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Monday 23 July 2007

Update: Thousands Cut Off In UK's Worst Floods

Sky News Headline; says; 'Tens of thousands of people are spending the night without power or water as Britain suffers its worst flooding in living memory. There have been mass evacuations across central and southern England with thousands of homes flooded. Water levels are not expected to peak for another 24 to 36 hours. At their height, some rivers will be more than 20ft higher than normal.Two of Britain's major rivers - the Avon and the Severn - have already burst their banks.The Thames is in danger of bursting soon, threatening areas in the Home Counties and London. Gloucestershire is likely to be hit by yet more flooding as the Severn is expected to rise once again in the early hours. Severn Trent Water confirmed "at least" 350,000 homes in the county will be without water this evening. More than 40,000 families are already without power. The peak level of the Thames is expected to travel through Oxford at about 2.45am and Abingdon at about 6.45am. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has told MPs the flooding emergency is "far from over".


Dail Mail says: 'More than 48,000 homes across Gloucestershire and parts of Herefordshire were left without power after Castlemeads power station in Gloucester was shut down. Another 500,000 are also at risk of losing their electricity. A police spokeswoman said a "massive" overnight operation by emergency services was carried out to save another substation nearby, which serves more than half a million homes. Katy Roberts, of Gloucestershire Police, said: "This substation at Castlemeads has been switched off due to flooding. The decision to terminate the supply in a controlled manner was made for safety reasons due to a sudden surge in the floodwater. Fire and Rescue are working with Central Networks to try to restore power as quickly as possible. However it may remain off for some hours. It had affected 48,000 homes."
Temporary flood barriers have been erected around the second power station at Walham, Gloucester."