Floods
Posted by Tina
Monday, July 3, 2006
Todmorden town centre was impassible We were in the bus from Halifax when the storm started conditions in Hebden were horrendous. As the bus got into Todmorden it would go no further than the petrol station on the Halifax Road as town cente was flooded with drains being forced up. We walked up to Oak avenue and the road had lifted outside the Tudor Chippy near the Foundtain Pub. I have never seen anything like it. My son later told me that he was in Jacks House pub on Burnley road when the water flooded in. Some escaped through toilet window. The water was up to the bar.
Posted by Jack Hughes
Monday, July 3, 2006
Word is, the police reaction to SOS calls from Market Street shops was somewhat off-hand and tardy... can anyone add more details re. this accusation? Ah well, at least the local rag may sell a few more copies this week (no doubt headlined, Daily Mail-style, "FLOOD DISASTER TERROR BRINGS TOWN TO HALT" or suchlike).
Posted by Andy Macintosh
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Or maybe:
"Flood swamps yellow brick road - whingers drowned."
Posted by Helena Cook
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
In your article about Sunday’s flood, you stated that a landslide had blocked the railway line at Walsden. This rather absolves the Environment Agency from their responsibility for this mess…
It wasn’t a landslide. There is a culvert that runs from a stream at the top end of Calf Hey Terrace in Walsden, the stream is directed through the culvert and under the railway line, Rochdale Rood, under Grandma Pollards chippy and outletting into Walsden Water.
The rocks and rubble were swept down the stream and into the culvert by the force of the water. We could hear/feel the vibrations in our houses for a hour or so before, as the culvert goes under the road at Calf Hey Terrace/Kershaw Road
The rocks and boulders gathered at the bottom end of the culvert, blocking it, and the water pressure from the stream, (which at the top end was torrential, like Niagara!) caused the water to build up in the culvert, behind the blockage…eventually it erupted through the road surface, spewing the debris the 2 or 3 metres on to the railway track. The released water subsequently flowed with such force that that section of Rochdale road was totally flooded, 1 or 2 feet in places, as well as flooding the three houses at the bottom end of Kershaw Road/ Station Road.
A landslide implies forces of nature… this would have been avoidable if the culvert had been maintained properly…
Many thanks for correcting our report and clarifying what happened - webmaster
Posted by Kevin
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Maybe if Calderdale actually used rate payers money to clean out the drains instead of concentrating on killing the town by introducing less parking spaces with more parking charges , maybe some of the flood damage could of been prevented. As it stands
now costs will be passed on to traders and to house holders with the possibility of some properties not being insured for flood damage in the future.
Posted by Andy Macintosh
Thursday, July 6, 2006
So the Council are responsible for a drain being blocked by debris from a a singular rainfall event? I'm glad I don't work for them; it must be a thankless task.
Saint Swithens Day is approaching so a much bigger flood could be in the offing sweeping cobbles, critics, new developments and 'heritage' completely away....I'm off to make a boat.
Posted by Tim
Thursday, July 6, 2006
May be we should start a whinger alert on this discussion forum!
IMO the drainage system coped remarkably well last Sunday with a rainfall intensity of over 100mm (4inches) of rain per hour - The drains in Hebden are not designed to cope with the tropical intensity of that downpour - in addition to all the extra sediment that the runoff collected causing blockages. Some properties in vunerable locations were badly affected but the services seemed to respond pretty quickly - Alot of the water damage to businesses on Market Street was caused by vehicle drivers speeding through the floods and causing fountains of water.
Prehaps we should just put the problems down to an extreme natural event rather than blaming the 'authorities'.
Posted by Malcolm
Thursday, July 6, 2006
Maybe some good came from last Sunday's deluge - has anyone checked if there is now water in the children's paddling pool in the park? It has been a dangerous eyesore for some time now and should either be brought back into use or filled in once and for all.
Posted by Andy Macintosh
Friday, July 7, 2006
Sadly Tim, if you read the HBT this week, even the speeding drivers are the Councils' fault: they didn't close the road in time!
Posted by Adam B
Thursday, July 13, 2006
On the subject of drivers going too fast along Market Street; I don't think that it was the councils' fault for not closing the street earlier, I think that it was the fault of the drivers for driving at speeds which were inappropriate for the conditions. The council (or the police?) took the decision to close the road as a result of this. Maybe Market Street should have been closed earlier but we are saying this with the benefit of hindsight.
Incidentally I was driving home along the M62 through the middle of these storms, I'm sure you can imagine the driving conditions there. Similarly to Market Street (on a larger scale) people were driving without regard for conditions. There were those doing up to 90-100mph and those driving a few yards behind me / pulling out a few yards in front of me without indication. Not the best driving in any weather. Stupid and incredibly dangerous in such bad conditions.
If we must drive in bad weather conditions we need to drive appropriately. If a road is flooded you drive at a crawl or you risk aqua-planing, harming / upsetting pedestrians, and flooding your engine. If you are reading this as someone who caused the problems mentioned above I hope that next time you will remember the error and not make the same one next time (part of what driving is all about!).
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