All Clear

Four surge tides have come and gone, and all is well! (We do still have some high Spring tides scheduled at the end of March.) It was worthwhile preparation, and the Enviromental Agency has agreed to send a speaker to any of our 'Living Waters' emergency planning workshops for church or community. I wrote a long entry here, sharing some of my theology of chaplaincy work, only to get it all erased when I went to the spellcheck! So this one is short and sweet: since it is Friday afternoon, you've been spared the monologue... for now at least!

Official Flood Watch declared

Okay, I said last week on my Community Response Forum that we were going on alert for flooding. Since the Environment Agency was showing all England and Wales regions as "all clear" at the time, we didn't want to call it an actual 'flood warning'. At 7:30pm last night, however, the status changed to FLOOD WATCH for the area Annette and I are living in.

So we can say it is official now, and no one can say we are being flacky. Let me say this right now -- we got 6 days advance warning because alert Christians -- watchmen if you like -- were on the ball, and the communications system was working.

This is still a flood watch - not an alert - and we now have 8 hours until the tide peaks. We have our emergency plan as in place as it is going to be, including a make shift kitchen arrangement upstairs. We plan to only evacuate if we really have to - since we have the ability for the 7 of us to survive for at least a week inside the home. [Our daughter Hannah lives in a basement flat, so she would stay over here]. For the skeptics among us, who will note that I made the last post on this blog after the Watch was announced, take the time to check my Living Waters Forum; you may check with any of the 50 or more folks that Annette and I emailed our two-page flood warning PDF file newsletter that I emailed on 27th February 2006. On the forum, I launched the warning some six days ago.

Note: currently, anyone can click through to our forum - by the time you read this, you may have to register as a user first. Below is what the government agency is now saying, not us:
Current status
Flood Watch Status
last changed at:19:30 on 28-Feb-2006
Location:The River Thames from Putney Bridge to Teddington Weir
[Click for Live Link]
Because this governemnt page is updated frequently and flood watches change, this may be a dead link in by the time you view. If so, just chop off the extensions, and you'll be able to do your own flood search for the whole of England and Wales. The evidence is clear: however we are not saying there will be a flood, but we are ready if one happens!

London Flood Drill

Annette and I have received a warning indicating a possible flooding of London along the River Thames tomorrow 1st March (Ash Wednesday).

Having researched the evidence, there is indeed a risk of flooding from very high (but not unknown) tides in the afternoon on Wednesday and Thursday, reaching 7.5 meters. (This is around .1 to .2 meter higher than the tide in February 2004 which was the last time the Thames Barrier was raised into the flood defence position.)

I cannot speak for the City of London financial district, but thousands of homes and community facilities are in known risk areas, (including our home which is just two hundred yards from the river bank). I'm updating everyone on our own preparations on the new Chaplains Call Forum I've been busy working on this month.

The Thames Barrier is also scheduled for monthly routine maintenance tomorrow morning. This is not Internet rumour: I checked the Port of London as well as other sources. My feeling is that due to the dry weather, we are likely to be safe this time around. However, at the end of March we get another very high tide, and if we get a lot of rain later in the month, then the danger could be considerably greater. Check the forum for regular updates-- also participate and post to it! - John

My Other Blog...

Why I have two blogs, I'll never know; one is enough work!

However, if you want to find out more background to this photo I took at a prayer meeting a few hours ago, after returning from St. Clement Danes, I suggest you click over to my rather more personal,

"Faith's Journey" blog.