Hundreds attend Bradford-on-Avon flood information event
Mark Dunn lives in an old mill next to the river and said: "For 360 days a year it's idyllic. For four or five days a year, it's pretty terrifying to see 30,000 litres of water go by your window a second."He explained he has been in the home for the last three big floods in the town - 2013, 2012 and 2024.
'Writing on the wall'
"We know we can't completely get rid of it, but I was hoping to hear about something to be offered to give the population some hope" he added, disappointed that the £11m protection scheme was scrapped.Mr Dunn felt the scheme would have been worth the money because of the impact of the floods in the area ,and said residents do end up feeling abandoned."The climate is only going to get worse. The writing is on the wall," he added.He said he did not hear what he wanted to hear at the event but added it was "good news" that the local MP and Environment Agency are not giving up on finding a solution.
Local Liberal Democrat MP Brian Mathew was at the event and told the BBC he has been speaking to the head of the Environment Agency about the issue."There's no single one solution," he said, adding that the original £11m plan "wouldn't have been enough".He added: "There's not a lot of point in spending a lot of money on what wouldn't have been enough anyway."Mr Mathew said people are concerned and worried, and that more does need to be done for his constituents.
"The voluntary flood wardens have been absolutely brilliant. In November, they were down at four in the morning, and they were there before us" said Mike Pugh, who runs art gallery SerenArts at the Tithe Barn workshops.He explained the community has been very supportive, but wanted to find out "who else can help form further up the ladder".
Having been there since 2009, he has experienced flooding four times, and has adapted, using plastic boxes and making sure everything can be lifted easily.Mr Pugh said it "appears to be an increasing problem".He added he uses the Environment Agency website which monitors water levels."You can calculate where it's going to get to. That's a good way of knowing when to press the panic button."
Mayor of Bradford-on-Avon Jack Vittles said he is "really, really pleased" that people have been able to speak directly to the agencies involved."A lot of people are realistic about what they can do in their own homes and they're clued up on that now."I want to make sure people get the full story" he added.The Environment Agency has said previously that it is "committed to supporting Bradford-on-Avon in adapting to flood risks through community resilience measures".Wiltshire Council and Wessex Water were among the other organisations there responding to residents.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
40 minutes ago
- BBC News
Grass fire at Portland's Bowers Quarry site 'spread quickly'
A grassland fire at a former quarry site was exacerbated by dry conditions and strong winds, the fire service has and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue was called to the Bowers Quarry area on Portland, Dorset, at 20:30 BST on Tuesday, where the fire was "spreading quickly".The crew from Portland called for assistance from nearby Weymouth Fire used an extended hose reel jet, beaters and aqua-packs to put out the blaze which had spread across an area 20m (65ft) x 20m. You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Iconic 'sinking city' home to over 300,000 Americans faces terrifying new threat
An iconic American city already sinking at an alarming rate now faces a fresh threat as a monster storm approaches the Gulf Coast, threatening heavy rain and flash flooding. New Orleans is sinking by up to 2 inches a year as its marshy clay soil compresses under the weight of buildings. This ongoing subsidence is compounded now by a surge of tropical moisture brought by tropical weather system Invest 93L, increasing the risk of flash floods and putting additional strain on the city's drainage systems. 'Much of the infrastructure and drainage systems were designed for rainfall patterns typical of 50 to 100 years ago,' Dan DePodwin, vice president of forecast operations at AccuWeather, told the Daily Mail. 'It is not for the intense and extreme rainfall events we are experiencing right now.' Forecasters are also monitoring the system as it moves north, dragging deep tropical moisture into the central US. The National Weather Service (NWS) has predicted the system will churn through Arkansas by Saturday, then bring repeated thunderstorms to the Midwest and Ohio Valley into early next week. This puts more than 30 million Americans across 11 states under the threat of flash flooding through the weekend. A major tropical rainstorm brought heavy rain to New Orleans (pictured), an area of the US that is sinking at a concerning rate (Stock Image) Volunteers filled sandbags for New Orleans residents on July 16, 2025, before heavy rains the Gulf Coast storm arrived Areas south and west of New Orleans have been projected to be flooded with up to 8 inches of rain due to the storm 'This has been a tremendously impactful and dangerous year,' AccuWeather meteorologist Jonathan Porter said regarding nationwide flooding tragedies. 'The number of flash flood reports this year to date has been a staggering 70 percent above the 10-year historical average.' Earlier this week, the system dumped nearly 8 inches of rain in Pierre Part, over 6 inches in Little Woods and close to 6 inches in New Orleans' Desire neighborhood. On Friday, radar showed the storm's core largely remaining south of New Orleans, with only light showers reaching the city. The worst of the weather stayed offshore. The NWS lowered its rainfall forecast to a range of just 1.5 to 2 inches through Saturday, from an earlier prediction of 4 to 8 inches. As of now, no street flooding has been reported in New Orleans or Jefferson Parish. Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather's lead hurricane expert, told the Daily Mail, 'The tropical rainstorm, once labeled Invest 93L, has lost its structure. But leftover moisture is still capable of triggering localized flash floods across Louisiana through Saturday.' New Orleans (pictured) is home to more than 360,000 people, but much of the city is below sea level A Virginia Tech study has estimated that up to 225,000 people are at risk of death or displacement in sinking coastal communities (Stock Image) Now pushing into the Midwest, the remnants of Invest 93L are colliding with a stalled weather front stretching from Iowa to West Virginia. This setup is expected to bring repeated rounds of heavy thunderstorms through early next week, raising flash flood risks across parts of the Midwest, Ohio Valley and Appalachians. According to AccuWeather, cities such as Chicago, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh could receive 2 to 4 inches of rain by Monday, with isolated spots potentially seeing over a foot. 'The ample moisture from the tropical rainstorm is expected to be drawn northward,' DePodwin said. 'The flooding could be significant in places that have already been soaked this month.' Experts warn that saturated soils and swollen creeks could lead to rapid water rises in some areas, especially where rainfall rates reach 1 to 3 inches per hour. 'We're increasingly concerned about the risk of flooding through the weekend as the moisture from this tropical rainstorm surges northward,' DaSilva warned. 'Some already waterlogged areas could receive another 4 to 8 inches of rain.' The tropical rainstorm impacting Louisiana also threatens to bring flash flooding to parts of the Midwest, Ohio Valley and Appalachians Where rainfall rates reach 1 to 3 inches per hour, forecasters caution of 'life-threatening flash flooding', landslides and overwhelmed drainage systems. Porter advised, 'Don't let your guard down. People should be prepared to move to higher ground if they receive a flash flood warning.' Although Invest 93L never developed into a named storm, it has nonetheless caused widespread damage. Meanwhile, forecasters are tracking another potential storm near the Gulf, which was expected to develop starting July 21. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) anticipates up to 19 named storms this season, including 10 hurricanes - of which, as many as five are expected to be categorized as major - that could impact the US.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
Century-old dam under strain as floods increase in US and federal funds dry up
More than 18,000 properties that sit downstream of a series of a century-old Ohio dam are at risk of flooding over the next three decades, according to climate data, as the Trump administration continues to roll back investments that would aid in keeping the waters at bay. In a part of the US that's largely flat, the view from above the Huffman dam in south-west Ohio is rare. From the bike trail atop the dam, the shimmering lights of downtown Dayton appear to the south. Cargo planes from a nearby air force base circle overhead and water from the 66-mile-long Mad River gushes underfoot. But the dam serves a far more pressing purpose: holding back up to 54bn gallons of water – enough to fill 82,000 Olympic-size swimming pools – during flooding events. Nearby, more than 21% of all properties downstream are at risk of flooding over the next three decades, according to First Street, a climate risk data modeling organization. That percentage accounts for 18,596 properties in Dayton. The five massive dry dams and 55 miles of levees west and north of Dayton were built in the aftermath of catastrophic destruction that befell the Ohio city in 1913, when 360 people died and flooding in three rivers that meet in the city center wiped out the downtown area. But today, it and many other communities around the midwest are once again at risk of flooding. 'Our system has experienced 2,170 storage events. The flood in April ranked 12th,' says MaryLynn Lodor, general manager of the Miami Conservancy District, the authority overseeing the regional flood prevention system that includes the Huffman Dam. The flooding early last April saw five to seven inches of rain inundate homes, roads and parks, and caused power outages for thousands of people across hundreds of miles. Extreme precipitation events are happening with increasing regularity at a time when, across a region that's home to the country's two major, high-discharge waterways – the Ohio and Mississippi rivers – decades-old flood prevention infrastructure is falling apart. From Indiana, where authorities in charge of a dam at a youth camp that sees 15,000 visitors annually warned of failure during last April's flooding, to Illinois and Minnesota, reports are appearing with increasing regularity of '100-year' floods threatening the integrity of, and in some cases destroying, dams. Five years ago, the Edenville Dam in central Michigan failed following days of heavy rain, prompting the evacuation of 10,000 people and the failure of another dam downstream. The dam is situated at the confluence of two rivers, and in 2018 its owner temporarily had its license taken away due to fears it couldn't pass enough water at high flood levels. Lawsuits and an expense report of $250m followed the dam failure. Data from Michigan's department of environment, Great Lakes and energy, found that of the state's recorded 2,552 dams, nearly 18% were rated as in 'fair', 'poor' or 'unsatisfactory' condition. Despite this, little change has been enacted in Michigan. 'The reason this is popping up everywhere in the country is because it's a massive ageing infrastructure problem,' says Bryan Burroughs, a member of a now-closed state taskforce that sought to investigate the status of dams across Michigan following the Edenville incident. He says the taskforce's recommendations have largely not been enacted. 'To date, the only ones that have been taken up and addressed to any level are the ones that our state department of environment, Great Lakes and energy are able to oversee themselves. Regulatory changes have not been picked up legislatively,' Burroughs continued. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration had made investing in America's ageing infrastructure over the course of many years a priority, with $10bn dedicated to flooding mitigation and drought relief. An additional $3bn was allocated in 2021 through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for dam safety, removal and related upgrades. Since Donald Trump entered the White House in January, the administration has vowed to roll back much of those investments. Hundreds of dam safety and other staffers working at dams in 17 western states have been laid off in recent months. Before the 4 July flood disaster in Texas, the Trump administration had pledged to close the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). With more than 92,000 dams across the country, the Society of Civil Engineers estimates the cost of repairing the country's non-federal dams at $165bn. In Ohio, the Miami Conservancy District has been outspoken in highlighting that the dams it is responsible for are in need of repair – in particular, the upstream walls of two north of the city of Dayton. Levees it manages 'are subject to the costly, federally mandated Fema accreditation process, but there is no adequate funding source.' Last year, the district said it needs $140m to bring the region's dams and levees up to safe levels over the coming decades. Over the past 80 years, the organization has seen a 228% increase in the volume of water its dams store, meaning the structures today must work harder than they did in the past to hold back the water. 'As we're looking at having to make reinvestments, we are looking to try to secure some funding through the state and federal governments,' says Lodor. 'We have not gotten much support and federal dollars or state money to be able to do the system. It's already been invested in by the local communities; it would be very difficult for this to be on the backs of the locals.' Many dams hold back water that's used by fishers and recreators – an issue that's creating tension in many communities. In White Cloud, Michigan, authorities have had to draw down much of the lake water behind a 150-year-old dam due to fears for its structural integrity, angering locals. As in Texas, dozens of youth groups and Christian camps across the midwest use lakes and waterways downstream of ageing lowhead and other dams for programming and outdoor activities. Emails and messages left by the Guardian with the owners of an at-risk dam at a camp in Indiana used by thousands of children every year received no response. While compared with other parts of the US the midwest does not have a lot of dams whose main purpose is for flood control due to geological and topographical reasons, Ohio and much of the wider midwest have seen 'record-setting rain' this year. 'The weather has changed,' says Burroughs. 'What used to be a one-in-100-year flood event might have happened three times in the last 40 years.'
