategically placed skip was filled with the once-cherished photographs, sideboards, washing machines, lounge suites, driers, fridges and freezers, carpets, and a very special chair.
The chair had belonged to local resident Barbara Templeman’s father, Kenneth, and had had pride of place in the lounge of her two-bedroomed terrace. On Boxing Day the River Calder burst its banks and was diverted through the street where Barbara, 63, and her husband David, 69 lived, forcing them to evacuate, leaving everything behind.
The street that Barbara had grown up on looked very different the next morning, and she broke down in tears when she saw that her beloved father’s chair was totally ruined. She did not want to let anyone remove it as she hoped that it could be restored, but soon realised that it was damaged beyond repair and it ended up on the bottom of the pile of trashed items in the skip.
Around seventy households in the same street beneath the Whalley Arches, near Clitheroe, Lancs, have been devastated by the flood, and are without gas and proper sanitation. Most of them are awaiting the insurance assessors to see what can be done and what will be replaced, but others are not that lucky because they do not have flood insurance and are not sure what they will be able to do.
Another couple further down the road from the Templemans, the Taylors, have had their dreams obliterated as they had thought that they had sold their house, but the flood has meant that they will now not be able to sell and the move to Clitheroe early in the New Year has now been put on hold indefinitely.
We wish you all well with the flooding and remember; if there is any chance that your drinking water has been compromised, do not drink it. A great way to ensure that your drinking water is pure is to invest in a water cooler that will filter the tap water at the spot where it enters your home from the main water pipe.
Get a watercooler and water cooler accessories from Living-Water.
