Shropshire River Severn on alert after county border flooding

Monday 7th February 2011, 2:02PM GMT.

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SHROPSHIRE WAS this afternoon braced for flooding chaos along the swollen River Severn in the wake of a weekend deluge which caused havoc in the region.

Flood barriers went up this morning in Ironbridge where river levels are expected to rise by up to 7ft by tomorrow, the Environment Agency said. The picture in Bridgnorth is equally bleak.

The agency is predicting water levels there will rise by more than 6ft tomorrow.

Ironbridge Rowing Club officials today appealed for volunteers to help clear out their boathouse tonight amid fears it could be swamped by flood water.

Club spokesman Phil Gardner said they believed up to 5ft of water could be inside the boathouse by the time the river peaks tomorrow.

Telford & Wrekin Council spokesman Nigel Newman said the flood barriers at Ironbridge were expected to be in place until Wednesday.

It comes as one man drowned when flash flooding swept through North Wales and villagers living on the Shropshire border were also hit hard as water rushed into homes and left cars stranded on roads.

The body of a 58-year-old man was recovered from flood water near a vehicle which was submerged in Denbighshire.

More than four inches of rain fell overnight on Saturday and the agency said the Shropshire border area had seen some of its worst flooding for more than 40 years.

Water levels on the River Vyrnwy and upper parts of the River Severn rose by several metres in just hours.

Seven people were rescued from their homes in Llandysilio, near Four Crosses, by firefighters at about 4am yesterday after rising water flooded their homes.

Some chose to stay put only to find themselves marooned for up to 15 hours.

Meanwhile, gale force winds continued to batter the county with police forced to close the A442 Bridgnorth to Telford road after telephone lines came down near Sutton Maddock.

Strong winds also caused problems for the Duchess of Cornwall who struggled with her umbrella as she arrived in Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire, to meet members of the Wiltshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers.

By Simon Hardy

View more: River Severn news.

1
H. St. John Peasbody

February 7, 2011 at 11:58

Surely this can be prevented?

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- a g bell
  
  February 7, 2011 at 13:35
  
  sure, will you speak to God or should I?
  
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- Godders22
  
  February 7, 2011 at 13:37
  
  I’m off down with a couple of buckets, of course it can be prevented…
  
  What would you do?
  
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  - H. St. John Peasbody
    
    February 7, 2011 at 14:01
    
    I’d divert the flood water through Wales to the sea.
    
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    - George @ Dawley
      
      February 7, 2011 at 17:00
      
      Ha ha ha. Good one that.
      
      Now in the real world where money is tight, NIMBYS rife and most of teh world not giving a damn about our fair county…..
      
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- julian
  
  February 7, 2011 at 14:38
  
  Travelling back in time and not building on the flood plain ought to do the trick.
  
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- Darren
  
  February 7, 2011 at 16:40
  
  Seems like you want to prevent everything, what will you want preventing next gusty wind and hail storms???
  
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  - H. St. John Peasbody
    
    February 8, 2011 at 10:17
    
    Hail storms could be prevented with effective management. Have you not heard of cloud seeding?
    
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    - Tyrone Shoelaces
      
      February 8, 2011 at 16:36
      
      Which is about as effective and useful as wild seeding.
      
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- Tom L
  
  February 8, 2011 at 11:54
  
  Can’t we put a few sponges down and soak it all up………
  
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2
sonic

February 7, 2011 at 14:31

Surely periodic dredging would help?

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- Grey
  
  February 7, 2011 at 15:52
  
  Dredging would mean having to dredge on a regular basis forevermore. It would cause terrible damage to the biodiversity of the river.
  We should create huge flood meadows up stream so that during times of flood the water spills out into them rather than our towns. It would be a huge benefit to wetland birds and other species as well as people and probably for a lower price than hard engineered flood walls and constant dredging.
  
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  - spencer
    
    February 8, 2011 at 16:04
    
    I think he’s on to something, dredging will make the river deeper therefore no flooding.
    
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    - G
      
      February 9, 2011 at 10:05
      
      What impact does the Castlefields wier have on low river levels ?
      If we dredge upstream the river level will drop only until it gets to the level to reach the wier top again. So if more rain water is put on top of it won’t the result be the same amount of flooding ?
      
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3
Squire

February 7, 2011 at 14:31

What I would do is buy a house in an area that frequently floods, then blame the government for not doing enough to help. Sorry, my mistake…. I bought a house in an area that has no danger of flooding because I’m not STUPID!!!

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- Phil
  
  February 7, 2011 at 16:50
  
  I hope you dont live near drains that could easily overflow into your property. If you get flooded out you wouldnt be so quick to mock those who are less fortunate than yourself. My mistake….. you probably live on top of a hill.
  
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  - Tyrone Shoelaces
    
    February 8, 2011 at 16:39
    
    Did you intend to valdidate Squire’s point?
    
    Less fortunate by choice. No-one forced these people to buy homes in areas prone to flooding.
    
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  - Squire
    
    February 9, 2011 at 09:21
    
    A big hill :)
    
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4
True blue

February 7, 2011 at 16:24

This flooding is the fault of the public sector. Surely if the private sector were in charge of the river then this flooding would never have happened.

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5
wayne

February 7, 2011 at 17:14

so much for camerons promise to spend more on flood defences, we are always neglected in shropshire when it comes to national priorities london and birmingham get all the cash

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- spencer
  
  February 8, 2011 at 12:19
  
  more money was spent on flood defences in Shrewsbury than anywhere else in the county
  
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6
Tony Russell

February 7, 2011 at 17:59

how do you propose to divert the severn to the sea. the river severn floods when flowing downstream and even upstream. (severn bore) how many locks will be needed to lift the river over the cambrian mountains, or if your proposal is to divert from plylimmon to the coast why not build a large reservoir to serve the people of wales for a change.
i suggest you leave a trickle for shrewsbury bewdley worcester and gloucester. the severn valley railway may be grateful too for the trickle

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- H. St. John Peasbody
  
  February 8, 2011 at 09:50
  
  A series of tunnels. We’re too precious in this country about such matters. They’d soon sort this out in America.
  
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  - Kath
    
    February 10, 2011 at 10:46
    
    New Orleans?
    
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- The Original Jake
  
  February 8, 2011 at 11:34
  
  A series of ditches, shadufs and a limitless supply of cheap labour.
  
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- Kath
  
  February 10, 2011 at 10:48
  
  Ermmm … locks lift boats, the river/canal still flows downwards because, well, that’s what water does. Good luck sending it up a mountain :)
  
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7
ceverall

February 8, 2011 at 01:37

Anybody with an ecosystem watershed concept would know the only long term ecologically sustainable solution is to re forest the upper and lower catchment .enforce sustainable urban drainage systems on money grabbing housing developers .and make the bankers pay for the trees ,,,,no in fact make them plant them side by siide with young offenders facists like the edl and the tory toffs mcdonalds senior management ….you get the idea
an ex native tree planter about 300,000 still alive

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- H. St. John Peasbody
  
  February 8, 2011 at 10:12
  
  Are you ready for the digital switch-over?
  
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8
eva land

February 8, 2011 at 10:01

What’s it like living up a tree ceverall?
Can you get Sky?

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9
Tony Russell

February 8, 2011 at 10:22

swampy says it will not work, more reservoirs are the answer

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10
duh!

February 8, 2011 at 12:36

It’s all the fault of the Welsh. Build a big damn at the border, or better still dig a big channel between England and Wales.

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11
Iron Flag

February 9, 2011 at 21:26

I bought a house by the river because it’s a good solid pre Victorian house, yes when the river rises we have problems, however I know this and put up with this because i live by a RIVER! If people are going to whine, blame and moan don’t live by the river.

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12
Tony Russell

February 10, 2011 at 14:51

a brilliant idea, divert the source of the severn i mile to the source of the wye, problem solved, not necessarily the answer to hereford and ross prayers but a problem solved in shropshire. the severn valley railway could become the tern valley railway. q.e.d. ok for you harold

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13
bill

February 10, 2011 at 18:11

Reservoirs are part of the problem. A lot of the sudden rises are caused when the open up the gates on the dam at lake Vyrnwy. I guess the alternative would be worse if the dam burst, though.

As the lake was built to supply water to Liverpool perhaps when it rains heavily in Wales we could ask all the scousers to turn on their taps.

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