Even more flooding SW England

More UK flooding expected
Posted Sun Jul 22, 2007 8:49pm AEST
Updated Sun Jul 22, 2007 9:01pm AEST

Slideshow: Photo 1 of 2

A girl cycles through floodwaters in Stratford Upon-Avon, central England. (Reuters: Darren Staples)

Video: Floods take England by surprise (ABC News) Related Story: RAF scrambles to help British flood victims Related Story: England floods strand thousands Authorities are warning of more flooding to come in Britain, after hundreds were rescued from floodwaters in wide areas of England and Wales.

The Royal Air Force has rescued hundreds of stranded people from rooftops in what it says is the largest peacetime evacuation it has ever had to deal with.

Rivers have burst their banks, leaving roads and railway lines under water.

The Environment Agency says water is still coming down the river systems and flooding defences, while drainage systems in urban areas are unable to cope with the volume of water.

Many motorists spent Saturday night in their cars, and dozens of trains and flights were cancelled.

The Environment Agency says Oxford, Berkshire and parts of London are at serious risk of flooding.

There are eight severe flood warnings in place, with seven for the Midlands and one for part of the River Thames in Oxfordshire.

Damage caused by the floods is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has praised the emergency services and promised money and help for residents.

"We've got to make sure that we can compensate local authorities who are under extreme pressure in this," he said.

"We will do so at a level of 100 per cent, whereas it used to be 85 per cent, and then we've got to learn the lessons for the future."

The leader of the opposition Conservatives, David Cameron, says the Government needs to consider carefully how it has responded to the latest floods.

"I was in Lincoln yesterday where 50 homes are flooded out and because it's only 50, that city council isn't getting money from the Government," he said.

"That seems not to be right, so I think there are things that need to be done.

"We push the Government to have a proper review of these things and they are holding that review - they need to get on with it, do it quickly."

In the town of Tewkesbury, in south-west England, residents are finding it hard to grasp the scale of the rainfall.

"The rivers often get high but obviously not quite this high and not in July," one said.

Another said: "It's unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable - I've never seen anything like this, especially in the middle of summer,"

- BBC